scholarly journals Photocatalytic Properties of a Novel Keratin char-TiO2Composite Films Made through the Calcination of Wool Keratin Coatings Containing TiO2 Precursors

Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1366
Author(s):  
Jinyuan Zhang ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Wenjun Li ◽  
Limeng Yang ◽  
Hailiang Wu ◽  
...  

In this study, the photocatalytic properties of novel keratin char-TiO2 composite films, made through the calcination of wool keratin coatings containing TiO2 precursors at 400 °C, were investigated for the photodegradation of organic contaminants under visible light irradiation. Its structural characteristics and photocatalytic performance were systematically examined. It was shown that a self-cleaning hydrophobic keratin char-TiO2 composite film containing meso- and micro-pores was formed after the keratin—TiO2 precursors coating was calcined. In comparison with calcinated TiO2 films, the keratin char-TiO2 composite films doped with the elements of C, N, and S from keratins resulted in decreased crystallinity and a larger water contact angle. The bandgap of the char-TiO2 composite films increased slightly from 3.26 to 3.32 eV, and its separation of photogenerated charge carriers was inhibited to a certain degree. However, it exhibited higher photodegradation efficiency to methyl blue (MB) effluents than the pure calcinated TiO2 films. This was mainly because of its special porous structure, large water contact angle, and high adsorption energy towards organic pollutants, confirmed by the density functional theory calculations. The main active species were 1O2 radicals in the MB photodegradation process.

2014 ◽  
Vol 881-883 ◽  
pp. 1153-1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Bin Zhang ◽  
Jing Wen Wang ◽  
Ping Ping Jiang ◽  
Yue Xia Li ◽  
Xiao Yu Liu

Florida mandarin oil-chitosan composite films were prepared with chitosan (CS), Florida mandarin oil (FMO) by casting-evaporation-alkali leaching method. Influences of FMO to mechanical properties, water contact angle, water-solubility of films were evaluated. The results demonstrated that decrease of film tensile strength was caused by addition of FMO. When FMO content was 4%, elongation at break reached the maximum (2.81±0.01%). Water contact angle and solubility of film increased with increase of FMO content, maximums were 81.80±0.09° and 1.51±0.02 mg/100 g H2O, respectively.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Soon Wook Kim ◽  
Hong Ki Kim ◽  
Jong Won Yun ◽  
Eui Jung Kim ◽  
Sung Hong Hahn

TiO2nanotube arrays (TNAs) are fabricated on quartz substrate by anodizing E-beam evaporated Ti films. E-beam evaporated Ti films are directly anodized at various anodizing voltages ranging from 20 to 45 V and their morphological, wetting, and photocatalytic properties are examined. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared TNAs is evaluated by the photodecomposition of methylene blue under UV illumination. The TNAs prepared at an anodizing voltage of 30 V have a high roughness of 30.1 nm and a low water contact angle of 7.5°, resulting in a high photocatalytic performance. The surface roughness of the TNAs is found to correlate inversely with the water contact angle. High roughness (i.e., high surface area), which leads to high hydrophilicity, is desirable for effective photocatalytic activity.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1360
Author(s):  
Sangbin Park ◽  
Younghwa Yoon ◽  
Sehyun Lee ◽  
Taejun Park ◽  
Kyunghwan Kim ◽  
...  

To achieve self-cleaning at a low maintenance cost, we investigated the possibility of obtaining a sustainable hydrophilic surface of TiO2 thin film. As the hydrophilicity of TiO2 films fabricated by FTS has not yet been studied, we deposited TiOx using FTS, and then TiO2 was formed through additional treatment. Hydrophilic surfaces were obtained by thermoinduced and photoinduced methods. UV irradiation led to the conversion of Ti4+ to Ti3+ in the lattice structure and an increase in the number of OH groups on the surface, and annealing induced the formation of Ti3+ defect sites, as well as organic degradation and changes in the crystal structure. Through the annealing process, the water contact angle of as-deposited film was decreased from 78.7° to 35.7°, and crystallinity changed from amorphous to anatase. These changes contributed to the formation of a hydrophilic surface and reduced the water contact angle by up to 10.8°. After the formation of a hydrophilic surface through annealing and UV irradiation, the sample returned to its original state. We confirmed that the water contact angle of the returned sample was decreased through exposure to sunlight; it reduced the water contact angle of the returned sample by 15.2°. Thus, the results revealed that the crystallinity influences the hydrophilicity and its sustainability for TiO2 films under sunlight.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muayad Al-shaeli ◽  
Stefan J. D. Smith ◽  
Shanxue Jiang ◽  
Huanting Wang ◽  
Kaisong Zhang ◽  
...  

<p>In this study, novel <a>mixed matrix polyethersulfone (PES) membranes</a> were synthesized by using two different kinds of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), namely UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH<sub>2</sub>. The composite membranes were characterised by SEM, EDX, FTIR, PXRD, water contact angle, porosity, pore size, etc. Membrane performance was investigated by water permeation flux, flux recovery ratio, fouling resistance and anti-fouling performance. The stability test was also conducted for the prepared mixed matrix membranes. A higher reduction in the water contact angle was observed after adding both MOFs to the PES and sulfonated PES membranes compared to pristine PES membranes. An enhancement in membrane performance was observed by embedding the MOF into PES membrane matrix, which may be attributed to the super-hydrophilic porous structure of UiO-66-NH<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles and hydrophilic structure of UiO-66 nanoparticles that could accelerate the exchange rate between solvent and non-solvent during the phase inversion process. By adding the MOFs into PES matrix, the flux recovery ratio was increased greatly (more than 99% for most mixed matrix membranes). The mixed matrix membranes showed higher resistance to protein adsorption compared to pristine PES membranes. After immersing the membranes in water for 3 months, 6 months and 12 months, both MOFs were stable and retained their structure. This study indicates that UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH<sub>2</sub> are great candidates for designing long-term stable mixed matrix membranes with higher anti-fouling performance.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Sikora ◽  
Dariusz Czylkowski ◽  
Bartosz Hrycak ◽  
Magdalena Moczała-Dusanowska ◽  
Marcin Łapiński ◽  
...  

