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The Pseudomonas sp. have been long recognized for their exogenous lipolytic activities yet the genus still contains a lot of unexplored strains. Due to the versatile metabolic machinery and their potential for adaptation to fluctuating environmental conditions Pseudomonas sp. are of great interest for biotechnological applications. In this study, a new extracellularly produced lipolytic enzyme from Pseudomonas sp. (P. reinekei) was purified and characterized. The production of lipase from P. reinekei (H1) was enhanced 10-fold by optimizing the nitrogen source. The 50 kDa H1 lipase was purified using negative and positive mode anion exchange chromatography. The purified lipase was active over a broad pH range (5.0-9.0) and was stable for 24 h at 40 °C. The lipase showed significant stability, and indeed activation, in the presence of organic solvents with log P ≥ 2.0. These features render this lipase of interest as a biocatalyst for applications such as biodiesel production, detergent formulations and biodegradation of oil in the environment., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hypothesis: Microgel particles formed from the whey protein β-lactoglobulin are able to stabilize emulsion and foam interfaces, yet their interfacial properties have not been fully characterized. Smaller microgels are expected to adsorb to and deform at the interface more rapidly, facilitating the development of highly elastic interfaces., Methods: Microgels were produced by thermal treatment under controlled pH conditions. Dynamic surface pressure and dilatational interfacial rheometry measurements were performed on heptane-water droplets to examine microgel interfacial adsorption and behavior. Langmuir compression and atomic force microscopy were used to examine the changes in microgel and monolayer characteristics during adsorption and equilibration., Findings: Microgel interfacial adsorption was influenced by bulk concentration and particle size, with smaller particles adsorbing faster. Microgel-stabilized interfaces were dominantly elastic, and elasticity increased more rapidly when smaller microgels were employed as stabilizers. Interfacial compression increased surface pressure but not elasticity, possibly due to mechanical disruption of inter-particle interactions. Monolayer images showed the presence of small aggregates, suggesting that microgel structure can be disrupted at low interfacial loadings. The ability of β-lactoglobulin microgels to form highly elastic interfacial layers may enable improvements in the colloidal stability of food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products in addition to applications in controlled release and flavor delivery systems., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Mesoporous silica films consisting of a monolayer of separated SBA-15 particles with unusually wide and short pores grown on silicon wafers have been fabricated in a simple single-pot-synthesis, and the formation of the films has been studied. A recipe for synthesizing mesoporous silica rods with the addition of heptane and NH4F at low temperature was used and substrates were added to the synthesis solution during the reaction. The films are ~90 nm thick, have a pore size of 10.7-13.9 nm depending on the hydrothermal treatment time and temperature, and a pore length of 200-400 nm. All pores are parallel to the substrate, open, and easy to access, making them suitable for applications such as catalyst hosts and gas separation. The growth of the films is closely correlated to the evolution of the mesoporous silica particles. Here, we have studied the time for adding substrates to the synthesis solution, the evolution of the films with time during formation, and the effect of hydrothermal treatment. It was found that the substrates should be added within 30-60s after turning off the stirring and the films are formed within 10 min after addition to the synthesis solution. The study has yielded a new route for synthesizing mesoporous silica films with a unique morphology., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The effect of hydrotropes on the geometry of reverse water-in-oil AOT-microemulsions is investigated as a function of water content, and hydrotrope additive architecture. SANS reveals that hydrotropes induce cylindrical morphologies which transition to ellipsoidal and then spherical geometries with increasing water content (w). The length of the elongated particles appeared to show some dependence on the hydrotrope-AOT tail compatibility, which is also reflected in the phase behaviour of these systems. This is the first report of hydrotrope-induced axial elongation of water microemulsions in the oil phase., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The decomposition reaction of the purple dye murexide in acidic media is used as a probe indicator for protons in nonionic microemulsions. The reaction kinetics primarily rely on the proton concentration and permit assessment of the proton activity in the nonionic microemulsions of water/cyclohexane/Igepal and water/heptane/Igepal. The experiments performed in the two microemulsions covered a wide range of water-to-oil mass fraction for the two systems. The kinetic runs were monitored under pseudo-first order conditions by the stopped-flow technique. The equilibrium constants for the formation of purpuric acid and the kinetic constants for the ensuing decomposition reaction fulfill a trend consistent with the micro compartmentalized nature of the multicomponent medium, and support the use of murexide as an indicator of the proton activity in microemulsions., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion is a well-suitable confined reacting medium for the synthesis of structured functional nanoparticles of controlled size and shape. During the last decade, it allowed the synthesis of multi-functional silica nanoparticles with morphologies as various as core-shell, homogenous dispersion or both together. The morphology and properties of the different intermediates and final materials obtained through this route are discussed in the light of UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and magnetometer SQUID analysis.

