Separation processes are routinely used worldwide in biotechnology, chemical processing, wastewater treatment, and myriad other areas. Gel electrophoresis has been used for decades as a standard technique to separate charged biopolymers, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins. In this research, polyacrylamide hydrogels were synthesized in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles as nanotemplating agents in an effort to modify the internal porous microstructure of the gels. After removing these agents via a combination of passive and facilitated means, the gels were used during electrophoresis in order to assess the effects of its modified porous microstructure on protein separations. The results revealed that hydrogels containing 9% acrylamide and templated with SDS micelles in a 5–15% concentration range were the most effective materials in separating proteins in a range of 10–250 kDa. As expected, standard, nontemplated gels also resulted in separation of the proteins but not to the same extent as with the templated hydrogels. In summary, this research highlights the important role of the templating agent as possible useful tuning factors for achieving electrophoresis‐based separation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44063.

ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NP) present innovative optical, electrical, and magnetic properties that depend on specific characteristics, e.g., size, distribution, and morphology. Thus, these properties are essential to address various applications in areas such as electronics, medicine, energy, and others. In addition, the performance of this ZnO-NP depends of their preparation which can be done by chemical, physical, and biological methods. Meanwhile, nowadays, the main interest in developing ZnO-NP synthesis through biological methods bases on the decrease of use of toxic chemicals or energy applied to the procedures, making the process more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. However, the large-scale production of nanoparticles by green synthesis remains a big challenge due to the complexity of the biological extracts used in chemical reactions. That being the case, the preparation of ZnO-NP using Moringa oleifera extract as an alternative biological agent for capping and reduction in synthesis was evaluated in this work. Then, the results based on the analysis of the optical and structural characterization of the ZnO-NP obtained by employing UV-Vis, DLS, zeta potential, XRD, ATR-FTIR, and FE-SEM indicate mostly the presence of spherical nanosized material with a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 47.2 nm measured by DLS and a mean size diameter of 25 nm observed with FE-SEM technique. Furthermore, in FE-SEM images a homogeneous dispersion and distribution is observed in the absence of agglutination, agglomeration, or generation of significant lumps of the ZnO-NP. The XRD analysis showed that heat annealing induced the crystallite size favoring their monocrystallinity. Those obtained data confirm the synthesis of ZnO-NP and the absence of impurities associated with organic compounds in the annealed samples. Finally, those results and low-cost production present to the synthesized ZnO-NP by this biological method as a useful material in several applications.

Hydrogels are a very useful type of polymeric material in several economic sectors, acquiring great importance due to their potential applications; however, this type of material, similarly to all polymers, is susceptible to degradation, which must be studied to improve its use. In this sense, the present work shows the degradation phenomena of commercial hydrogels based on potassium and sodium polyacrylate caused by the intrinsic content of different types of potable waters and aqueous solutions. In this way, a methodology for the analysis of this type of phenomenon is presented, facilitating the understanding of this type of degradation phenomenon. In this context, the hydrogels were characterized through swelling and FTIR to verify their performance and their structural changes. Likewise, the waters and wastewaters used for the swelling process were characterized by turbidity, pH, hardness, metals, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, DLS, Z-potential, and UV-vis to determine the changes generated in the types of waters caused by polymeric degradation and which are the most relevant variables in the degradation of the studied materials. The results obtained suggest a polymeric degradation reducing the swelling capacity and the useful life of the hydrogel; in addition, significant physicochemical changes such as the emergence of polymeric nanoparticles are observed in some types of analyzed waters.

El principal objetivo de esta investigación es determinar los factores que influyen en la adopción de nanotecnología en el cultivo de quinua. Se aplica el modelo de regresión logística binaria y se evalúan 52 unidades agrarias mediante conversaciones semiestructuradas utilizando el método de convivencialidad relacional. Se consideraron 17 variables, 14 cualitativas y 3 cuantitativas. La variable dependiente/endógena considerada fue el uso de nanotecnología. Los resultados muestran como significativa la variable garantía de cosecha, aspecto mencionado por el 85% de cultivadores. Esta variable influye en la probabilidad de uso de nanotecnología, pero está condicionada a mantener la diversidad, multifuncionalidad y heterogeneidad característica del espacio rural estudiado. En conclusión, estos resultados abren debate del rol de convivencia de la tecnología en el espacio rural respecto a su discursiva construcción productiva, al que se suma la necesidad de experimentación participativa en campo para formar una posición y tomar una decisión.