Inductive Effect and Hydrogen Bonding in Complexes of Branched Poly(ethylenimine) with Sodium Tetraphenylborate and Sodium Triflate

Facile Synthesis of Highly Dispersed Co3O4 Nanoparticles on Expanded, Thin Black Phosphorus for a ppb-Level NO x Gas Sensor

Expanded few-layer black phosphorus nanosheets (FL-BP NSs) were functionalized by branched polyethylenimine (PEI) using a simple noncovalent assembly to form air-stable overlayers (BP-PEI), and a Co₃O₄@BP-PEI composite was designed and synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The size of the highly dispersed Co₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) on the FL-BP NSs can be controlled. The BP-C5 (190 °C for 5 h) sensor, with 4-6 nm Co₃O₄ NPs on the FL-BP NSs, exhibited an ultrahigh sensitivity of 8.38 and a fast response of 0.67 s to 100 ppm of NO _x at room temperature in air, which is 4 times faster than the response of the FL-BP NS sensor, and the lower detection limit reached 10 ppb. This study points to a promising method for tuning properties of BP-based composites by forming air-stable overlayers and highly dispersed metal oxide NPs for use in high-performance gas sensors.

Responsive hydrogels produced via organic sol-gel chemistry for cell culture applications

In this study, we report the synthesis of novel environmentally responsive polyurea hydrogel networks prepared via organic sol-gel chemistry and demonstrate that the networks can stabilize pH while releasing glucose both in simple aqueous media and in mammalian cell culture settings. Hydrogel formulations have been developed based on the combination of an aliphatic triisocyanate with pH-insensitive amine functional polyether and pH-sensitive poly(ethyleneimine) segments in a minimally toxic solvent suitable for the sol-gel reaction. The polyether component of the polyurea network is sufficiently hydrophilic to give rise to some level of swelling independent of environmental pH, while the poly(ethyleneimine) component contains tertiary amine groups providing pH sensitivity to the network in the form of enhanced swelling and release under acidic conditions. The reaction of these materials to form a network is rapid and requires no catalyst. The resultant material exhibits the desired pH-responsive swelling behavior and demonstrates its ability to simultaneously neutralize lactic acid and release glucose in both cell-free culture media and mammalian cell culture, with no detectable evidence of cytotoxicity or changes in cell behavior, in the case of either SA-13 human hybridomas or mouse embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, pH is observed to have a clear effect on the rate at which glucose is released from the hydrogel network. Such characteristics promise to maintain a favorable cell culture environment in the absence of human intervention.

Preparation and characterization of multilayered polymer nanotube dispersions

Despite considerable efforts to synthesize nanotubes using porous alumina or polycarbonate membrane templates, few studies have addressed the resulting nanotube dispersion. We prepared dispersions of multilayered polyethylenimine/maleic anhydride alternating copolymer (PEI/MAAC) nanotubes synthesized with porous alumina templates. After mechanical polishing to remove the residual polymer surface layer from templates and subsequent template dissolution, the multilayered PEI/MAAC nanotubes were easily dispersed in water at neutral pH by polyelectrolyte adsorption, producing nanotube dispersions that were stable for at least 3 months. We characterized the dispersions using phase-contrast optical microscopy, electro-optics, electrophoresis, and viscometry to help understand their colloidal properties in the dilute and semidilute regimes. The dispersions were resistant to salt-induced aggregation up to at least 1 mM NaCl and were optically anisotropic when subjected to an electric field or flow. Interestingly, the electrophoretic mobility of polystyrene sulfonate (PSS)-stabilized nanotubes increases with increasing ionic strength, because of the high surface charge and softness of the adsorbed polyelectrolyte. Furthermore, unlike many rod-like colloid systems, the polymer nanotube dispersion has low viscosity because of weak rotary Brownian motions and strong tendency to shear thinning. At the high shear rates achieved in capillary viscometry experiments, however, we observed a slight shear thickening, which can be attributed to transient hydrocluster formation.

Hydrogen Bonding and Cation Coordination Effects in Primary and Secondary Amines Dissolved in Carbon Tetrachloride

Raman and infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate hydrogen-bonding interactions and cation coordination effects in solutions of lithium triflate (LiCF3SO3) dissolved in two primary amines, hexylamine (HEXA) and N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (DMEDA), and in a secondary amine, dipropylamine (DPA). Strong intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions and weaker intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions that occur only in DMEDA were spectroscopically distinguished in a comparison of pure HEXA, pure DMEDA, and the dilute solutions of these amines in CCl4. The spectroscopic shifts in intensity and frequency in the NH stretching region of DPA and DPA diluted in CCl4 were similar to those of HEXA. Dilute electrolyte solutions in carbon tetrachloride were prepared to analyze specifically the cation coordination effect. In these solutions, limited intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions are present, and the observed spectral shifts correspond primarily to the cation-induced shifts. The symmetric SO3 stretching region of the triflate anion was investigated to probe further the coordination of the cation. The local structures of the triflate ions and the amine groups in the electrolyte solutions dissolved in CCl4 are similar to the local structures in the corresponding amine-salt crystals previously reported by us.

Crystalline and Solution Phases of N,N-Dimethylethylenediamine Complexed with Lithium Triflate and Sodium Triflate: Intramolecular and Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonding

Infrared and Raman spectroscopy were used to study hydrogen-bonding interactions and the cation coordination effect in solutions of N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (DMEDA) with lithium triflate (LiTf) and sodium triflate (NaTf). A comparison of pure DMEDA with DMEDA dissolved in carbon tetrachloride enabled the separation of the relative contributions of intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions to the N-H stretching frequencies. The addition of LiTf and NaTf to DMEDA shifts the N-H stretching frequencies through two competing effects: the cation coordination effect lowers the frequencies, while the disruption of the hydrogen-bonding interactions increases the frequencies. These two effects were distinguished in a study of the concentration dependence of both salts dissolved in DMEDA; the differentiation was based on the difference in the spectral sensitivities of the symmetric and the antisymmetric stretch in both the Raman and infrared spectra. During this study, DMEDA-LiTf and DMEDA-NaTf crystals were discovered, and their structures were solved by X-ray diffraction techniques. The analysis of the vibrational spectra of these crystals was greatly enhanced by unambiguous knowledge of the structural details of cation-molecule and anion-cation interactions. These structure-spectra correlations were used to complement analogous spectroscopic studies in the solution phases. Analysis of spectral regions in both crystalline and solution phases particularly sensitive to the nature and strength of cation-molecule interactions clearly established that the interaction of the lithium ion with the nitrogen atoms of DMEDA was stronger than the sodium ion-DMEDA interaction, as expected from charge density arguments.