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A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 9561

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Prof. Dr. Zbigniew Adamczyk

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Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
Interests: colloids; surfaces; particles; adsorption; adhesion; biomolecules

Prof. Dr. Piotr Warszyński

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Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, PAS, 30-239 Krakow, Poland
Interests: thin films; polyelectrolytes; colloids; adsorption; surfactants

Prof. Dr. Marek Kosmulski

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Institute of Electrical Engineering and Electrotechnologies, Lublin University of Technology, Nadbystrzycka 38, PL-20618 Lublin, Poland
Interests: colloids; surfaces; adsorption; electric double layer; surfactants; polymers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Next year we are celebrating the 100th birthday of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski. He is an extraordinary man and his life has also been extraordinary. He was employed at the Department of Physical Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University when he was still a student at that Department. In 1958 he presented his thesis entitled “Electrometric investigations of galena flotation” and was awarded the Ph.D. He spent several years abroad working at such well-known universities as Cambridge University, the University of Alberta in Edmonton and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. When in 1978 the Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences was established, Professor Pomianowski was one of the first employees. He initiated and led “wet” surface chemistry research in the Institute, where he was employed as a full-time professor and worked as a Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs for many years. He retired from the Institute in November 2003.

The scientific activity of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski was focused on interfacial phenomena, especially related to adsorption and the fundamentals of flotation processes. He has always been a very reliable, highly respected scientist with a critical attitude towards the results obtained and high standards and requirements. He loves to initiate long and stormy scientific discussions, which his coworkers consider as an excellent lecture on skillful presentation and discussing scientific hypotheses. He published more than 150 scientific papers, while the number of presentations and lectures on various scientific conferences can be counted in hundreds.

We regret to inform that prof. Andrzej Pomianowski passed away on 11 January 2022.

Prof. Dr. Zbigniew Adamczyk
Prof. Dr. Piotr Warszyński
Prof. Dr. Marek Kosmulski
Guest Editors

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Keywords

colloids
catalysis
mineral processing
adsorption
biomolecules
surfactants
electrified interfaces

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 1405 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electric Double Layer in Water-Organic Mixed Solvents: Titania in 50% Ethylene Glycol

by Marek Kosmulski and Edward Mączka

Molecules 2022, 27(7), 2162; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27072162 - 27 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1441

Abstract

Ethylene glycol (EG) and its mixtures with water are popular components of nanofluids used as heat transfer fluids. The stability of nanofluids against coagulation is correlated with their zeta potential. The electrophoretic mobility of titania nanoparticles in 50-50 w/w EG was studied as a function of the concentration of various solutes. HCl, NaOH, SDS and CTMABr at concentrations up to 0.01 M are strong electrolytes in 50% EG, that is, the conductance of their solutions is proportional to the concentration. HCl, NaOH and CTMABr were very efficient in inducing a high zeta potential for titania in 50% EG. NaOH induced a negative zeta potential in excess of 70 mV, and HCl and CTMABr induced a positive zeta potential in excess of 70 mV at concentrations below 10⁻⁴ M. Apparently, HCl, NaOH and CTMABr are also more efficient than SDS in terms of nanofluid stabilization against coagulation. An overdose of base (>1 mM) results in depression of the negative zeta potential. This result may be due to the specific adsorption of sodium on titania from 50% EG. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday)

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26 pages, 5436 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multilayered Curcumin-Loaded Hydrogel Microcarriers with Antimicrobial Function

by Weronika Szczęsna, Marta Tsirigotis-Maniecka, Łukasz Lamch, Lilianna Szyk-Warszyńska, Ewa Zboińska, Piotr Warszyński and Kazimiera A. Wilk

Molecules 2022, 27(4), 1415; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27041415 - 19 Feb 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2432

Abstract

The design of multifunctional microcarriers has attracted significant attention because they combine various functions within a single system. In this study, we developed a set of multilayered hydrogel microcarriers, which were first loaded with chemotherapeutic curcumin (CUR), then, using the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique, coated through a polyelectrolyte shell consisting of chitosan (CHIT) or poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH). As an outer layer with antimicrobial function, newly synthesised alkylene quaternary ammonium salt functionalised polyelectrolytes (A-QAS-PEs) were applied. For this purpose, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was decorated with different hydrophobic side chains (n-hexane and n-dodecane side entities) and different degrees of substitution (m) of quaternary ammonium groups (abbreviated as PAA-C(O)O-(CH₂)_n-N⁺(CH₃)₃(m); n = 6, 12; m = 8–14%). The grafting approach of PAA with the alkylene quaternary ammonium salt moiety was performed under mild reaction conditions using Steglich esterification followed by quaternisation. The structure of antimicrobial decorated PAA was confirmed by ¹H NMR and FTIR, and the mean diameter of all multifunctional microparticles was characterised by SEM. The viscoelastic properties of the functional layers were studied using quartz crystal microbalance with a dissipation (QCM-D). The release of CUR from the microcarriers was described using a hybrid model, i.e., a combination of first-order kinetics and the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. The antimicrobial activity of functionalised PAA and multilayered CUR-loaded hydrogel microcarriers with quaternary ammonium function was assessed against Staphylococcus aureus and Serratia marcescens by the agar diffusion assay method. Only a limited inhibition zone of PAA was observed, but in the case of both antimicrobial decorated PAA and the corresponding multilayered nanocarriers, the inhibitory activity increase was achieved against both strains of bacteria. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday)