Electrophoresis is widely used to determine the electrostatic potential of colloidal particles. Oil droplets in pure water show negative or positive electrophoretic mobilities depending on the pH. This is commonly attributed to the adsorption of hydroxyl or hydronium ions, resulting in a negative or positive surface charge, respectively. This explanation, however, is not in agreement with the difference in isoelectric point and point of zero charge observed in experiment. Here we present molecular dynamics simulations of oil droplets in water in the presence of an external electric field but in the absence of any ions. The simulations reproduce the negative sign and the order of magnitude of the oil droplet mobilities at the point of zero charge in experiment. The electrostatic potential in the oil with respect to the water phase, induced by anisotropic dipole orientation in the interface, is positive. Our results suggest that electrophoretic mobility does not always reflect the net charge or electrostatic potential of a suspended liquid droplet and, thus, the interpretation of electrophoresis in terms of purely continuum effects may need to be reevaluated.

The state of water in the reverse micelles of C12-s-C(12).2Br homologues has been investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that the solubilized water had four states: the quaternary ammonium head-group-bound, the Br--bound, the bulklike, and the free water. With increasing W0, the number of bulklike water per surfactant (nb) rapidly increased, which indicated swelling of the reverse micelle. The number of the head-bound water per surfactant (nN+) gradually increased. This was attributed to a reduction of the interfacial curvature, which permitted more water molecules to associate with the ionic heads of surfactants and also led to a part of n-hexanol being expelled from the interface and thus water filled up. Owing to the existence of n-hexanol in the interface, the head-bound water of the present system was smaller than that of AOT system at the same W0. The number of counterion-bound water per surfactant (nBr-) remained unchanged with W0. This was due to much smaller dissociation of the head of C12-2-C(12).2Br than that of AOT. With increasing s, unchanged nN+ is attributed to the comprehensive effects of enlarged head, which promotes the hydration, increased ionization degree, and reduced size of the water pool. Owing to increased ionization degree, nBr- increases with s.

The catalytic hydrolysis of bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BNPP) and p-nitrophenyl phosphate (NPP) by metallomicelles composed of Cu(II) or Zn(II) complexes of bispyridine-containing alkanol ligands in CTAB micellar solution was investigated at 30 degrees C. The experimental results indicate that the complexes with a 1:1 ratio of ligands to metal ions for ligands 1 (1,7-bis(6-hydroxymethyl-2-pyridyl)-2,6-dioxaheptane) and 3 (1,4-bis[(6-hydroxymethyl-2-pyridyl)-2-oxapropyl]benzene) and a 1:2 ratio of ligands to metal ions for ligand 2 (1,14-bis(6-hydroxymethyl-2-pyridyl)-2,13-dioxatetradecane) in CATB micellar solution are the active species for the catalytic hydrolysis of BNPP and NPP, respectively. The ternary complex kinetic model for metallomicellar catalysis was employed to obtain the relative kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, which demonstrated the catalytic mechanism for the hydrolysis of BNPP and NPP by metallomicelles.

A method to calculate and predict the surface tension of n-alkanes including heptane, eicosane, docosane, tetracosane, and their asymmetric mixtures has been proposed. Reduced coordinates, sigma* and T*, where sigma* is the reduced surface tension and T* is the reduced temperature, are introduced for the prediction of surface tension. According to the phenomenological scaling and considering the law of corresponding states correlation, these reduced coordinates result in a single curve for the surface tension as a function of temperature. In the correlation the melting temperature, Tm, is applied as the corresponding temperature for these substances and their mixtures. The relationship between sigma* and T* has a linear form and is expressed by sigma* = a + bT*, where a and b are temperature-independent constants. With this relationship the predicted values of surface tension of these substances and their mixtures are in good agreement with experimental ones. %AAD, percent average absolute deviation, for these four pure n-alkanes is 1.02% and for their four asymmetric mixtures is less than 0.70%.

