Application of Surfactant Material as Anti-hygroscopicity agent for Ammonium Nitrate (NH4NO3)

Ammonium nitrate is a promising rocket propellant oxidizer. It is present as the major component in most industrial explosives. Due to the surface polarity of ammonium nitrate, the particles can easy absorb moisture. In this study, ammonium nitrate particles were coated by cetylalcohol surfactant in order to reduce the hygroscopicity. The optimized physical coating process using cetylalcohol was achieved by (L9 (34 )) Taguchi orthogonal array (TOA).The analysis of TOA revealed that the highest decline of absorption rate was 35.45% with the mass ratio of coating layer was 0.95%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the surface of coated and uncoated ammonium nitrate. The idea and approach presented in this study can help the researchers to improving anti-hygroscopicity of ammonium nitrate.

SURFACTANT MATERIAL PROPERTIES AND CORONAVIRUS SURFACE: A SURFACE INTERACTION FOR COVID-19 TREATMENT AND VACCINATION

Generally, the structural components of infectious diseases causing viruses like coronavirus, Ebola virus, etc., are mainly focused on developing effective treatment and vaccines. Meanwhile, the spike proteins play a major role in knowing the profound way out to curtail the respective infectivity. S1 and S2 act as the two main subunits to render prime significance to reveal the interaction of surface-active agents in this context. Keeping in view the importance of surfactants in developing effective treatment and vaccine for the coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19), this article describes the surface chemistry of this quest. The surface action being the main mode of infectivity can thus be halted by using surface-active compounds (surfactants). Therefore, this review emphasizes the sound role of surface action linked with COVID-19 treatment and vaccination.

Preparation of Acyclovir-Containing Solid Foam by Ultrasonic Batch Technology

In recent years, the application of solid foams has become widespread. Solid foams are not only used in the aerospace field but also in everyday life. Although foams are promising dosage forms in the pharmaceutical industry, their usage is not prevalent due to decreased stability of the solid foam structure. These special dosage forms can result in increased bioavailability of drugs. Low-density floating formulations can also increase the gastric residence time of drugs; therefore, drug release will be sustained. Our aim was to produce a stable floating formula by foaming. Matrix components, PEG 4000 and stearic acid type 50, were selected with the criteria of low gastric irritation, a melting range below 70 °C, and well-known use in oral drug formulations. This matrix was melted at 54 °C in order to produce a dispersion of active substance and was foamed by different gases at atmospheric pressure using an ultrasonic homogenizer. The density of the molded solid foam was studied by the pycnometer method, and its structure was investigated by SEM and micro-CT. The prolonged drug release and mucoadhesive properties were proved in a pH 1.2 buffer. According to our experiments, a stable foam could be produced by rapid homogenization (less than 1 min) without any surfactant material.

The hygroscopicity and reactivity of fatty acid atmospheric aerosol proxies are affected by nanostructure

<p>Atmospheric aerosol hygroscopicity and reactivity play a significant role in determining aerosol fate, and are affected by composition and other physical properties. Organic aerosol emissions contain fatty acids, along with sugars such as fructose. As surfactants, fatty acids organise into a range of nanostructures (3-D molecular arrangements), dependent on water content and mixture composition. In this study, we were able to demonstrate (and quantify) that the chemical reactivity of this proxy is dependent on its 3-D molecular arrangement. Furthermore, we have determined the effect of each observed nanostructure on hygroscopicity by measuring the swelling of these nanostructures as a function of relative humidity. We did this by coating capillaries with a fatty acid/sugar as a mixture for an urban aerosol, and following structural changes with simultaneous Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and Raman microscopy, at a synchrotron X-ray source. SAXS measured the nano-structural parameters required to follow both the reaction kinetics (ozonolysis) and hygroscopic swelling of each nanostructure. Raman microscopy provided complementary kinetic information and supported these findings. We found that the molecular arrangement of surfactant material has an impact on both the chemical kinetics and hygroscopicity. This has implications for the persistence of particulate matter in the urban environment and surfactant material in the atmosphere.</p>

