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Piotr Stepnowski

Other affiliations: University of Bremen
Bio: Piotr Stepnowski is an academic researcher from University of Gdańsk. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ionic liquid & Sorption. The author has an hindex of 56, co-authored 353 publications receiving 10360 citations. Previous affiliations of Piotr Stepnowski include University of Bremen.


Papers
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TL;DR: A complete chemical and physicochemical characterization of chitin, chitosan and their derivatives is not possible without using spectroscopic techniques, so this review focuses on the application of Spectroscopic methods for the structural analysis of these compounds.
Abstract: Chitin, the second most important natural polymer in the world, and its N-deacetylated derivative chitosan, have been identified as versatile biopolymers for a broad range of applications in medicine, agriculture and the food industry. Two of the main reasons for this are firstly the unique chemical, physicochemical and biological properties of chitin and chitosan, and secondly the unlimited supply of raw materials for their production. These polymers exhibit widely differing physicochemical properties depending on the chitin source and the conditions of chitosan production. The presence of reactive functional groups as well as the polysaccharide nature of these biopolymers enables them to undergo diverse chemical modifications. A complete chemical and physicochemical characterization of chitin, chitosan and their derivatives is not possible without using spectroscopic techniques. This review focuses on the application of spectroscopic methods for the structural analysis of these compounds.

848 citations

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TL;DR: It seems that WWTPs with conventional treatment processes are capable of significant reduction of ARB but are not efficient in ARG removal, as the levels of antibiotics detected in influent and effluent ofWWTPs were presented.

345 citations

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TL;DR: It was found that for 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium entities the toxicity depends strongly on the associated anion; EC50 values are lowest for tetrafluoroborate.
Abstract: This paper presents cytotoxicity data of selected imidazolium ionic liquids evaluated in vitro on the human tumor cell line HeLa. It was found that for 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium entities the toxicity depends strongly on the associated anion; EC50 values are lowest for tetrafluoroborate. No direct dependence of the reduced effect concentration was found on elongating the short, methyl chain to ethyl or n-hexyl. Only for the ionic liquid with an n-decyl chain, the longest one studied, did higher hydrophobicity result in a EC50 one order of magnitude lower than that obtained with the n-butyl entity. The effect concentrations of imidazolium ionic liquids in the HeLa system used are lower than the values obtained for conventional organic solvents such as dichloromethane, toluene or xylene.

233 citations

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TL;DR: A preliminary assessment of the toxicity of selected imidazolium ionic liquids towards marine algae was presented and it was found that at higher salinities, theoxicity of 1-butyl- and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidrazolium entities towards O. submarina was significantly lower than at low salinITIES.

226 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
03 Nov 2011-Polymers
TL;DR: A considerable research effort has been directed towards developing safe and efficient chitin/chitosan-based products because many factors, like the size of nanoparticles, can determine the biomedical characteristics of medicinal products.
Abstract: The physicochemical nature of chitin and chitosan, which influences the biomedical activity of these compounds, is strongly related to the source of chitin and the conditions of the chitin/chitosan production process. Apart from widely described key factors such as weight-averaged molecular weight (MW) and degree of N-acetylation (DA), other physicochemical parameters like polydispersity (MW/MN), crystallinity or the pattern of acetylation (PA) have to be taken into consideration. From the biological point of view, these parameters affect a very important factor—the solubility of chitin and chitosan in water and organic solvents. The physicochemical properties of chitosan solutions can be controlled by manipulating solution conditions (temperature, pH, ionic strength, concentration, solvent). The degree of substitution of the hydroxyl and the amino groups or the degree of quaternization of the amino groups also influence the mechanical and biological properties of chitosan samples. Finally, a considerable research effort has been directed towards developing safe and efficient chitin/chitosan-based products because many factors, like the size of nanoparticles, can determine the biomedical characteristics of medicinal products. The influence of these factors on the biomedical activity of chitin/chitosan-based products is presented in this report in more detail.

221 citations


Cited by
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[...]

08 Dec 2001-BMJ
TL;DR: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one, which seems an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.
Abstract: 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 …

33,785 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, a test based on two conserved CHD (chromo-helicase-DNA-binding) genes that are located on the avian sex chromosomes of all birds, with the possible exception of the ratites (ostriches, etc.).

2,554 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Arenes by Nanoparticles 2624 3.1.2.
Abstract: 2.5. Stabilization of IL Emulsions by Nanoparticles 2623 3. Hydrogenations in ILs 2623 3.1. Hydrogenation on IL-Stabilized Nanoparticles 2623 3.1.1. Hydrogenation of 1,3-Butadiene 2623 3.1.2. Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Arenes 2624 3.1.3. Hydrogenation of Ketones 2624 3.2. Homogeneous Catalytic Hydrogenation in ILs 2624 3.3. Hydrogenation of Functionalized ILs 2625 3.3.1. Selective Hydrogenation of Polymers 2625 3.4. Asymmetric Hydrogenations 2626 3.4.1. Enantioselective Hydrogenation 2626 3.5. Role of the ILs Purity in Hydrogenation Reactions 2628

1,996 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Several selected pharmaceutical and biomedical applications are presented, in which chitin and chitosan are recognized as new biomaterials taking advantage of their biocompatibility and biodegradability.
Abstract: This review describes the most common methods for recovery of chitin from marine organisms. In depth, both enzymatic and chemical treatments for the step of deproteinization are compared, as well as different conditions for demineralization. The conditions of chitosan preparation are also discussed, since they significantly impact the synthesis of chitosan with varying degree of acetylation (DA) and molecular weight (MW). In addition, the main characterization techniques applied for chitin and chitosan are recalled, pointing out the role of their solubility in relation with the chemical structure (mainly the acetyl group distribution along the backbone). Biological activities are also presented, such as: antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor and antioxidant. Interestingly, the relationship between chemical structure and biological activity is demonstrated for chitosan molecules with different DA and MW and homogeneous distribution of acetyl groups for the first time. In the end, several selected pharmaceutical and biomedical applications are presented, in which chitin and chitosan are recognized as new biomaterials taking advantage of their biocompatibility and biodegradability.

1,554 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed a comprehensive framework for the environmental assessment of solvents that covers major aspects of the environmental performance of Solvents in chemical production, as well as important health and safety issues.

1,363 citations