Urea is a well-known destabilizing agent for biopolymers like proteins and molecular aggregates like micelles and reverse micelles. Several theories have been proposed to explain the destabilizing/denaturing effect of urea. In this work, we present evidence for a stabilizing effect of a low concentration (<1 M) of urea incorporated in the central pool of AOT/n-heptane/water reverse micelles. Static light-scattering experiments were performed to measure (w0)cr--the molar ratio of water to AOT beyond which the micelles become unstable--as a function of the concentration of urea in the central water pool. The stabilizing effect of urea is reflected in an increase in the value of (w0)cr at low urea concentrations over that in the absence of urea. Dynamic light-scattering experiments show that the hydrodynamic radius of the micelles is smaller at low urea concentrations (<1 M) than in the absence of urea. Size-distribution analysis shows that for w0=20 the microemulsion containing 0.5 M urea in its pool is significantly more monodisperse than that containing no urea. Temperature-dependent studies in the range 15-65 degrees C indicate that the magnitude of this stabilizing effect decreases with increasing temperature, vanishing at temperatures higher than 65 degrees C. A model is proposed to explain the above results.

A study has been made of the effect of urea upon the hydrolysis of 2-naphthyl acetate (2-NA) catalyzed by lipase from Rhizopus arrhizus in AOT-heptane-water reverse micellar solutions at pH 7. The partition constants, K, of 2-NA between n-heptane and aqueous urea solutions in the absence of micelles were also determined. It was found that K decreases when the concentration of urea increases. In aqueous solution the rate of hydrolysis of 2-NA catalyzed by lipase is dependent on the concentration of urea (at a given 2-NA concentration). This result can be due to a decrease in the magnitude of the association of lipase with 2-NA and/or to changes in the reaction rate of the lipase-2-NA complex. The modifications of the enzymatic activities elicited by addition of urea show a lineal correlation with K, emphasizing the relevance of hydrophobic effects in the loss of activity. Nevertheless, the slope of the line is higher than one, suggesting that changes in the conformation of the enzyme would be also important. Addition of urea to the micellar solutions provokes a decrease of the enzyme activity. From the dependence of the reaction rate with AOT concentration, the partition constant of 2-NA between n-heptane and the micelles, K(p), was obtained. In the presence of 2 M urea a value of K(p)=0.33 M(-1) was derived. This value is lower than that measured in the absence of urea (Aguilar et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 388 (2001) 231), indicating that incorporation of urea to the micellar interface produces a decrease of the association of 2-NA with the micelles. From a comparison of the results obtained in the micellar solution and in aqueous solution, it is concluded that the enzyme is more resistant to denaturation by urea in the micellar solution than in aqueous solution. Furthermore, at intermediate urea concentrations (2 M), the additive produces an increase in the Michaelis constant (K(M)) without a significant decrease (or even a small increase) in the catalytic rate constant (k(cat)).

The effect of DL-homocysteic acid (DL-2-amino-4-sulfonobutyric acid) on W/O microemulsion of potassium naphthenate (80%) and naphthenic acid (20%) in mixed solvent (1-octanol and n-heptane) has been found in four phases: (1) Interaction between the amino acid molecules and the polar head groups of the surfactant through hydrogen bonding enhances solubilization in the aqueous cores. (2) The interaction results in the growth of the microemulsion droplets and the homogenization of the particle size distribution. (3) The microstructure of the solubilized water remains unchanged, except that the polarity of the interface is affected. (4) The transition point is reduced to lower water content. A possible mechanism is proposed.

Sorptivity data are reported for the capillary absorption of water, ethanol, propan-2-ol, and n-heptane by the calcitic limestone Lépine (Lavoux à grain). The data confirm that the water sorptivity is anomalously low, an indication of partial wetting by water. Results are expressed in terms of a wetting index. The water sorptivity increases after heat treatment and chemical oxidation by hydrogen peroxide bleaching, while the sorptivity with organic liquids is unchanged. These treatments, therefore, increase the water wetting index. The results provide strong evidence that the presence of a natural organic adlayer is responsible for the anomalously low water sorptivity of this particular limestone. This natural water repellency effect may be exploited in developing chemical treatments to modify the water transport properties of stone.