Both triptolide (TP) and cyclopamine (CPA) exhibit strong anticancer effects in vitro with adverse reactions and low bioavailabilities because of their water insolubility and poor liposolubility. The preparation of functional polymer materials into micelles not only improved the apparent solubility of the drug, changed the release behavior of the drug, but also made the drug targeted. All-atom molecular dynamics (MD) methods were used to simulate the states of both TP and CPA in PLA-PEG block copolymer micelles. MD results showed that TP and CPA were concentrated in the core layer of micelles formed by PLA-PEG block copolymers. The polymers PLLA-PEG-COOH were synthesized using HO-PEG-COOH and PLA and characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, 13 C NMR, and gel chromatography. The dual drug-loaded polymeric micelle ((TP + CPA)-PM) was prepared by solvent evaporation, and the encapsulation rates of TP and CPA were 65.44% and 78.16% using the HPLC method, respectively. The polymer micelles were nearly spherical and did not aggregate under transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the particle size was about 75.32 ± 0.20 nm through dynamic light scattering (DLS). (TP + CPA)-PM showed similar inhibitory effects to free drugs on A2780, A549, HepG2, and SKOV3 cells, which was proved by the MTT proliferation inhibition experiment, Hoechst33258 fluorescence staining experiment, and flow cytometry experiment. These results appeared to support the assumption that polymeric micelles encapsulation did not affect drug activity. PLA-PEG block copolymer may be a promising drug delivery vehicle for loading TP and CPA in antitumor therapy.

Over the last decade, economic and environmental factors have led to low salinity water injection (LSWI) becoming one of the most important improved oil recovery methods. Although many results have been obtained from laboratory tests, only a few papers have been published regarding the modeling and simulating LSWI in carbonate reservoirs compared to sandstone reservoirs. This paper investigated the most affecting parameters on oil recovery during LSWI at the core and field scale. The published work focused more on the effective parameters related to ultimate oil recovery using LSWI. However, important parameters affecting the oil recovery rate were not investigated. We compared how important parameters affected the ultimate oil recovery factor and ultimate oil recovery rate. According to the results of this study, the salinity of injected water and curvature of oil relative permeability were the most important factors on the ultimate oil recovery factor. By reducing both of these parameters, more increment oil was recovered. By increasing the injection rate of water, the curvature of the water relative permeability, wettability, and the endpoint of oil relative permeability, the oil recovery rate also increased. Furthermore, threshold capillary pressure and the endpoint of relative permeability of water had inverse effects on oil recovery. Injecting low salinity water into the reservoir will change its wettability. As a result, it will change the properties of the reservoir and increase the production from the reservoir, resulting in more oil being produced. LSWI resulted in an increase of oil recovery factor of 5% and 11% respectively after 25 and 58 years in this case.

Oil displacing agents used in oil drilling and extraction can improve crude oil recovery. Acrylamide polymers were the most common oil displacing agents because of their high viscosity and low cost. However, conventional acrylamide polymers were susceptible to hydrolysis and thermal degradation in harsh reservoir conditions. Unique physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles promise to improve the performance of acrylamide polymers in harsh reservoir conditions. In this paper, the nano-micron copolymers of acrylamide (AM), 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS), and modified nano-silica (M-SiO2) were synthesized by two methods: aqueous solution polymerization and inverse emulsion polymerization, named W-PAAGS and E-PAAGS, respectively. The characterization was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetry (TG), particle size analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thickening ability, temperature resistance, salt resistance, and thermal stability of the two polymers synthesized were studied. The results showed that E-PAAGS had a better thickening ability than W-PAAGS. The viscosity of the E-PAAGS solution was much higher than that of the W-PAAGS solution at polymer concentrations above 5000 mg/L. The temperature and salt resistance of E-PAAGS was also better than that of the W-PAAGS. In addition, E-PAAGS exhibits better aging stability. After 30 days of aging, E-PAAGS had 71.3% viscosity retention whereas only 52.7% retention was observed for W-PAAGS, and the viscosity of E-PAAGS was always higher than that of W-PAAGS. The significant difference properties of W-PAAGS and E-PAAGS was due to the differences in copolymer structure caused by the different polymerization methods.

