{"title":"Antioxidant Activity of SiO2@{Sericin} Hybrids: A Comparable OH-Radical and DPPH-Radical Scavenging Study.","authors":"Annita Theofanous,George Theofilou,Yiannis Deligiannakis,Maria Louloudi","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03085","url":null,"abstract":"A new class of hybrid materials was developed via covalent grafting of sericin, a silk-derived protein, onto SiO2 particles to assess their antioxidant properties. Two variants of SiO2@sericin hybrids were synthesized, with 10% ({SiO2@sericin_10}) or 20% ({SiO2@sericin_20}) sericin loadings. An in tandem analysis of their antioxidant efficiency was performed against OH and DPPH radicals. The experimental results demonstrate that the {SiO2@sericin} hybrids exhibit significantly enhanced antioxidant activity compared with sericin in aqueous solution. Specifically, 1 g of the {SiO2@sericin_10} hybrid quenches 308 μmol of DPPH radicals and 120 μmol of ●OH, whereas aqueous sericin in solution quenched only 85 μmol of DPPH and 53 μmol of ●OH. IR, Raman, BET, and DLS data collectively indicate that the interfacial topography of sericin on the SiO2 surface is highly dependent on its loading concentration. At the high loading (20%), sericin forms a hermetic coating over the SiO2 nanoparticles, resulting in steric hindrance that restricts the accessibility of antioxidant functional groups. In contrast, at the optimized 10% loading, a greater proportion of sericin's antioxidant moieties remains accessible for radical scavenging. This interfacial topography effect is reflected in the antioxidant's activity. One gram of {SiO2@sericin_20} quenches 202 μmol of DPPH radicals and 100 μmol of ●OH, which are smaller than the amount of {SiO2@sericin_10}. These findings reinforce our previous conclusion that covalent grafting of organic molecules bearing antioxidant functionalities onto SiO2 surfaces is an effective strategy to enhance radical scavenging efficiency, applicable to both hydroxyl-radical and DPPH (hydrogen atom transfer) quenching mechanisms.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145127399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LangmuirPub Date : 2025-09-23DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c01001
Wenming Jiang,Zhengyu Wang,Maosen Song,Chenyu Han,Yuanyuan Zhou,Yang Liu
{"title":"Homogeneous Condensation Mechanism of Water Vapor in Swirling Flow: A Molecular Simulation Perspective.","authors":"Wenming Jiang,Zhengyu Wang,Maosen Song,Chenyu Han,Yuanyuan Zhou,Yang Liu","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c01001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c01001","url":null,"abstract":"Supersonic separation technology is a natural gas treatment technology with easy processing, low investment, low energy consumption, no need to add chemicals, and environmental protection. However, supersonic separation technology is immature. Furthermore, the accuracy of existing nucleation theories for the droplet nucleation process in the supersonic nozzle remains unclear, because they do not consider the effect of swirling motion. The nucleation and condensation processes of water vapor were investigated via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in this study, and the effects of cooling temperature, axial velocity, and tangential velocity on swirling flow condensation characteristics were analyzed kinetically and thermodynamically at the microscopic level. It is found that at lower cooling temperatures and higher axial velocities, the induction phase of the water vapor condensation process is shortened, the nucleation rate increases, and nucleation occurs more easily. When the axial velocity increases from 200 to 400 m/s, the nucleation rate increases about twice. When the cooling temperature increased from 313 to 353 K, the nucleation rate decreased by 57.7%. However, changes in tangentials have little effect on water vapor swirling flow condensation characteristics.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145127281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LangmuirPub Date : 2025-09-23DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03554
Jiao Wang,Yang Yu,Anqi Wang,Chunxu Chen,Shaojun Li,Lei Bai
