Micellar Effects on the Kinetics of Cerium(IV) Oxidation and the Cerium(IV)-Catalyzed Belousov−Zhabotinsky Reaction with Methyl-, Ethyl-, or Benzylmalonic Acid

Halloysite nanotubes as nanoreactors for heterogeneous micellar catalysis

HYPOTHESIS

Electrostatic attractions between the anionic head group of sodium alkylsulphates and the positively charged inner surface of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) drive to the formation of tubular inorganic micelles, which might be employed as nanoreactors for the confinement of non polar compounds in aqueous media. On this basis, sodium alkylsulphates/halloysite hybrids could be efficient nanocatalysts for organic reactions occurring in water.

EXPERIMENTS

Sodium decylsulphate (NaDeS) and sodium dodecylsulphate (NaDS) were selected for the functionalization of the halloysite cavity. The composition, the structure and the surface charge properties of the hybrid nanotubes were determined. The actual formation of inorganic micelles was explored by studying the microviscosity and polarity characteristics of the surfactant modified nanotubes through fluorescence spectroscopy experiments using DiPyme as probe. The performances of the sodium alkylsulphates/halloysite composites as micellar catalysts for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction were investigated.

FINDINGS

The halloysite functionalization with sodium alkylsulphates generated the formation of hydrophobic microdomains with an enhanced microviscosity. Compared to the surfactant conventional micelles, the functionalized nanotubes induced larger enhancements on the rate constant of the BZ reaction. This is the first report on the surfactant/halloysite hybrids showing their efficiencies as reusable nanocatalysts, which are dependent on their peculiar microviscosity and polarity properties.

Modulation of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction with Lipid Bilayers: Effects of Lipid Head Groups and Membrane Properties

The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is an oscillating reaction due to periodic oscillations that happen in the concentration of some intermediates. Such systems can be applied together with hydrophobic membranes to create an autonomous behavior in artificial systems. However, because of a complex set of reactions happening in such systems, the interferences caused by hydrophobic membranes are not easily understood. In this study, we tested lipid membranes composed of trimethylammonium-propane (TAP) and phosphate (PA) lipids in an attempt to break down how the polar region of phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipid membranes affect the BZ reaction. According to our findings, the trimethylammonium group and membrane fluidity are crucial to change the frequency of oscillations in the reaction. In addition, the results also indicate a possible complexation of cerium ions with membranes with a phosphate head group.

Changes Caused by Liposomes to the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction

The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction has been applied to give autonomous dynamic behaviors to artificial systems. This reaction is conducted in an aqueous system, but it produces some hydrophobic intermediates, such as bromine. On the basis of previous works about reactions in the lipid bilayer, we investigated how liposome membranes (water-oil interface) affect the BZ reaction. Herein diacylglycerophosphocholine (PC) molecules with a variety of hydrocarbon tails were selected as components of liposomes, and the BZ reaction in the presence of the liposomes was characterized. As a result, membrane fluidity was the main characteristic leading to changes in the reaction behavior. The decrease of the frequency of oscillations was relevant to membrane fluidity, suggesting the interaction of bromine species in the hydrophobic site of the liposomes. In addition, the heterogeneous membrane (s_o+l_d) of DMPC showed a fast decrease in the amplitude of oscillations. Conclusively, characteristics of the hydrophobic environment play a role in the reaction.

Surfactant-induced gradients in the three-dimensional Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Scroll waves are prominent patterns formed in three-dimensional excitable media, and they are frequently considered highly relevant for some types of cardiac arrhythmias. Experimentally, scroll wave dynamics is often studied by optical tomography in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, which produces CO(2) as an undesired product. Addition of small concentrations of a surfactant to the reaction medium is a popular method to suppress or retard CO(2) bubble formation. We show that in closed reactors even these low concentrations of surfactants are sufficient to generate vertical gradients of excitability which are due to gradients in CO(2) concentration. In reactors open to the atmosphere such gradients can be avoided. The gradients induce a twist on vertically oriented scroll waves, while a twist is absent in scroll waves in a gradient-free medium. The effects of the CO(2) gradients are reproduced by a numerical study, where we extend the Oregonator model to account for the production of CO(2) and for its advection against the direction of gravity. The numerical simulations confirm the role of solubilized CO(2) as the source of the vertical gradient of excitability in reactors closed to the atmosphere.

The Effect of Perturbants on the Uncatalyzed Bromate Oscillator

The effect of cationic (CTAN), anionic (SDS) and nonionic surfactants (Brij-30 and Triton X-100) as well as of tert-butanol (t-BuOH) on the uncatalyzed bromate oscillator with phenol as substrate was investigated at 25 ± 0.1oC in non-stirred batch conditions. Addition of the surfactants influenced the oscillatory parameters: a slight increase in induction period of the first series of oscillations, a significant increase in induction period of the second series of oscillations as well as a gradual decrease in oscillation numbers of both series until complete disappearance at a certain surfactant concentration. The changes in the oscillatory parameters have been ascribed to the solubilization of phenol and of bromination products in the micelles, to the inhibition of bromination of aromatic substrate due to the bromine solubilization and to the catalytic effect of charged micelle surface. The changes in the oscillatory behaviour with increasing alcohol concentration have been discussed in terms of its ability to act as a radical scavenger and to affect the 3D-structure of water.

Nonlinear Response of a Batch BZ Oscillator to the Addition of the Anionic Surfactant Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

The response of the Belousov-Zhabotinsy (BZ) system to the addition of increasing amounts of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was monitored at 25.0 degrees C in stirred batch conditions. The presence of SDS in the reaction mixture influences the oscillatory parameters, i.e., induction period and oscillation period, to an extent that depends on the surfactant concentration. The experimental results have shown that the induction period increases slightly on increasing surfactant concentration and, then, a further increase in the [SDS] leads to an enhancement while the oscillation period increases monotonously on increasing SDS concentration. It has been proposed that the response of the oscillatory BZ system to the addition of SDS is due to the peculiar capability of the organized surfactant assemblies to affect the reactivity by selectively sequestering some key reacting species. Indeed, explanations of the experimental results have been given on the basis of the role played by the micellar shape, which in turn dictates the hydrophobic nature. The suggested perturbation effects have been supported by performing viscosity measurements on the aqueous SDS solutions and by the spectrophotometric estimation of the binding constant of the bromine species to the micellar aggregates. This study has indirectly corroborated the existence of two kind of micelles and unambiguously revealed that the bromine species show a different affinity toward the spherical and rod-like micelles.

Observations of the Effect of Anionic, Cationic, Neutral, and Zwitterionic Surfactants on the Belousov−Zhabotinsky Reaction

In this paper we report the experimental observations of the effects of various surfactants on the oscillations of the ferroin-catalyzed Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. The oscillations are followed by observing the change in absorbance at 510 nm due to ferroin in a well-stirred closed BZ reacting system. We have used sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the anionic surfactant, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as the cationic surfactant, Triton X-100 as the neutral surfactant, and 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio)]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS) as the zwitterionic surfactant. In general, we observed that there is a change in the oscillation behavior in the presence of each of these surfactants above their critical micellar concentrations. For different surfactants, the time-dependent evolution of the oscillations is found to be characteristic of the surfactant. The results of our study suggest that the evolution of oscillations is most regular in the presence of micelles of SDS.