The kinetics of Os(VIII) accelerated L-Leucine (L-Leu) oxidation in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) by hexacyanoferrate(III) [HCF(III)] was investigated by registering the decline in absorbance at 431 nm. Employing the pseudo-first-order condition, the reaction’s advancement has been examined as an indicator of [CTAB], [Os(VIII)], [OH−], [L-Leu], [HCF(III)], temperature, and ionic strength. The results show that [OH−], [CTAB], and [L-Leu] are the critical parameters with a discernible influence on reaction rate. L-Leu interacts with HCF(III) in a 1:2 ratio. The rate constant is independent of the [HCF(III)] and is merely used up to regenerate the Os(VIII) during the reaction. In the investigated concentration ranges of Os(VIII), [OH−], and [L-Leu], the reaction demonstrates first-order kinetics, but follows less than unit order at higher concentrations of L-Leu (more than 6.0 × 10−3 mole dm−3) and alkali (more than 0.4 mole dm−3). A positive salt effect is indicated by the linear rise in reaction rate with additional electrolytes. CTAB catalyzes the process substantially, and once at its peak at 7.0 × 10−4 mole dm−3, the rate remains constant as [CTAB] grows up to 8.5 × 10−4 mole dm−3. With anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate, the reaction rate was significantly reduced even in the presence of Os(VIII). Reduced repulsion between surfactant molecule’s positive charge heads brought on by the negative-charged HCF(III), OH−, and [OsO5(OH)]3− molecules may be responsible for the witnessed drop in CTAB critical micellar concentration (CMC).

The antibacterial activity of ZnO nanorods (NRs) has been tested for its ability to inhibit the cells of pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella sp. This study aims to increase the antibacterial activity through modification of Mg2+ doped ZnO morphology under sol-gel-hydrothermal synthesis conditions at pH 10. The mechanism of biosynthetic reactions was using enzymatic grooves of the cell phyllosphere isolate of gambir (Uncaria) leaves as a reducing compound and capping agent. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that ZnO and Mg doped ZnO products were wurtzite structures based on intensities 2θ = 31.78°, 34.43°, 36.27° correlated to hkl (100), (002), (101), respectively (ICSD standard −157724). Mg doped ZnO has the same intensity as the control and no impurity intensity was obtained. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis showed nanospheric morphological patterns, while nanorods have a more dominant size distribution in the range of 125–175 nm. Infrared (FT-IR) analysis at wave numbers 401–584 cm−1 showed a Zn-O stretch. Furthermore, powder ultraviolet (UV-DRS) analysis indicated optical properties based on the uptake on blue-shift regions with λmax ≤ 400 nm and had a change in the bandgap (Eg) of 3.37 eV after conversion using Tauc-plot. The results also showed that the greater the concentration of Mg+2 ions, the smaller the bandgap will be, i.e., of 3.13, eV, 3.10, eV, 3.11 eV, and 3.12 eV for 0, 1, 2, and 3%, respectively. On the antibacterial activity against bacteria Gram (+) Staphylococcus aureus and Gram (–) Salmonella typhi., the largest inhibitory zone was found on Gram (–) bacteria at 24 mm.

With the rapid development of the phosphorus chemical industry and the new energy industry, the role of phosphate rock is becoming more and more prominent. Medium and low phosphorus ore has gradually become a research hotspot. The stable dispersion of fine-grained phosphate rock in pulp is the premise of effective flotation. To elucidate the mechanism through which fine-grained phosphate-rock particles disperse and aggregate in pulps, we used solution chemistry, Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theoretical calculations, zeta-potential measurements, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the effects of Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe3+, and Al3+ metallic ions on the dispersion stability during the flotation of medium- and low-grade phosphate-rock particles. The experimental results showed that as the pulp pH changed, the metallic ions differently inhibited the particle dispersion stability. The trivalent metallic ions (Fe3+ and Al3+) inhibited the particle-dispersion stability more strongly than the divalent ones (Ca2+ and Mg2+) and strongly inhibited the particle dispersion stability in pH ranges >10 and 4–10, respectively. Correlation analysis and calculations revealed that in a certain pH range, metallic ions in the pulp generated corresponding hydroxyl complexes or precipitates, which adsorbed on the mineral-particle surfaces, reduced the potential energy of interparticle interactions and enhanced the particle aggregation, thereby inhibiting the dispersion stability.

