Many industrial applications that rely on emulsions would benefit from an efficient, rapid method of breaking these emulsions at a specific desired stage. We report that long-chain alkyl amidine compounds can be reversibly transformed into charged surfactants by exposure to an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, thereby stabilizing water/alkane emulsions or, for the purpose of microsuspension polymerization, styrene-in-water emulsions. Bubbling nitrogen, argon, or air through the amidinium bicarbonate solutions at 65 degrees C reverses the reaction, releasing carbon dioxide and breaking the emulsion. We also find that the neutral amidines function as switchable demulsifiers of an aqueous crude oil emulsion, enhancing their practical potential.

BackgroundThe appropriateness of an individual's intra uterine growth is now considered an important determinant of both short and long term outcomes, yet currently used measures have several shortcomings. This study demonstrates a method of assessing appropriateness of intrauterine growth based on the estimation of each individual's optimal newborn dimensions from routinely available perinatal data. Appropriateness of growth can then be inferred from the ratio of the value of the observed dimension to that of the optimal dimension.MethodsFractional polynomial regression models including terms for non-pathological determinants of fetal size (gestational duration, fetal gender and maternal height, age and parity) were used to predict birth weight, birth length and head circumference from a population without any major risk factors for sub-optimal intra-uterine growth. This population was selected from a total population of all singleton, Caucasian births in Western Australia 1998–2002. Births were excluded if the pregnancy was exposed to factors known to influence fetal growth pathologically. The values predicted by these models were treated as the optimal values, given infant gender, gestational age, maternal height, parity, and age.ResultsThe selected sample (N = 62,746) comprised 60.5% of the total Caucasian singleton birth cohort. Equations are presented that predict optimal birth weight, birth length and head circumference given gestational duration, fetal gender, maternal height, age and parity. The best fitting models explained 40.5% of variance for birth weight, 32.2% for birth length, and 25.2% for head circumference at birth.ConclusionProportion of optimal birth weight (length or head circumference) provides a method of assessing appropriateness of intrauterine growth that is less dependent on the health of the reference population or the quality of their morphometric data than is percentile position on a birth weight distribution.

A detailed study on the phase behavior and mechanism of lysozyme crystallization is presented. The nucleation and crystal growth rates, crystal morphologies, solubility, second virial coefficients, and cloud-point temperatures under different solution conditions were experimentally measured and theoretically analyzed. The nucleation rates were found to increase with the protein concentration and sodium chloride concentration when crystallization occurred in the solid-liquid coexistence region, and the dependence of nucleation rate on protein concentration was identified to bifurcate into two groups around the liquid-liquid coexistence boundary. The suppression of the nucleation in the protein-rich phase was investigated in terms of protein-protein interactions determined by Raman microscopy and the self-assembly of the protein molecules. The concentration distribution in the region in between the growing nucleus and the protein-rich phase was derived to explain the increase of nucleation rate in the liquid-liquid coexistence region. The different shapes of lysozyme crystals were obtained in different lysozyme and NaCl concentration regions. The growth rates of the (110) and (101) faces of tetragonal lysozyme crystals were also determined. These new observations and analysis were expected to provide further understanding and guidelines for protein crystallization.

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We present an injectable hydrogel based on silk fibroin (SF) nanofibrils which may offer benefits for cell encapsulation and delivery.

Cellulose is crystallized by plants and other organisms into fibrous nanocrystals. The mechanical properties of these nanofibers and the formation of helical superstructures with energy dissipating and adaptive optical properties depend on the ordering of polysaccharide chains within these nanocrystals, which is typically measured in bulk average. Direct measurement of the local polysaccharide chain arrangement has been elusive. In this study, we use the emerging technique of scanning electron diffraction to probe the packing of polysaccharide chains across cellulose nanofibers and to reveal local ordering of the chains in twisting sections of the nanofibers. We then use atomic force microscopy to shed light on the size dependence of the inherent driving force for cellulose nanofiber twisting. The direct measurement of crystalline twisted regions in cellulose nanofibers has important implications for understanding single-cellulose-fibril properties that influence the interactions between cellulose nanocrystals in dense assemblies. This understanding may enable cellulose extraction and separation processes to be tailored and optimized.

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Nacre and other biological composites are important inspirations for the design and fabrication of multifunctional composite materials. Transparent, strong, and flexible hybrid films of aminoclays (AC) and carboxylated cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) with a nacre-like microstructure at AC contents up to 60 wt% are prepared. The high transmittance of visible light is attributed to the high homogeneity of the hybrid films and to the relatively small refractive index contrast between the CNF-based matrix and synthetic AC. The strength and strain to failure of the hybrids are significantly higher than biogenic nacre and other nacre-mimicking nanocellulose-based materials, e.g., montmorillonite-CNF and graphene oxide-CNF composite films. The excellent mechanical properties are related to the ionic bonds between the negatively charged carboxylic groups on the CNF and the positively charged amine groups on the AC nanoparticles. This work illustrates the significance of tailoring the interactions between small clay particles and biopolymers in multifunctional materials with potential applications as printable barrier coatings and substrates for optoelectronics.