In Vitro Evaluation of Curcumin- and Quercetin-Loaded Nanoemulsions for Intranasal Administration: Effect of Surface Charge and Viscosity

The nose-to-brain delivery of neuroprotective natural compounds is an appealing approach for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Nanoemulsions containing curcumin (CUR) and quercetin (QU) were prepared by high-pressure homogenization and characterized physicochemically and structurally. A negative (CQ_NE−), a positive (CQ_NE+), and a gel (CQ_NEgel) formulation were developed. The mean particle size of the CQ_NE− and CQ_NE+ was below 120 nm, while this increased to 240 nm for the CQ_NEgel. The formulations showed high encapsulation efficiency and protected the CUR/QU from biological/chemical degradation. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that the CUR/QU were located at the interface of the oil phase in the proximity of the surfactant layer. The cytotoxicity studies showed that the formulations containing CUR/QU protected human nasal cells from the toxicity evidenced for blank NEs. No permeation across an in vitro model nasal epithelium was evidenced for CUR/QU, probably due to their poor water-solubility and instability in physiological buffers. However, the nasal cells’ drug uptake showed that the total amount of CUR/QU in the cells was related to the NE characteristics (CQ_NE− > CQ_NE+ > CQ_NEgel). The method used allowed the obtainment of nanocarriers of an appropriate size for nasal administration. The treatment of the cells showed the protection of cellular viability, holding promise as an anti-inflammatory treatment able to prevent neurodegenerative diseases.

EPR Study of the Mn-Doped Magnesium Titanate Ceramics

Manganese-doped magnesium titanate ceramic samples obtained by a solid-state reaction via sintering in the air from a mixture of MgO and TiO2 powders of different molar ratios were analyzed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique. The EPR signals of Mn2+ ions (S = 5/2, І = 5/2) in crystal phases of MgO, Mg2TiO4, and MgTiO3 were detected. We have obtained the following spin Hamiltonian parameters for Mn2+ ions: g = 2.0015, A ~ 81 ∗ 10-4 cm-1 (in MgO phase); g = 2.0029, A ~ 73.8 ∗ 10-4 cm-1, b2 0 = 35 ∗ 10-4 cm-1 (in Mg2TiO4 phase); g = 2.004, A ~ 79 ∗ 10-4 cm-1, b2 0 = 165 ∗ 10-4 cm-1 (in MgTiO3 phase). Despite the presence of Mn4+ centers in both Mg2TiO4:Mn and MgTiO3:Mn ceramics confirmed by previous optical studies, no EPR signals related to Mn4+ ions (S = 3/2, І = 5/2) were found. The Mn2+ EPR signals are proposed as structural probes in manganese-doped magnesium titanate ceramics.

Identifying the "true" repeat unit of a copolymer using time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy: a case study involving PNDIT2, NDI-T2 and T-NDI-T

Semiconducting polymers promise to revolutionise the way electronic devices can be built and deployed for a vast array of applications ranging from light-energy conversion to sensors to thermoelectric generators. Conjugated push-pull copolymers consisting of alternating donor and acceptor moieties are at the heart of these applications, due to the large tunability of their electronic structure. Hence, knowing the repeat unit and thus the chromophore of these materials is essential for a detailed understanding of the structure--function relationship of conjugated polymers used in organic electronics applications. Therefore, spectroscopic tools providing the necessary molecular resolution that allows to discriminate between different building blocks and to decide which one actually resembles the electronic structure of the polymer are of utmost importance. Time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectroscopy is both, perfectly suited for this task and clearly superior to optical spectroscopy, particularly when supported by quantum-chemical calculations. This is due to its molecular resolution and unique capability of using light-induced triplet states to probe the electronic structure as well as the impact of the local environment. Here, we demonstrate the power of this approach for the polymer PNDIT2 (poly{[N,N'-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5'-(2,2'-bithiophene)}) revealing NDI-T2 unambiguously as the "true" repeat unit of the polymer, representing the chromophore. The alternative building block T-NDI-T has a markedly different electronic structure. These results are of high importance for the rational design of conjugated polymers for organic electronics applications.

Идентификация NV-центров в синтетических флуоресцентных наноалмазах и контроль дефектности кристаллитов методом электронного парамагнитного резонанса

A 100 nm synthetic diamond particle with a large (> 4 ppm) amount of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers has been studied. The latter exhibit lines associated with forbidden Delta m_s = 2 and allowed Delta m_s = 1 transitions in the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the ground state of the NV(-) center. The luminescence intensity of particles in the range 550-800 nm increases with an increase in the irradiation dose of 5 MeV electrons and correlates with the integrated intensity of the EPR line with a g-factor g = 4.27.This value is used to estimate the concentration of NV(-) centers and to select diamond powders with the highest fluorescence intensity. The dependence of the EPR signal intensity of the Delta m_s = 2 transition of the NV(-) center on the microwave power has the form of a curve with saturation and subsequent decay, and rather well characterizes the crystal quality of the local environment of the centers under study in these particles. The intensity of the x,y Delta m_s = 1 transition (at ~281.2 mT, 9.444 GHz) turns out to be more sensitive to changes in particle size in the submicron range and the appearance of near-surface defects obtained during mechanical processing.

Application of time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy in the mechanistic study of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials

Triplet exciton harvesting is crucial in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), because the triplet states produced by electron and hole recombination is up to 75% of the total excitons, whereas...

Dipolar pathways in dipolar EPR spectroscopy

Dipolar electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments such as double electron--electron resonance (DEER) measure distributions of nanometer-scale distances between unpaired electrons, which provide valuable information for structural characterization of proteins and...