There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Hydrogels for biomedical applications.

A review on polymeric hydrogel membranes for wound dressing applications: PVA-based hydrogel dressings

Poly(ionic liquid)s: An update

This Perspective presents recent advances in macromolecular engineering enabled by ATRP. They include the fundamental mechanistic and synthetic features of ATRP with emphasis on various catalytic/initiation systems that use parts-per-million concentrations of Cu catalysts and can be run in environmentally friendly media, e.g., water. The roles of the major components of ATRP—monomers, initiators, catalysts, and various additives—are explained, and their reactivity and structure are correlated. The effects of media and external stimuli on polymerization rates and control are presented. Some examples of precisely controlled elements of macromolecular architecture, such as chain uniformity, composition, topology, and functionality, are discussed. Syntheses of polymers with complex architecture, various hybrids, and bioconjugates are illustrated. Examples of current and forthcoming applications of ATRP are covered. Future challenges and perspectives for macromolecular engineering by ATRP are discussed.

Macromolecular Engineering by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Materials are usually synthesized to allow a function that is either independent of time or that can be triggered in a specific environment. However in many cases, the materials experience different environments during their service and therefore they need to be adaptive so that useful functions are achieved during their lifecycle. New generation of materials need to be tailored to allow for a temporal sequence of reversible or irreversible responses in a cascade fashion. We discuss here strategies to encode a dynamic hierarchical structure of materials so that a temporal change of properties is created in different environments. Most of the examples are related to the sequenced release of drugs for combined therapy of cancer.

Encoding materials for programming a temporal sequence of actions

Smart lignin-based polyurethane conjugated with corrosion inhibitor as bio-based anticorrosive sublayer coating

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An Innovative Sandwich Type Biosensor towards Sensitive and Selective Monitoring of 2-Arachidonoylglycerol in Human Plasma Samples Using P(β-CD)-AuNPs-DDT as Amplificant Agent: A New Immuno-Platform for the Recognition of Endocannabinoids in Real Samples

Developing green and sustainable principles in catalytic systems using natural materials is becoming a suitable strategy to reduce the possible pollutant with high-risk agents. This study introduces basil seed ( Ocimum basilicum ) as an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of 2-amino-4 H -pyrans from aromatic aldehyde, malononitrile, and ethyl acetoacetate and 2-benzylidene malononitriles from aromatic aldehyde and malononitrile through the Knoevenagel condensation reaction in an aqueous medium at 80 °C and 50 °C, respectively. The prepared catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, EDS, BET, TGA, and Elemental mapping techniques, and its performance was evaluated in the synthesis of 2-benzylidene malononitriles and 2-amino-4 H -pyrans. Indeed, the basil seed catalyst displays excellent catalytic activity (80–98%) and stability at the mentioned reactions. Furthermore, compared to other catalysts employed in these syntheses, the basil seed catalyst has properties that can outstand it as a catalyst. These attributes include easy separation, easy work manner, high efficiency, cost-effectiveness, reusability, and recyclability. Furthermore, this catalyst is entirely biodegradable, non-toxic, based on the green chemistry frameworks, and can be reused without a remarkable reduction in its catalytic activity. • This study investigates the synthesizing of 2-benzylidene malononitrile and 2-amino-4 H -pyran derivatives using basil seed as a biodegradable and green catalyst. • This heterogeneous catalyst is cost-effective, non-toxic, reusable, and exhibits high efficiency with easy separation in the Knoevenagel reaction. • The basil seed catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, FE-SEM, XRD, EDS, BET, TGA, and elemental mapping analysis. 

Farzad Seidi

Papers

Encoding materials for programming a temporal sequence of actions

Smart lignin-based polyurethane conjugated with corrosion inhibitor as bio-based anticorrosive sublayer coating

An Innovative Sandwich Type Biosensor towards Sensitive and Selective Monitoring of 2-Arachidonoylglycerol in Human Plasma Samples Using P(β-CD)-AuNPs-DDT as Amplificant Agent: A New Immuno-Platform for the Recognition of Endocannabinoids in Real Samples

Synthesis of 2-amino-4H-pyran and 2-benzylidene malononitrile derivatives using a basil seed as a cheap, natural, and biodegradable catalyst

Three in one : B-cyclodextrin, nanohydroxyapatite, and a nitrogen-rich polymer integrated into a new flame retardant for poly(lactic acid)