A simple and effective approach for vertical alignment of liquid crystals (LCs) over a functionalized transparent flexible substrate is described. Surface characterization of this commercially available plastic substrate through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) indicated that cellulose acetate is main component of the transparent substrate. This substrate was chemically functionalized with a suitable LC compound. A trimethoxysilane terminated new rod-shaped mesogen is synthesized and covalently attached to the pre-treated film through silane condensation reaction. LC functionalization of the polymer film is confirmed through contact angle (CA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), XPS and ATR-IR spectroscopy studies. Versatility of the LC modified flexible substrates for the alignment of bulk LC sample at substrate-LC interface was assessed for nematic (N) and smectic A (SmA) phases. Remarkably, LC functionalized cellulose acetate films were found to be highly efficient in assisting a perfect homeotropic alignment of LCs (for both, a room temperature N and a high temperature SmA phase) over the entire area of the LC sample under observation indicating their superior aligning ability in comparison to their unmodified and octadecyltrimethoxysilane (OTS) modified counterparts. The demonstrated method of surface modification of flexible polymer film is easy, surface modified substrates are stable for several months, retained their aligning ability intact and more importantly they are reusable with maximum delivery.
In the present study, sulphated polysaccharide Ulvan from
Ulva lactuca
was used for the synthesis of biogenic Selenium Nanoparticles (SeNPs) conjugate and Mouth rinse was prepared using this conjugate. The synthesis of nanoparticles was confirmed by UV–Visible spectrophotometry and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). TEM showed that the average size of the nanoparticle was 85 nm and spherical in shape. Furthermore, nanoparticle conjugates were evaluated for cell viability using MTT assay 3T3-L1 cell line and at 30 µl/ml showed 34% cell viability. The antimicrobial activity of SeNPs mouth rinse was tested against oral pathogens such as
Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus,
and
Candida albicans
and it was effective against all tested microorganism at the concentration of 100 µl/ml
.
The present study has shown that Ulvan from algal biomass can be a safe and effective source for the development of oral nano-antimicrobial agents.
In this present study on understanding
the taxol (PTX) binding
interaction mechanism in both the β-tubulin and bovine serum
albumin (BSA) molecule, various optical spectroscopy and computational
techniques were used. The fluorescence steady-state emission spectroscopy
result suggests that there is a static quenching mechanism of the
PTX drug in both β-tubulin and BSA, and further time-resolved
emission spectroscopy studies confirm that the quenching mechanism
exists. The excitation–emission matrix (EEM), Fourier transform
infrared, and resonance light scattering spectra (FT-IR) confirm that
there are structural changes in both the BSA and β-tubulin molecule
during the binding process of PTX. The molecular docking studies revealed
the PTX binding information in BSA, β-tubulin, and modeled β-tubulin
and the best binding pose to further subject the molecular dynamics
simulation, and this study confirms the stability of PTX in the protein
complex during the simulation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations
were performed between the free PTX drug and PTX drug (single point)
in the protein molecule active site region to understand the internal
stability.
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