AbstractThis paper presents the results of experimental investigations of the plasma surface modification of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer and PMMA composites with a [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester fullerene derivative (PC61BM). An atmospheric pressure microwave (2.45 GHz) argon plasma sheet was used. The experimental parameters were: an argon (Ar) flow rate (up to 20 NL/min), microwave power (up to 530 W), number of plasma scans (up to 3) and, the kind of treated material. In order to assess the plasma effect, the possible changes in the wettability, roughness, chemical composition, and mechanical properties of the plasma-treated samples’ surfaces were evaluated by water contact angle goniometry (WCA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The best result concerning the water contact angle reduction was from 83° to 29.7° for the PMMA material. The ageing studies of the PMMA plasma-modified surface showed long term (100 h) improved wettability. As a result of plasma treating, changes in the samples surface roughness parameters were observed, however their dependence on the number of plasma scans is irregular. The ATR-FTIR spectra of the PMMA plasma-treated surfaces showed only slight changes in comparison with the spectra of an untreated sample. The more significant differences were demonstrated by XPS measurements indicating the surface chemical composition changes after plasma treatment and revealing the oxygen to carbon ratio increase from 0.1 to 0.4.


Author(s):  
Wei Lee Lim ◽  
Shiplu Roy Chowdhury ◽  
Min Hwei Ng ◽  
Jia Xian Law

Tissue-engineered substitutes have shown great promise as a potential replacement for current tissue grafts to treat tendon/ligament injury. Herein, we have fabricated aligned polycaprolactone (PCL) and gelatin (GT) nanofibers and further evaluated their physicochemical properties and biocompatibility. PCL and GT were mixed at a ratio of 100:0, 70:30, 50:50, 30:70, 0:100, and electrospun to generate aligned nanofibers. The PCL/GT nanofibers were assessed to determine the diameter, alignment, water contact angle, degradation, and surface chemical analysis. The effects on cells were evaluated through Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cell (WJ-MSC) viability, alignment and tenogenic differentiation. The PCL/GT nanofibers were aligned and had a mean fiber diameter within 200–800 nm. Increasing the GT concentration reduced the water contact angle of the nanofibers. GT nanofibers alone degraded fastest, observed only within 2 days. Chemical composition analysis confirmed the presence of PCL and GT in the nanofibers. The WJ-MSCs were aligned and remained viable after 7 days with the PCL/GT nanofibers. Additionally, the PCL/GT nanofibers supported tenogenic differentiation of WJ-MSCs. The fabricated PCL/GT nanofibers have a diameter that closely resembles the native tissue’s collagen fibrils and have good biocompatibility. Thus, our study demonstrated the suitability of PCL/GT nanofibers for tendon/ligament tissue engineering applications.


2016 ◽  
Vol 879 ◽  
pp. 2524-2527
Author(s):  
Masazumi Okido ◽  
Kensuke Kuroda

Surface hydrophilicity is considered to have a strong influence on the biological reactions of bone-substituting materials. However, the influence of a hydrophilic or hydrophobic surface on the osteoconductivity is not completely clear. In this study, we produced super-hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface on Ti-and Zr-alloys. Hydrothermal treatment at 180 oC for 180 min. in the distilled water and immersion in x5 PBS(-) brought the super-hydrophilic surface (water contact angle < 10 (deg.)) and heat treatment of as-hydrothermaled the hydrophobic surface. The osteoconductivity of the surface treated samples with several water contact angle was evaluated by in vivo testing. The surface properties, especially water contact angle, strongly affected the osteoconductivity and protein adsorbability, and not the surface substance.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2058
Author(s):  
Kyutae Seo ◽  
Hyo Kang

We synthesized a series of polystyrene derivatives modified with precursors of liquid crystal (LC) molecules via polymer modification reactions. Thereafter, the orientation of the LC molecules on the polymer films, which possess part of the corresponding LC molecular structure, was investigated systematically. The precursors and the corresponding derivatives used in this study include ethyl-p-hydroxybenzoate (homopolymer P2BO and copolymer P2BO#, where # indicates the molar fraction of ethylbenzoate-p-oxymethyl in the side chain (# = 20, 40, 60, and 80)), n-butyl-p-hydroxybenzoate (P4BO), n-hexyl-p-hydroxybenzoate (P6BO), and n-octyl-p-hydroxybenzoate (P8BO). A stable and uniform vertical orientation of LC molecules was observed in LC cells fabricated with P2BO#, with 40 mol% or more ethylbenzoate-p-oxymethyl side groups. In addition, the LC molecules were oriented vertically in LC cells fabricated with homopolymers of P2BO, P4BO, P6BO, and P8BO. The water contact angle on the polymer films can be associated with the vertical orientation of the LC molecules in the LC cells fabricated with the polymer films. For example, vertical LC orientation was observed when the water contact angle of the polymer films was greater than ~86°. Good orientation stability was observed at 150 °C and with 20 J/cm2 of UV irradiation for LC cells fabricated with the P2BO film.


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