Effect of Surfactants and Nanoparticle Materials on the Stability and Properties of CuO-Water and Fe3O4-Water Nanofluids

The arguments in favor of using nanofluids in thermal applications have been increasing substantially for the last few decades. Nanofluids provide improved performance in heat transfer processes in comparison to their base fluids as a result of their superior thermal properties. Even though nanofluids exhibit better thermal properties, their usage has been limited due to their stability issues. The stability of the nanofluid greatly affects its thermal properties over a period of time. The stability and thermal properties of nanofluids can be affected by parameters like surfactants used and their concentrations, and also on the nanomaterial used in the nanofluid. In this study, surfactant material and nanoparticle material are selected as process variables and for each variable two levels are selected. For surfactant material, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide (CTAB) are selected. Surfactant concentration ratios are taken as 1:2 for CuO and 1:4 for Fe3O4 material. Four nanofluid samples are prepared with 0.1% weight of nanoparticles and their stability and properties are studied. The feasibility of turbidity as an indicator for stability is also explored in this work. The results show that the zeta potential and hydrodynamic characteristics are largely dependent on the surfactant material. Both surfactants show good stability of nanofluids. In-line with earlier observations, it is also observed that the nanoparticle material has a dominant effect on the thermal conductivity of the nanofluids. Comparing the turbidity of the nanofluids to the zeta potential, it is observed that the turbidity measurement gives first-hand information about the stability of nanofluids and can act as an index for stability. But still, more exploration is necessary for this field so a quantitive relation can be established between turbidity and zeta potential of different nanofluid materials and concentrations.

Influence of Mesoporous Inorganic Al–B–P Amphiprotic Surfactant Material Resistances of Wood against Brown and White-Rot Fungi (Part 1)

This study describes the application of aluminum sulfate Al2(SO4)3, boric acid H3BO3, phosphoric acid H3PO4 (Al–B–P) and amphiprotic surfactant material synthesis by the sol-gel process, which were adopted as novel precursors for wood modification. The efficacy of Al–B–P-treated wood was tested against Poria placenta and Coriolus versicolor. Untreated wood samples had higher mass losses (>40%) compared to the treated sample, which had the lowest wood mass losses (of 4%) against P. placenta and C. versicolor. To analyze the reaction mechanism of Al–B–P wood, the mechanical properties, chemical structure, crystallinity, thermal analysis, binding energy and wettability was examined by modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. Scanning electron microscopy- energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) confirmed the wood colonization by fungi, and was used to identify the microstructures and morphologies changes that occurred in the cells during degradation by white and brown-rot fungi. At the same time, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to analyze the physical and chemical properties of the samples. Therefore, the study confirmed that Al–B–P and amphiprotic surfactant could replace the traditional wood preservative products, and have the potential to extend the service life of wood, particularly in soil contact and outdoor usage.

Deduction of Surfactants Effect on Performance, Morphology, Thermal and Molecular Properties of Polymeric Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Based Ultrafiltration Membrane

In membrane making, surfactant material is one of the effective strategies to produce membrane / thin film with optimal and specific properties. This paper addressed the effect of Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), Triton X-100 and Tween 80 as additives for the making of Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. The fabricated membranes were analysed in the aspect of performance, morphological structures, thermal properties and molecular orientation. Analysis results showed that the surfactant additives enhanced the membrane performance and properties. Surprisingly, the addition of 2 wt% surfactant increased the permeate flux of bovine serum albumin (BSA) up to 78.14 L/m2h compared to membrane without surfactant with flux at only 2.74 L/m2h. In addition, the role of surfactants on membrane pores and pore properties of PVDF UF membranes were examined. The cross-sectional morphological structures showed that these surfactants led towards the formation of macro-voids and finger-like structures as well as a spongy layer. The surfactants additives also improved the membrane pores and pore properties which reflect to the protein rejection up to 85 % and 78 % of BSA and egg albumin (EA), respectively. Moreover, analysis on the thermal features found that SDS, Triton X-100 and Tween 80 promoted better thermal stability and significantly fine molecular alignment which provided the versatility for the membrane to be used for any applications.