Home Work/Tutorial-1 AMNS 2015

1. Difference between Acid and Base?

The Arrhenius Theory of acids and bases

 Acids are substances which produce hydrogen ions in solution.

 Bases are substances which produce hydroxide ions in solution.

Neutralisation happens because hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions react to produce
water.

The Bronsted-Lowry Theory of acids and bases

 An acid is a proton (hydrogen ion) donor.

 A base is a proton (hydrogen ion) acceptor.

Amphoteric substances

A substance which can act as either an acid or a base is described as

being amphoteric.

The Lewis Theory of acids and bases

 An acid is an electron pair acceptor.

 A base is an electron pair donor.
2. What is the effect of Nucleation rate on particle size of nanomaterial?

Size Controlled Synthesis of Biocompatible Gold Nanoparticles

(AuNPs)

Citrate Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles

Figure 1. Proposed mechanism for the nucleation and stabilization of nanoparticles

at different pH values.

Au3+ + Glu →Au0 + Glu (ox)

Au3+ + Glu →Au2+ + Glu (ox)
2Au2+ →Au+ + Au3+ (disproportionation reaction)
3Au+ →2Au0 + Au3+ (disproportionation reaction)
Au+/Au2+ + Glu →Au0 + Glu(ox)
nAu0 →(Au0)n.

Ref. Nanotechnology 23 (2012) 015602 (8pp)

Figure 2. Schematic of AuNP formation during synthesis using (a) the citrate
reduction and (b) the seeding-growth methods. (Ref: Nanotechnology 23 (2012)
495719 (13pp)

The overall chemical reactions involved in the seeding-growth method are:

At the seed stage: 6Au3+ + C6H5O73- + 15OH-  6Au + 6CO2 + 10H2O (1)

At the growth stage: Au + HAuCl4- + NH3OH+  2Au + 4H2O + 4Cl- + NO. (2)
3. What is effect of oxidation on electrical properties of Metals?

Relation to resistivity and conductivity

A piece of resistive material with electrical contacts on both ends.

where is the length of the conductor, measured in metres [m], A is the cross-
sectional area of the conductor measured in square metres [m²], σ (sigma) is the
electrical conductivity measured in siemens per meter (S·m−1), and ρ (rho) is the
electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance) of the material,
measured in ohm-metres (Ω·m). The resistivity and conductivity are
proportionality constants, and therefore depend only on the material the wire is
made of, not the geometry of the wire. Resistivity and conductivity are reciprocals:
. Resistivity is a measure of the material's ability to oppose electric
current.

Ans: Find your answer as per class room discussion?

4. How to functionalize Silicon substrate with amine/thiol linkers?

Scheme 1. Proposed mechanism for the silanization with

aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES): Hydrolysis of the reactive
siloxanes (a), which can take place in solution or on the substrate
surface, allows condensation with surface silanol groups (b). Thermal
curing of the resulting film causes further cross-linking (Ref. Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 9618 – 9647)
Scheme 4. Example for the chemical functionalization of PDMS: A
PDMS substrate is activated by plasma oxidation and functionalized
with a mercaptosilane to produce a PDMS surface displaying thiol
groups, which can then be used for subsequent immobilization of target
biomolecules, for example, maleimide-functionalized proteins or
oligonucleotides.
5. What is polydespersity index (PDI)? Define Living polymerization? Identify
higher PDI value from the Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) run (i) and
ii?

Polydespersity index (PDI)?

PDI: The ratio of the weight average to the number
average is called the polydispersity index.
Number average molecular weight
It is determined by measuring the molecular weight of n
polymer molecules, summing the weights, and dividing by n

where is the number of molecules of molecular weight

Weight average molecular weight

The ratio of the weight average to the number average is called

the polydispersity index.
(i) GPC Separation of Anionically Synthesized Polystyrene; Mn=3,000 g/mol,
PDI=1.32
(ii) GPC Separation of Free-Radical Synthesized Polystyrene; Mn=24,000
g/mol, PDI=4.96
Schematic of pore vs. analyte size
 6. What are liquid crystalline materials? How to tune glass transition (Tg)
temperature of polymeric materials?

Liquid Crystal Phases

Smectic Phase
• This phase can be reached at
lower temperatures than the
nematic phase.
• Molecules align themselves in
layers.(They are restricted to their
plane.)
• More order and higher viscosity

Liquid Crystalline (Mesomorphic) Polymers (LCP)

Figure 2. Mesophases in LCP side chain.

Liquid Crystalline (Mesomorphic) Polymers (LCP)

Figure 3. Representation of liquid crystalline polymers with main-chain (a) and
side-chain (b, c) mesogenic groups and combination of both types of chains (d).

Polymers carrying side-chain mesogenic groups can be prepared in various ways:

 By chemical modification of a flexible polymeric backbone as in the case of
polysiloxanes
 By chain polymerization of a vinyl or related monomer carrying a
mesogenic group
 By step-growth polymerization of mesomorphic monomers.

Self-assembling biomaterials: Liquid crystal

phases of cholesteryl oligo(L-lactic acid) and their
interactions with cells

Figure 1. DSC scan of C-LA revealing a glass transition at 32°C, a thermotropic

liquid crystalline transition (smectic to smectic phase) at 57°C, and isotropization
at 88°C. (Hwang J J et al. PNAS 2002;99:9662-9667)
Polyurethanes are made by the exothermic reactions between alcohols with two or
more reactive hydroxyl (-OH) groups per molecule (diols, triols, polyols) and
isocyanates that have more than one reactive isocyanate group (-NCO) per
molecule (diisocyanates, polyisocyanates). For example a diisocyanate reacts with
a diol: