ABSTRACT:We report herein a very efficient synthesis strategy for the construction of artificial transient-binding protein-mimic nano-objects. Michael addition-mediated multidirectional self-assembly of individual polymeric chains at r.t. leads to "Michael" nanocarriers that in solution resemble disordered multidomain proteins, as revealed by a combination of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements and coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) results, whereas in the dry state adopt a collapsed, globular morphology, as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This extended-to-compact morphology transition taking place upon solvent removal is of paramount importance, among other applications, for the construction of efficient biosensors based on immobilized protein-mimic nano-objects and for the development of transient vitamin-binding systems. As a proof of concept, we show the controlled delivery of vitamin B 9 from these novel transient-binding nanocarriers.Nature is a continuous source of inspiration for scientists across different disciplines.1 In particular, the specific -native-conformation of proteins allowing these large biomolecules to carry out sophisticated tasks such as catalysis inspired the construction of a first generation of artificial enzymes based on a variety of molecular and macromolecular structures such as macrocyclic compounds, 2 star and helical polymers, 3 dendrimers 4 and micelles.
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes have a great potential to maximize oil recovery factor of the existing reservoirs, where a significant volume of the unrecovered oil after conventional methods is targeted. Application of chemical EOR techniques includes the process of injecting different types of chemicals into a reservoir to improve the overall sweep efficiency. Surfactant flooding is one of the chemical EOR used to reduce the oil-water interfacial tension and to mobilize residual oil toward producing wells. Throughout the process of surfactant flooding, selecting a suitable surfactant for the reservoir conditions is quite challenging. Surfactants tend to be the major factor associated with the cost of an EOR process, and losing surfactants leads to substantial economic losses. This process could encounter a significant loss of surfactant due to adsorption into the porous media. Surfactant concentration, salinity, temperature, and pH were found to be as the main factors that influence the surfactant adsorption on reservoir rocks. Most of the research has been conducted in low-temperature and low-salinity conditions. Only limited studies were conducted in high-temperature and high-salinity (HT/HS) conditions due to the challenging for implementation of surfactant flooding in these conditions. This paper, therefore, focuses on the reviews of the studies conducted on surfactant adsorption for different surfactant types on different reservoir rocks under different reservoir conditions, and the influence of surfactant concentration, salinity, temperature, and pH on surfactant adsorption.
Interfacial tension of toluene + water + sodium dodecyl sulfate is reported over the aqueous surfactant concentration range of (0 to 34.68 × 10 -5 ) mol‚L -1 , the temperature range of (20 to 50)°C, and the pH range of 4 to 9. This system is frequently used as a high interfacial tension system for liquid-liquid extraction investigations. The measurements were made by the drop-weight method, and interfacial tension values ranged from (23.1 to 38.1) mN‚m -1 . The data show a nonlinear decrease with increasing surfactant concentration and temperature; however, there is almost a linear decrease with increasing pH. The interfacial pressure is also derived. The obtained data were correlated by empirical equations.
Inspired by the multi-functionality of vitamin D-binding protein and the multiple transientbinding behavior of some intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), we have designed, prepared and characterized a polymeric platform for combined delivery of dermal protective and anticancer bioactive cargos based on artificial single-chain nano-objects mimicking IDPs. For the first time ever, simultaneous delivery of folic acid, or vitamin B 9 , and hinokitiol, a -2 -relevant natural bioactive compound that exhibits anticancer activity against human malignant melanoma cells, from these multi-directionally self-assembled unimolecular nanocarriers is illustrated.
Polymer flooding is an important enhanced oil recovery technology introduced in field projects since the late 1960s. The key to a successful polymer flood project depends upon proper estimation of polymer retention. The aims of this paper are twofold. First, to show the mechanism of polymer flooding and how this mechanism is affected by polymer retention. Based on the literature, the mobility ratio significantly increases as a result of the interactions between the injected polymer molecules and the reservoir rock. Secondly, to provide a better understanding of the polymer retention, we discussed polymer retention types, mechanisms, factors promoting or inhibiting polymer retention, methods and modeling techniques used for estimating polymer retention.
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