Due to the increasing demand for natural gas, solidified natural gas (SNG) technology provides an attractive option for natural gas storage and transportation. However, the use of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to promote hydrate formation will have a negative impact on the environment. To overcome this difficulty, the compounding system of environmentally friendly additives with SDS was intended to find the synergistic promotion effects aiming to reduce the usage of SDS in this study. Three kinds of cyclodextrins including αCD, βCD, hydroxypropyl-βCD (HPCD) with SDS were compounded to study the effect of their interaction on hydrate formation kinetics. The result showed that when used with SDS, the formation of hydrates was promoted by αCD and βCD but inhibited by HPCD. It is emphasized that the promoting effect depended on the water channel (completely hydrophilic zones) formed by H-bonds between cyclodextrin and SDS self-assembled channel-type complexes. Compared with 500 ppm SDS used along, it was possible to reduce the dosage of SDS by 40%. Finally, by observing the morphology of hydrate formation, it is found that the addition of cyclodextrins would affect the driving force for hydrate growth in the horizontal direction during hydrate formation. This study provides theoretical support for further understanding of cyclodextrin and surfactant compounding and shows an effective way for the application of SNG industry.

The present study was conducted to optimize the preparation conditions of whey protein isolate-basil seed gum (WPI-BSG) conjugates resulting from the Maillard reaction in different weight ratios and reaction times. In addition, the stability of the emulsions stabilized by WPI-BSG conjugate was investigated. The covalent attachment of BSG to WPI was effectively confirmed by OPA method, FTIR and fluorescence spectrometry analysis. Results indicated that the maximum zeta potential (-79.83 ± 1.62 mV), emulsifying activity (29.33 ± 2.71 m2/g) and emulsifying stability (45.16 ± 5.14 min) of conjugates were obtained in the weight ratio of 1:2 (WPI to BSG) and reaction time of 2 h. It was also found that a longer heating time may lead to an increase in the browning intensity and a significant decrease in the emulsifying properties of the conjugates. Moreover, according to the results of particle size, zeta potential and creaming index, the emulsions stabilized by WPI-BSG conjugates were more stable than those stabilized by unheated WPI and WPI-BSG mixture. This study indicates that the Maillard reaction can successfully improve the emulsifying properties of WPI. Besides, WPI-BSG conjugates are able to increase physical stability of oil-in-water emulsions.

Given the low plugging success rate of existing plugging agents in oilfield applications, this study proposed a new selective plugging agent system (SA-1-S) with a high plugging efficiency, which dissolves in oil and releases oil flow channels under formation temperature conditions. Being insoluble in water and acid, it blocks water flow channels. In particular, at ambient temperature of 25 °C and reservoir temperature of 65 °C, the dissolution rate of SA-1-S particles in formation crude oil, kerosene, and diesel oil exceeded 96%, being suitable for formations at temperatures below 120 °C∼130 °C. The proposed agent’s plugging rate exceeded 90% on cores and 80% under reverse kerosene action; this rate dropped under forward scouring by 2.01 ∼ 3.21%. The selective water plugging agent proposed in this paper has application prospects in improving the oil recovery in high water-bearing oil wells.

We report the infrared absorption properties of polyaniline nanocomposites (AgFe2O3/ZnO) with different amounts of PANI (5 and 10 wt%) powder samples by in situ chemical oxidation polymerization synthesis. In contrast, silver ferrite nanomaterial has been synthesized using a hydrothermal approach. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the prepared samples. Rhombohedral structures were seen in the pure (AgFe2O3/ZnO) and its PANI composites. The size of the crystallites was found between 30 to 40 nm. The SEM images of the composites confirmed the morphology of prepared samples. The FTIR spectrum for each of the samples consists of two wide absorption bands that correspond to the tetrahedral V1 and octahedral V2 sites bending vibrations. Force constants were found higher for tetrahedral sites as compared to octahedral sites. FTIR parameters have been used to calculate the Bulk modulus (B), Rigidity modulus (R), Young’s modulus (Y), and Poisson ratio (σ). Elastic parameters for PANI doped ferrites have improved significantly compared to pure AgFe2O3/ZnO ferrite due to strong inter atomic bonding. This can be beneficial in overcoming physical stresses that may arise during material fabrication and commercialization. Debye temperature increased with increasing PANI concentration.