{"title":"Interface Engineering of Steel-Wool-Shaped Cu-Co3O4 for Bisphenol A Degradation with Persulfate via the Tunable Mechanism.","authors":"Jiao Wang,Yang Yu,Anqi Wang,Chunxu Chen,Shaojun Li,Lei Bai","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03554","url":null,"abstract":"The efficient activation of the O-O band in persulfate (PDS) with high energy was important and could be achieved by the interface engineering of catalysts. It was discovered that the robust bisphenol A (BPA) degradation could be achieved in the presence of PDS via different mechanisms with steel-wool-shaped Cu-Co3O4 composites obtained via in-situ hydrolysis of cobalt and copper nitrate with zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 after calcination. The calcination temperature at 483 K resulted in abundant oxygen vacancies in Cu-Co3O4 with the amorphous structure, which displayed about a 25-fold higher degradation rate constant (k = 0.385 min-1) than that (0.015 min-1) of Co3O4 for BPA disposal with PDS, possibly via forming the surface-activated complex process. The higher temperature (583 K) treated Cu-Co3O4 could also lead to the fast BPA degradation with the k of 0.670 min-1, which was more than 160-fold higher than the referenced Co3O4 and experienced the radical and nonradical processes, including the HO•, SO4•-, O2•-, and 1O2 as reactive oxygen species. The above difference was possibly due to the amount of oxygen vacancy, the ratio of metal ions with different oxidation states, and the interaction of Cu-O-Co in the composite.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LangmuirPub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c02307
Alexandra Alicke,Nick O Jaensson,Jan Vermant
{"title":"Mechanistic Insights into Emulsion Destabilization by Electric Fields.","authors":"Alexandra Alicke,Nick O Jaensson,Jan Vermant","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c02307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c02307","url":null,"abstract":"Although stable emulsions are often desirable, in some applications, they must be destabilized. One common approach is to apply electric fields to promote droplet coalescence, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood due to the sometimes subtle interplay of hydrodynamics, capillarity, intermolecular forces, and both interfacial and Maxwell stresses. Here, we use a modified dynamic thin film balance technique to simulate electrocoalescence in two types of systems, namely \"surface active\" and \"rheologically active\" interfaces. Despite their distinct stabilization mechanisms, we find that the key factor influencing electrocoalescence is the same in all cases: the local film thickness, which directly affects the magnitude of the Maxwell pressure. For nonionic surfactant films, we identify two distinct regimes: (i) a hydrodynamics-dominated regime, where relatively small electric pressures (∼Pa range) are sufficient to break the film, and (ii) a regime in which intermolecular forces stabilize the Newton Black Film, increasing the required breakup pressure to the ∼ kPa range. Asphaltene-laden films, in the limit of insoluble interfaces, form a representative example of rheologically complex interfaces. We find that elastic properties stabilize these films at significantly larger thicknesses, rendering electric fields ineffective─unless demulsifiers are introduced to promote local heterogeneity and thinning. This study provides new insight into how electrostatic fields destabilize emulsions and suggests new avenues for developing more efficient destabilization strategies.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tryptophan-Aspartic Acid-Containing Peptide Analog from Coronin 1 Inhibits Model Membrane Fusion and Enveloped Viral Infection in Cells","authors":"Swaratmika Pandia, Bushra Qazi, Vaishali Vishwakarma, Shruti Gautam, Chetan D. Meshram, Hirak Chakraborty, Sourav Haldar","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03627","url":null,"abstract":"Membrane fusion is a crucial step in the infection cycle of an enveloped virus, and the development of fusion inhibitors could lead to broad-spectrum antivirals beyond the one-bug-one-drug paradigm. In our continued effort to design peptide-based fusion inhibitors that block fusion by modulating membrane physical properties rather than targeting viral proteins, we have designed a tryptophan-aspartic acid (WD)-containing peptide analog, mGG-21, from coronin 1. Coronin 1 has been implicated in preventing the fusion of live mycobacteria containing phagosomes with lysosomes. mGG-21 displays around 60% inhibition in fusion pore formation (complete fusion) in model membranes by likely increasing the acyl chain ordering of the membrane, regardless of the cholesterol content of the membrane, unlike its previously designed predecessors with 20–30% inhibition activity. Further, we show that mGG-21 inhibits Influenza and Chikungunya virus infection in cellular models without exerting any toxicity. Taken together, our findings underscore the importance of WD repeats in the design of broad-range viral fusion inhibitors.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"89 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LangmuirPub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03116
