Influence of direct electric field on PMCG-alginate-based microcapsule

Abstract

In this study, the influence of direct electric current on a microcapsule was investigated. The microcapsule consisted of a core from a calcium ion and sodium alginate (SA) complex and the microcapsule membrane was formed by the polyionic complexation of poly(methylene-co-guanidine) (PMCG) and cellulose sulfate (CS). Microcapsules showed swelling and decreasing mechanical properties under the applied electric current, and the microcapsule membrane showed anisotropic swelling on the electrode side. The effect is attributed to an electrokinetic phenomenon, predominant formation of hydroxyl ions, and the diffusion of hydrated ions. The swelling degree of the microcapsule and microcapsule membrane at different pH and the applied electric current under alkali and acidic conditions was investigated. The swelling degree was influenced by the dissociation of the membrane, which was observed after applying the electric field, which was caused by the electrokinetic effect and the neutralization of the polycation (under alkali conditions) or polyanionic (under acidic conditions) segment during membrane formation.

Role of Exopolysaccharides of Pseudomonas in Heavy Metal Removal and Other Remediation Strategies

“…The main ExP component in the bacteria of Pseudomonas genera is alginate, an anionic linear polymer composed of beta-1,4-linked mannuronic acids (M-blocks) and C5-epimer α-L-guluronic acid (G-blocks) [ 30 ]. Alginate’s viscosifying, gelling, and stabilizing properties make this biopolymer an important industrial polysaccharide with great prospects in applications such as drug and protein delivery systems and food encapsulation [ 31 , 32 ]. Thirteen proteins are directly involved in the biosynthesis of alginate, and except for AlgC, they are all encoded by the alg operon [ 33 ].…”

Exchange Counterion in Polycationic Hydrogels: Tunability of Hydrophobicity, Water State, and Floating Capability for a Floating pH Device

“…Thus, the design and structure of the polymeric network are subsequently tailored to external stimuli triggering and particular applications [8]. The type of polymer chain usually dictates the response to external stimuli, such thermoresponsibility (mainly poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) [9,10] and zwitterionic-based material [11] due to the lower and upper critical solution temperature, respectively), light responsibility (azo-, spiro-, and 2-nitrophenyl-based materials) [12], electrical potential (charged or redox-based material [13,14]), pH (acidic and/or base-containing materials) [15], etc.…”