Algogenic organic matter produced by the excess growth of cyanobacteria in semi-closed water areas causes coagulation inhibition in drinking water production. In this study, hydrophilic substances of Microcystis aeruginosa, which were mainly composed of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and RNA, were prepared, and the involvement of these cyanobacterial hydrophilic substances in coagulation inhibition w...

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membranes with nano-porous surface and high hydrophilicity were fabricated by addition of polyoxyethylene (40) nonylphenyl ether (IGEPAL) as an additive in the casting solution. The membranes were prepared from PAN/IGEPAL/1-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) via phase inversion induced by immersion precipitation technique. Pure water was used as coagulation medium. The effects o...

We describe recent investigations on the impact behaviour of liquid drops onto chemically structured surfaces. The surface patterns were prepared via photochemical attachment of polymer molecules with different hydrophilicities using self-assembled monolayers of benzophenone bearing silanes. Immobilization of the polymer monolayers was followed by an ablation process to generate a chemical surf...

Many chronic degenerative diseases result from aggregation of misfolded polypeptides to form amyloids. Many amyloidogenic polypeptides are surfactants and their assembly can be catalysed by hydrophobic-hydrophilic interfaces (an air-water interface in-vitro or membranes in-vivo). We recently demonstrated the specificity of surface-induced amyloidogenesis but the mechanisms of amyloidogenesis an...

Polyelectrolyte multilayer films assembled from a hydrophobic N-alkylated polyethylenimine and a hydrophilic polyacrylate were discovered to exhibit strong antifouling, as well as antimicrobial, activities. Surfaces coated with these layer-by-layer (LbL) films, which range from 6 to 10 bilayers (up to 45 nm in thickness), adsorbed up to 20 times less protein from blood plasma than the uncoated ...

BACKGROUND This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of two commercially available chemical disinfectants namely sodium hypochlorite and glutaraldehyde and a surface wetting agent on the wettability of three high precision elastomeric impression materials, addition silicone, condensation silicone and polyether. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three different types of elastomeric impression mate...

The surface of amastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi is covered by Ssp-4, a major stage-specific glycoprotein. Ssp-4 is anchored to the cell membrane by GPI. It can be metabolically labeled with [3H]myristic acid, and is converted into a hydrophilic form by treatment with the glycan-specific phospholipase C of T. brucei, or after lysis of the parasites in non-ionic detergents. The hydrophilic form o...

In this work, we present the first molecular dynamics simulation on the formation of a polyelectrolyte bilayer resolved in atomistic detail, extending a previous study of the adsorption of poly(styrene sulfonate) [B. Qiao, J. J. Cerdà and C. Holm, Macromolecules, 2011, 44, 1707-1718.] to the formation of a poly(styrene sulfonate)/poly(diallyldimethylammonium) bilayer. Extensive molecular dynami...

Class I Hydrophobins self-assemble at hydrophilic-hydrophobic interfaces into a highly insoluble amphipathic film. Upon self-assembly of these fungal proteins hydrophobic solids turn hydrophilic, while hydrophilic materials can be made hydrophobic. Hydrophobins thus change the nature of a surface. This property makes them interesting candidates to improve physio- and physico-chemical properties...

An in vivo rat cage implant system was used to identify potential surface chemistries that prevent failure of implanted biomedical devices and prostheses by limiting monocyte adhesion and macrophage fusion into foreign-body giant cells while inducing adherent-macrophage apoptosis. Hydrophobic, hydrophilic, anionic, and cationic surfaces were used for implantation. Analysis of the exudate surrou...