Light-Sensitive Gas Sensors Based on Thiol-Functionalized N-Isopropylacrylamide Polymer–Gold Nanoparticle Composite Films

Catalytically Active Gold Nanoparticles on Star Block Co-polymer Matrix: Synthesis of Nanocomposite Film Exploring the Langmuir-Blodgett Technique

Nanocomposites with metal nanoparticles and block copolymers distributed in a stable and robust thin film are preferred for various applications. Here, synthesis of such a nanocomposite is reported, which is composed of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded in a tetronic 701 (T701) and 90R4 (T90R4) thin film matrix generated using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) thin film technique. Tetronics contain a monoprotonated central ethylenediamine group at pH 5 due to the presence of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) in the subphase, along with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) blocks, both of which have the capacity to serve as the reducing agent toward chloroaurate anion (AuCl4-). Calorimetric experiments have shown that T90R4 has a better interaction with AuCl4-, probably due to its better electrostatic interaction with AuCl4- ions due to the higher % of the hydrophilic PEO group. On the other hand, the T701-AuNP interaction turned out to be more spontaneous due to the higher hydrophobicity of T701 (higher PPO/PEO ratio). The optical properties and structure/morphology of these nanocomposites are characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, and TEM. The composite thin film has the ability to catalyze the organic electron transfer process between p-nitrophenol and p-aminophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride. A clear correlation has been found between the reaction rates and the kind of tetronic present in the nanocomposite, which acted as a matrix and stabilizer toward AuNPs.

Light-responsive polyurethanes: classification of light-responsive moieties, light-responsive reactions, and their applications

Stimuli responsiveness has been an attractive feature of smart material design, wherein the chemical and physical properties of the material can be varied in response to small environmental change. Polyurethane (PU), a widely used synthetic polymer can be upgraded into a light-responsive smart polymer by introducing a light-sensitive moiety into the polymer matrix. For instance, azobenzene, spiropyran, and coumarin result in reversible light-induced reactions, while o-nitrobenzyl can result in irreversible light-induced reactions. These variations of light-stimulus properties endow PU with wide ranges of physical, mechanical, and chemical changes upon exposure to different wavelengths of light. PU responsiveness has rarely been reviewed even though it is known to be one of the most versatile polymers with diverse ranges of applications in household, automotive, electronic, construction, medical, and biomedical industries. This review focuses on the classes of light-responsive moieties used in PU systems, their synthesis, and the response mechanism of light-responsive PU-based materials, which also include dual- or multi-responsive light-responsive PU systems. The advantages and limitations of light-responsive PU are reviewed and challenges in the development of light-responsive PU are discussed.

Surfactant stabilized gold nanomaterials for environmental sensing applications - A review

Surfactant stabilized Gold (Au) nanomaterials (NMs) have been documented extensively in recent years for numerous sensing applications in the academic literature. Despite the crucial role these surfactants play in the sensing applications, the comprehensive reviews that highlights the fundamentals associated with these assemblies and impact of these surfactants on the properties and sensing mechanisms are still quite scare. This review is an attempt in organizing the vast literature associated with this domain by providing critical insights into the fundamentals, preparation methodologies and sensing mechanisms of these surfactant stabilized Au NMs. For the simplification, the surfactants are divided into the typical and advanced surfactants and the Au NMs are classified into Au nanoparticles (NPs) and Au nanoclusters (NCs) depending upon the complexity in structure and size of the NMs respectively. The preparative methodologies are also elaborated for enhancing the understanding of the readers regarding such assemblies. The case studies regarding surfactant stabilized Au NMs were further divided into colorimetric sensors, surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) based sensors, luminescence-based sensors, and electrochemical/electrical sensors depending upon the property utilized by the sensor for the sensing of an analyte. Future perspectives are also discussed in detail for the researchers looking for further progress in that particular research domain.

Fabrication of attapulgite-based dual responsive composite hydrogel and its efficient adsorption for methyl violet

In this work, attapulgite (ATP)-based dual sensitive poly (N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) composite hydrogel, P(NIPAM-co-AA)/ATP, was prepared by free radical polymerization. The prepared composite hydrogel was characterized via methods of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), zeta potential analysis and Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) etc. The composite hydrogel showed pH and temperature sensitive behaviour, with lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of 35°C and highest swelling occurred at pH 8.0. The adsorption of methyl violet (MV) can be controlled by the hydrogel responsiveness, and 95.78% of MV can be removed at pH 8.0 and 35°C. The addition of a small amount of ATP (3 Wt%) can improve the swelling ratio and adsorption capacity. Kinetic analysis demonstrated that the experimental data were best fitted to the pseudo-second order model. Isotherm analysis showed that the equilibrium data followed Langmuir model with the adsorption capacity of 168.35 mg g^-1. In addition, the composite hydrogel has high adsorption selectivity for cationic dyes, and MV-loaded hydrogel is easy to regenerate, which can be used for successive adsorption cycles. These results demonstrate that the composite hydrogel has potential application in dye wastewater treatment.

Polymer Coupling via Hetero-Disulfide Exchange and Its Applications to Rewritable Polymer Brushes

An iodide-terminated polymer (Polymer-I) is converted to a thiol-terminated polymer (Polymer-SH) using HSCH₂CH₂SH in a remarkably short time (10 min). Polymer-SH is further converted to a pyridyl disulfide-terminated polymer (Polymer-SS-Py). The hetero-coupling of Polymer-SH and Polymer-SS-Py is successfully achieved to quantitatively generate a polymer disulfide (Polymer-SS-Polymer). Exploiting this efficient hetero-coupling technique, Polymer-SH is attached (grafted) on a Py-SS-immobilized surface to generate a polymer brush via a disulfide (-SS-) linkage (writing process). The -SS- linkage is cleaved by the treatment with dithiothreitol (DTT) to detach the polymer from the surface (erasing process). Subsequently, another Polymer-SH is attached on the surface to generate another polymer brush (rewriting process). Thus, a writable, erasable, and rewritable polymer brush surface is achieved. Hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and super-hydrophobic polymers (Polymer-SH) are attached on the surface, tailoring the surface wettability in the writing-erasing-rewriting cycles. Polymer-SH is also attached on a chain-end Py-SS-functionalized polymer brush surface, generating a rewritable block copolymer brush surface. A patterned block copolymer brush surface is also obtained using photo-irradiation and a photo-mask in the erasing process. The metal-free synthetic procedure, accessibility to patterned brushes, and switchable surface properties via the writing-erasing-rewriting process are attractive features of the present approach.