Lipid droplets (LD) have lately emerged as the hot target for cancer therapeutics in recent years owing to findings that attribute it as a key organelle involved in maintaining cellular...
Aggregation of organic photothermal agents enhances their photothermal effect. Conventionally, aggregation is achieved by solvatochromic effects which is not translatable for photothermal applications. This report details the incorporation of an...
This thesis reports the use of various supramolecular assemblies to improve the photothermal (PT) effects of a photothermal agent (PTA).In Chapter 2, attempts were made to improve the PT effect of the PTA by incorporating it in phospholipid liposomes and polymeric micelles. The PT effect was measured using the temperature change achieved by the PTA under irradiation. It was found that the PT effect achieved was hindered by the phase transition property of the liposome and micelle where heat generated by the PTA was absorbed for the crystalline-gel and sol-gel transitions by the liposomes and micelles respectively.Chapter 3 dealt with the incorporation of the PTA in hydrogels. The PT effect of PTA under irradiation was studied in micellar and polymeric hydrogels. It was determined that the polymeric hydrogel was the ideal supramolecular assembly for improving the PT effects of the PTA while micellar hydrogels did not provide an environment that allowed effective aggregation of PTA which led to unsuccessful heat generation under irradiation.
It is worth noticing that structure of nanomaterials affects the membrane performance, however, the effect of diameter of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has not been discussed in the past. This research aims to investigate the effect of diameter of MWCNTs on the performance of graphene oxide (GO)/ MWCNTs nanocomposite membrane for methyl orange dye removal. MWCNTs with different diameters (12-15 nm, 30-50 nm) with the same length (< 10 µm) are used to synthesize the nanocomposite membrane. The characteristics of the synthesized nanocomposite membrane were determined by surface hydrophilicity, pore size and porosity, zeta potential, and Fourier-transfer infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Besides, the membrane performance was evaluated by the water permeability test, dye rejection test, and antifouling test. The result showed that pure MWCNTs (30-50 nm) nanocomposite membrane (M2b) has the best performance among the synthesized membrane. The dye rejection of M2b membrane reached 86.77% and the normalized flux was approximately 0.82. Lower dye rejection (83.37%) and normalized flux (0.76) were attained by M2a membrane with smaller diameter MWCNTs (12-15 nm). This was due to M2b membrane having a smaller pore size (0.032 nm), which helped reduce the tendency of dye to pass through the membrane. Besides, M2b membrane has a more negative surface charge (-10.93 mV) that produces larger repulsion force, resulting in more dye being rejected. In conclusion, the performance of the synthesized nanocomposite membrane particularly antifouling properties can be enhanced with the addition of MWCNTs with larger diameter.
Liposomes are versatile nanomaterials
used in a variety of applications such as drug
delivery and bioimaging. In this study, three
asymmetrical squaraine dyes were synthesized
and embedded in liposomes in the efforts to find a
suitable dye that can be used for bioimaging
procedures involving liposomes. The optical
properties of the synthesized dyes as well as their
liposomes were studied and compared to the
previously synthesized asymmetrical squaraine
dye SQR22 and its liposome form. <br>
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