Zachary Petrek,Andrew DeMello,Thomas Giagou,Yehan Zhang,Robert Dudkin,Bala Lwin,Hui Hui Chong,Tao Ye
{"title":"Surface Crowding Effects in Molecular Recognition by Thrombin Binding Aptamers Conjugated to Gold Nanoparticles.","authors":"Zachary Petrek,Andrew DeMello,Thomas Giagou,Yehan Zhang,Robert Dudkin,Bala Lwin,Hui Hui Chong,Tao Ye","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03116","url":null,"abstract":"This study addresses the challenge of determining how surface immobilization and crowding affect the binding affinity of DNA/RNA aptamers used in nanoparticle-based biosensors. Binding affinity is a critical determinant of biosensor performance. We employed isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to directly measure the binding interactions between thrombin and aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticles. We found that binding affinity improves with increasing aptamer density due to entropic compensation, up to a critical threshold. Beyond this point, steric hindrance diminishes target binding. These findings demonstrate the utility of ITC in characterizing aptamer-target interactions and offer insights for optimizing the sensitivity, limit of detection, and dynamic range of aptamer-based biosensing platforms.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LangmuirPub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c02918
Matevž Turk,Ksenija Kogej,Per Hansson
{"title":"Interaction of Sodium Polystyrenesulfonate with Fluorinated Ionic Surfactant of Opposite Charge.","authors":"Matevž Turk,Ksenija Kogej,Per Hansson","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c02918","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c02918","url":null,"abstract":"Polyelectrolyte-surfactant systems of opposite charge have been widely studied because of their relevance in applications ranging from pharmaceuticals to advanced materials. However, the role of hydrophobic interactions in such systems remains debated, particularly for sodium poly(styrenesulfonate) (NaPSS) and cationic surfactants. This study investigates the binding behavior of NaPSS with the conventional hydrocarbon surfactant dodecylpyridinium chloride (DPC) or the fluorinated surfactant 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecylpyridinium chloride (HFDePC), with the objective of elucidating the importance of hydrophobic interactions in such systems. The binding isotherms of both surfactants were measured in both linear NaPSS solutions and covalently cross-linked NaPSS hydrogels. HFDePC exhibited a binding isotherm with a negative slope, indicative of unique binding behavior. Thermodynamic modeling revealed that the negative slope arises from the formation of metastable colloidal states. For DPC, modeling indicated the formation of mixed micelles with NaPSS with a consistent surfactant/polyion charge ratio, explaining its lower cooperativity and atypical phase behavior. In NaPSS hydrogels, the swelling isotherms revealed a uniform hydrogel collapse in the case of DPC and the formation of biphasic core-shell structures in the case of HFDePC. Small-angle X-ray scattering showed rod-like micelle formation for both systems, with increased micelle length at higher binding ratios and the emergence of hexagonal packing of micelles near coil saturation. Overall, the findings of this study underscore the importance of surfactant and polyelectrolyte structure and hydrophobicity and offer new insights into the nature of interactions in polyelectrolyte-surfactant systems of opposite charge.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"156 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LangmuirPub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c04200
Bai-Chen Liu,Bo Tu,Dong-Jin Qian
{"title":"Photoluminescence Nanoarchitectonics Regulated by Aggregation-Induced Emission and FRET in Aggregates and Langmuir-Blodgett Films of Tetraphenylethylene Derivatives.","authors":"Bai-Chen Liu,Bo Tu,Dong-Jin Qian","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c04200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c04200","url":null,"abstract":"Photoluminescence regulated by the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) process attracts much attention for the development of novel luminescent materials and devices. Here, an efficient FRET system has been designed and constructed with the use of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) units as the energy donor and sulforhodamine B (SRB) as the acceptor in the aggregates, mixed solid powders, and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films. Two amphiphilic tetraphenylethene derivatives with octyl chains (C8TPEs) are synthesized and used as AIEgens, which can form well-organized mixed monolayers with arachidic acid (AA) on the SRB subphase surfaces. Efficient photoinduced energy transfer is observed from AIEgens to SRB in the C8TPE/SRB powders and C8TPE-AA/SRB hybrid LB films, with the luminescent colors changing from green through yellow to orange. The differences in their FRET behaviors are interpreted in terms of the highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) energy gaps, absorption spectra, and intramolecular charge transfer characteristics by time-dependent density functional theory calculations. It is further revealed that by controlling the SRB concentrations in the subphase, the luminescent emission wavelength for the C8TPE-AA/SRB hybrid LB films shifts from 490 to 592 nm, that is, from typical AIE to SRB emission. Therefore, this work provides a viable strategy for developing solid-state FRET systems by combining AIEgens' donor with aggregation-caused quenching type acceptors, highlighting their potential in optoelectronic and sensing applications.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LangmuirPub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c04230
Liuyi Ren,Pengfei Song,Yanfang Huang,Guihong Han,Shenxu Bao,Yimin Zhang,Anh V Nguyen
{"title":"Mechanism of Flotation Separation of Rutile and Hornblende Using SHMP and CMC as Depressants.","authors":"Liuyi Ren,Pengfei Song,Yanfang Huang,Guihong Han,Shenxu Bao,Yimin Zhang,Anh V Nguyen","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c04230","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c04230","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the flotation separation of rutile and hornblende, with particular emphasis on the selective depression mechanism of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Benzohydroxamic acid (BHA) was used as the collector to evaluate its interaction with both minerals in the presence of the depressants. A series of flotation experiments, zeta potential measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses were conducted to examine the behavior of rutile and hornblende under varying pH and reagent conditions. The results show that BHA exhibits significantly stronger adsorption on the rutile surface compared to hornblende. Meanwhile, SHMP and CMC selectively adsorb onto the hornblende surface, effectively suppressing its floatability. SHMP interacts with two forms of Ca2+ on the hornblende surface to form calcium hydrogen phosphate (CaHPO3), while CMC primarily binds with Al3+ and Fe3+ to form stable metal complexes. These surface products markedly reduce hornblende's flotation performance and enhance the selectivity of the separation process. The findings provide important insights and a theoretical foundation for improving the flotation separation of rutile and hornblende.","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"89 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Crystallization Kinetics and Structural Perturbation in Poly(ethylene oxide)-Melamine Blends under Quiescent Isothermal Conditions","authors":"Sarmad Ali*, , , Khurram Shehzad, , , Mudassar Maraj, , , Nisar Ali, , , Xiuhong Li, , , Nian Li*, , , Tingyu Xu*, , and , Zhenyang Wang*, ","doi":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03324","DOIUrl":"10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03324","url":null,"abstract":"<p >This study investigates the interfacial and crystallization behavior of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and its heterogeneous blend with melamine under isothermal quiescent conditions. In situ small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering, complemented by optical, thermal, and rheological analyses, reveal that melamine alters the crystallization pathway of PEO. Specifically, melamine increases nucleation density and promotes the formation of denser spherulites, while simultaneously restricting chain mobility and suppressing long-range crystalline order. Interfacial interactions, most likely hydrogen bonding between melamine and the ether oxygen atoms of PEO, extend relaxation times and hinder lamellar periodicity. Despite a modest increase in crystallization temperature, the overall crystallinity decreases, highlighting the dual role of melamine as both a nucleating agent and a kinetic inhibitor. These findings provide a molecular-level framework for understanding the regulation of polymer crystallization by small organic molecules through interfacial coordination, offering insights for the design of polymer-organic hybrid systems in energy storage, coatings, and packaging applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":50,"journal":{"name":"Langmuir","volume":"41 38","pages":"26300–26311"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145103351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}