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18 pages, 3853 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Biocatalytic System Made of 3D Chitin, Silica Nanopowder and Horseradish Peroxidase for the Removal of 17α-Ethinylestradiol: Determination of Process Efficiency and Degradation Mechanism

by Tomasz Machałowski, Katarzyna Jankowska, Karolina Bachosz, Wojciech Smułek, Hermann Ehrlich, Ewa Kaczorek, Jakub Zdarta and Teofil Jesionowski

Molecules 2022, 27(4), 1354; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27041354 - 17 Feb 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1752

Abstract

The occurrence of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in the environment and its removal have drawn special attention from the scientific community in recent years, due to its hazardous effects on human and wildlife around the world. Therefore, the aim of this study was to produce an efficient enzymatic system for the removal of EE2 from aqueous solutions. For the first time, commercial silica nanopowder and 3D fibrous chitinous scaffolds from Aplysina fistularis marine sponge were used as supports for horseradish peroxidase (HRP) immobilization. The effect of several process parameters onto the removal mechanism of EE2 by enzymatic conversion and adsorption of EE2 were investigated here, including system type, pH, temperature and concentrations of H₂O₂ and EE2. It was possible to fully remove EE2 from aqueous solutions using system SiO₂(HRP)–chitin(HRP) over a wide investigated pH range (5–9) and temperature ranges (4–45 °C). Moreover, the most suitable process conditions have been determined at pH 7, temperature 25 °C and H₂O₂ and EE2 concentrations equaling 2 mM and 1 mg/L, respectively. As determined, it was possible to reuse the nanoSiO₂(HRP)–chitin(HRP) system to obtain even 55% EE2 degradation efficiency after five consecutive catalytic cycles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday)

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17 pages, 4168 KiB

Open AccessArticle

C.I. Basic Red 46 Removal from Sewage by Carbon and Silica Based Composite: Equilibrium, Kinetic and Electrokinetic Studies

by Małgorzata Wiśniewska, Stanisław Chibowski, Monika Wawrzkiewicz, Magda Onyszko and Viktor Bogatyrov

Molecules 2022, 27(3), 1043; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27031043 - 03 Feb 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1354

Abstract

The worldwide production of colored products and intermediates is increasing year on year. The consequence of this is an increase in the number of liquid effluents containing toxic dyes entering the aquatic environment. Therefore, it is extremely important to dispose of them. One of the techniques for the elimination of environmentally harmful dyes is adsorption. The main purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of using a carbon and silica (C/SiO₂)-based composite for the removal of the azo dye C.I. Basic Red 46 (BR46). The adsorption capacity of C/SiO₂ was found to be temperature dependent and increased from 41.90 mg/g to 176.10 mg/g with a temperature rise from 293 K to 333 K in accordance with the endothermic process. The Langmuir isotherm model seems to be the better one for the description of experimental data rather than Freundlich or Dubinin–Radushkevich. The free energy (ΔG^o) confirmed the spontaneous nature of BR46 adsorption by C/SiO₂. Kinetic parameters revealed that BR46 uptake followed the pseudo-second-order equation; however, the external diffusion plays a significant role. Surfactants of cationic, anionic and non-ionic type influenced BR46 retention by C/SiO₂. The electrokinetic results (solid surface charge density and zeta potential) indicated that the adsorption of cationic dye and surfactant influences the structure of the electrical double layer formed at the solid–liquid interface. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday)

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17 pages, 2650 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deposition of Polymer Particles with Fibrinogen Corona at Abiotic Surfaces under Flow Conditions

by Paulina Żeliszewska, Monika Wasilewska, Michał Cieśla and Zbigniew Adamczyk

Molecules 2021, 26(20), 6299; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26206299 - 18 Oct 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1596

Abstract

The deposition kinetics of polymer particles with fibrinogen molecule coronas at bare and poly-L-lysine (PLL) modified mica was studied using the microfluid impinging-jet cell. Basic physicochemical characteristics of fibrinogen and the particles were acquired using dynamic light scattering and the electrophoretic mobility methods, whereas the zeta potential of the substrates was determined using streaming potential measurements. Subsequently, an efficient method for the preparation of the particles with coronas, characterized by a controlled fibrinogen coverage, was developed. This enabled us to carry out measurements, which confirmed that the deposition kinetics of the particles at mica vanished at pH above 5. In contrast, the particle deposition of PLL modified mica was at maximum for pH above 5. It was shown that the deposition kinetics could be adequately analyzed in terms of the mean-field approach, analogously to the ordinary colloid particle behavior. This contrasts the fibrinogen molecule behavior, which efficiently adsorbs at negatively charged substrates for the entire range pHs up to 9.7. These results have practical significance for conducting label-free immunoassays governed by the specific antigen/antibody interactions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday)

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A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Andrzej Pomianowski on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday

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