Sharif Digital Repository

Gelation time and degradation rate of thermally-sensitive aqueous solutions of chitosan/Gp (glycerophosphate disodium salt) have been studied. The effects of different parameters such as Gp salt concentration, solution temperature, degree of deacetylation of chitosan (DDA) and drug loading on the gelation time have been investigated. Gravimetric analysis, gel permeation chromatography and FTIR spectrophotometry were used to investigate the influence of the DDA and concentration of chitosan solution on hydrogel degradation. The presented results indicated that gelation time decreases by increasing Gp salt concentration, temperature, concentration and DDA of chitosan solutions, while drug... 

In this article an attempt was made to fabricate defect-free asymmetric polysulfone (PSf) membranes for the separation of oxygen and nitrogen. The approach is based on the enhanced delayed demixing by blending surface modifying macromolecules (SMMs) in the casting solution and by immersing the cast film in isopropanol for a certain period before it is immersed in water. Different SMMs, including hydrophobic and charged SMMs, were synthesized, characterized, and blended to the host PSf. It was found that the charged SMM could indeed contribute to the removal of defective pores from the skin layer and enhancement of oxygen/nitrogen selectivity. The experimental results were further interpreted... 

Integrally skinned asymmetric membranes for the separation of O 2 and N 2 were fabricated by the phase inversion technique from polysulfone, polyetherimide, and polyimide. Two types of surface modifying macromolecules (SMMs) including hydrophilic SMM (LSMM) and charged SMM (cSMM) were synthesized and blended with the casting solution to modify the membrane surface. The cast film was then immersed in the first coagulant alcohol (methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol) for a predetermined period, before being immersed in the second coagulant (water). The SMMs used in these experiments were laboratory synthesized by the two-step process of polyurethane prepolymer synthesis and end capping, before... 

A three-dimensional model has been developed to describe the multiphase release of macromolecular drugs encapsulated in a hydrogel. The heterogeneity of network mesh size was considered by assigning varying diffusion coefficients to the network lattices randomly. Using a stochastic approach, the random nature of diffusion of drug molecules was captured within the network. The simplest form of distribution containing two diffusion coefficients was tested. To generate the drug release profiles for experimental validation under the limitation of computational cost, a simple scaling relationship was employed. Unlike the single-diffusivity model, the dual-diffusivity model showed good agreement... 

Synthesis of poly(2,5-dimethoxyanilie) (PDMA) catalyzed by nano reengineered horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with dendritic macromolecules, was studied as a function of reaction media. UV-vis, gel permeation chromatography and conductivity measurements were used to explain how the reaction media compositions influence the physical properties of PDMA. Nanostructured PDMA was also synthesized by oxidative polymerization in a novel and green bi-catalyst system involving HRP and ferric chloride. FTIR and UV-vis analysis confirmed the formation of emeraldine salt state of PDMA. The thermal stability of reengineered HRP granted further studies on the polymerization using bi-catalyst system at... 

Gene therapy has emerged as a promising tool for treating different intractable diseases, particularly cancer or even viral diseases such as COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). In this context, various non-viral gene carriers are being explored to transfer DNA or RNA sequences into target cells. Here, we review the applications of the naturally occurring amino acid histidine in the delivery of nucleic acids into cells. The biocompatibility of histidine-enhanced gene delivery systems has encouraged their wider use in gene therapy. Histidine-based gene carriers can involve the modification of peptides, dendrimers, lipids or nanocomposites. Several linear polymers, such as polyethylenimine,... 

A simple bio-conjugation procedure to surround a single horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme molecule with dendritic polyester macromolecules (polyester-32-hydroxyl-1-carboxyl bis-MPA dendron, generation 5) was proposed. The characterization of resultant nanoparticles entitled HRP dendrozyme, was performed by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, gel permeation chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that HRP nanoparticles were spherical in shape and have an average size of 14 ± 2. nm in diameter. Furthermore, bio-conformational characterization of HRP dendrozyme was performed by means of circular dichroism and fluorescence... 

The most important issue during synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) is to avoid particle agglomeration and adhesion. There have been several attempts to use special substances such as organic surfactants, polymers and stable ligands for this purpose. In this study, silver NPs were synthesised with and without gelatin macromolecules, as a green natural biopolymer, which resulted in NPs with varying shapes and sizes. The effect of morphological characteristics on the antibacterial and antifungal properties of the synthesised NPs were studied, by comparing Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) versus Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria as well as fungi (Candida albicans) by calculation of... 

Despite a diverse range of active pharmaceutical agents currently at our disposal, high morbidity rate diseases continue to pose a major health crisis globally. One of the important parameters in this regard is the controlled cargo delivery at desired sites. Among a variety of synthetic and natural macromolecular systems, chitosan, an abundant biopolymer, offers a platform for tailored architectures that could have high loading capacity of cargo, target and deliver. Stimuli directed accumulation of vehicles and drug release is an area of direct relevance to biomedical applications. In this review, we highlight essential characteristics of modified chitosan that present themselves for... 

Nanostructured TiO2 hollow fibers have been prepared using natural cellulose fibers as a template. This cheap and easily processed material was used to produce highly porous photoanodes incorporated in dye-sensitized solar cells and exhibited remarkably enhanced electron transport properties compared to mesoscopic films made of spherical nanoparticles. Photoinjected electron lifetime, in particular, was multiplied by 3-4 in the fiber morphology, while the electron transport rate within the fibrous photoanaode was doubled. A nearly quantitative absorbed photon-to-electrical current conversion yield exceeding 95% was achieved upon excitation at 550 nm and a photovoltaic power conversion... 

In this work the effect of a conjugated macromolecule on the conformation of CNT was studied. Typically polyglycerol (PG) was covalently grafted onto the surface of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and MWCNT-graft-PG (MWCNT- g-PG) hybrid materials were obtained. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments showed an average diameter around 100nm for MWCNT- g-PG hybrid materials in water. The difference between this size and the expected size for MWCNT- g-PG hybrid materials (the length of pristine MWCNTs was several micrometers) was assigned to the effect of the grafted PG on the conformation of MWCNT in the solution state. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) evaluations showed a change... 

In this work we report a new thermochemical method for the synthesis of ZnS:Mn nanocrystals. Zn(NO3)2 and Na2S 2O3 were used as the precursors and Mn(NO 3)2 was the source of impurity. Thioglycerol (TG,C 3H8O2S) was also used as the capping agent and the catalyst of the reaction. Na2S2O3 is a heat sensitive material which releases S species upon heating. Consequently, the reaction proceeds in temperatures higher than room temperature. The reaction was done in two steps. In the first step, the precursors were heated at 96 °C for an hour without TG. In the second step, TG was injected to the solution and the heating process was continued for longer heating durations. A fast growth occurred in...