Browsing by Subject "Phase equilibria"

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Open Access
Effects of temperature, pH and counterions on the stability of peptide amphiphile nanofiber structures
(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Ozkan A.D.; Tekinay, A. B.; Güler, Mustafa O.; Tekin, E. D.
Peptide amphiphiles are a class of self-assembling molecules that are widely used to form bioactive nanostructures for various applications in bionanomedicine. However, peptide molecules can exhibit distinct behaviors under different conditions, suggesting that environmental variables such as temperature, pH, electrolytes and the presence of biological factors may greatly affect the self-assembly process. In this work, we used united-atom molecular dynamics simulations to understand the effects of three counterions (Na+, Ca2+ at pH 7 and Cl- at pH 2) and temperature change on the stability of the lauryl-VVAGERGD peptide amphiphile self-assembly. This molecule contains a bioactive RGD peptide sequence and has been shown to support cellular adhesion and proliferation in vitro. A 19-layered peptide nanostructure, containing 12 peptide amphiphile molecules per layer, was previously shown to exhibit optimal stability and it was used as the model nanofiber system. Peptide backbone stability was studied under increasing temperatures (300-358 K) using the number of hydrogen bonds and root-mean-square deviations of nanofiber size. At higher temperatures, fiber disintegration was observed to be dependent on the type of counter-ion used for nanofiber formation. Interestingly, rapid heating to higher temperatures could sometimes reestablish the integrity of the nanofiber backbone, possibly by allowing the system to bypass an energy barrier and assuming a more thermodynamically stable configuration. As counterion identity was observed to exhibit remarkable effects on the thermal stability of peptide nanofibers, we suggest that these behaviors should be considered while developing new materials for potential applications.
Open Access
Structural, microstructural and thermal properties of lead-free bismuth-sodium-barium-titanate piezoceramics synthesized by mechanical alloying
(2013) Amini, R.; Ghazanfari, M.R.; Alizadeh, M.; Ardakani H.A.; Ghaffari, M.
Bismuth-sodium-barium-titanate piezoceramics with a composition of (Bi 0.5Na0.5)0.94Ba0.06TiO3 (BNBT) were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA). Structural analysis and phase identification were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Microstructural studies and chemical composition homogeneity were performed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Furthermore, thermal properties of the as-milled powders were evaluated by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA). During the initial milling, the constituents were transformed to the perovskite, pyrochlore, and BNT phases; in addition, partial amorphization of the structure appeared during the milling cycle. As MA progressed, transformation of pyrochlore-to-perovskite and crystallization of the amorphous phase occurred and also, the BNBT phase was significantly developed. It was found that the MA process has the ability to synthesize the BNBT powders with a submicron particle size, regular morphology, and uniform elemental distribution. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.