Massachusetts Institute of Technology

T Alan Hatton

Lev E Bromberg

Paul Brown

Sahag Voskian

Daniel I C Wang

Xianwen Mao

Cesar De La Fuente Nunez

Stephen L Buchwald

Karen K Gleason

Timothy Kuan-Ta Lu

Markus Zahn

Bernat Olle

Shahriar Khushrushahi

Andong Liu

Linda Katherine Molnar

Paul E Laibinis

Ryan Alex Shaw

Jin Yin

Andre Ditsch

Harpreet Singh

Joel L Plawsky

Margarida Fernandes Da Costa Gomes

Polyamines are water-soluble polyelectrolytes with the amino groups that can be used to attach the polymers onto functional surfaces of fibrous materials. In addition, polyamines can be readily modified by (super)nucleophilic groups such as (alkyl)aminopyridines that enhance the polymer's ability to promote hydrolysis of organophosphorous chemical warfare agents. Furthermore, attachment of hydantoin moieties augments the number of the imide, amide, or amine groups on the polyamine's chain, which provides oxidizing properties to the resulting modified polyamine after halogenation. In one aspect, disclosed herein are polyamines with side chains modified to contain both (4-aminopyridine, APy) and 5-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)hydantoin (HBH) functionalities with enhanced content of the active bromine. Viricidal activity of the APy- and HBH-modified polyallylamine against human coronavirus (type 229E) was tested both in solution and on nylon-cotton fabric. The polymers are effective at inactivating the coronavirus, at both low concentrations and short exposure times.

Antiviral compositions and related methods

Disclosed are capacitors containing surface active ionic liquids, and methods of use. The capacitors have high capacitance and function over broad ranges of temperature, and are particularly appropriate for high-temperature (&#x2dc;200&#xb0; C.) applications.

High-temperature supercapacitors containing surface active ionic liquids

Disclosed are polymer-coated surfaces encapsulating task specific ionic liquids (ILs), IL complexes, or oils. Also disclosed are polymer-coated surfaces, wherein the polymer comprises ILs or neutral ethylene diamine compounds. Also disclosed are methods of antimicrobial treatment, metal remediation, and gas absorption using polymer coatings encapsulating ILs, IL complexes, and oils or polymer coatings comprising ILs and neutral ethylene diamine compounds.

Task specific ionic liquid-impregnated polymeric surface coatings for antibacterial, antifouling, and metal scavenging activity

Disclosed are methods of antimicrobial treatment using ionic liquids (ILs), IL complexes, polymers comprising ILs, and polymers comprising neutral ethylene diamine compounds. Also disclosed are novel IL complexes, polymers comprising ILs, and polymers comprising neutral ethylene diamine compounds.

Silver- and copper-chelating ionic liquids, polymers, and gels, and uses thereof

Disclosed are curable coating compositions, and methods of cathodic corrosion protection using the compositions. For example, a curable coating composition comprising a mixed salt of magnesium thiodialkanoate, and a method for applying the coating composition, which when applied onto a steel or other ferrous substrate provides an anticorrosive coating, effective for improving resistance to cathodic disbondment.

Additives for coating compositions and related methods

Disclosed are compositions of electroactive polymers (EAPs) having improved performance stability. In the EAP compositions, a cross-linked polymer is deposited onto the surface of the EAP by vapor-deposition methods. Upon contact with an aqueous solution (e.g., an aqueous electrolyte solution), the vapor-deposited polymeric network becomes a hydrogel that encapsulates the EAPs. By modulating precursors and vapor deposition conditions, the mesh size of the resultant hydrogel coatings can be controlled to accommodate the key species that interact with the EAPs.

Enhancing performance stability of electroactive polymers by vapor-deposited organic networks

Method for oil removal. The method includes adding a magnetizable material, with or without appropriately selected surfactants, of order micron (having no net magnetization) or nanometer size to magnetize the oil or water phase by either making a ferrofluid, magnetorheological fluid, a magnetic Pickering emulsion (oil in water or water in oil emulsion), or any other process to magnetize either oil or water phases. The magnetized fluid is separated from the non-magnetic phase using novel or existing magnetic separation techniques or by permanent magnets or electromagnets thereby separating oil and water phases. The magnetized particles are separated from the magnetized phase using novel or existing magnetic separation techniques to recover and reuse the particles. The two magnetic separation steps can be repeated to further increase recovery efficiency of the liquid phases and the magnetizable particles reused in this continuous process.

Magnetic colloid petroleum oil spill clean-up of ocean surface, depth, and shore regions

The present invention relates to multi-polymer-coated magnetic nanoclusters, aqueous magnetic fluids comprising same, and methods of their use in separation procedures. The multi-polymer-coated magnetic nanoclusters comprise a super paramagnetic core, with a first polymer attached thereto, which does not render the first polymer-super paramagnetic particle complex colloidally stable, and a second polymer attached thereto, which stabilizes the complex of multi-polymer-coated magnetic nanoparticles. Methods of use comprise methods of separation, including separation of expressed protein from cells and viruses expressing the same.

Multi-polymer-coated magnetic nanoclusters

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for sorbing (e.g., adsorption and chemisorption) and destroying organophosphate chemical agents. In certain embodiments, the invention contemplates the use of finely divided, modified nanoscale metal oxide particles. In one embodiment, a suspension of magnetite (FeO) nanoparticles modified with 2-pralidoxime or its polymeric analog, poly(4-vinylpyridine-N-phenacyloxime-co-acrylic acid), catalyzes the hydrolysis of organophosphate compounds at a neutral pH. The oxime-modified magnetite particles serve as a nano-sized particulate carrier with a powerful &#x3b1;-nucleophile, an oximate group, immobilized on its surface. The oxime-modified magnetite nanoparticles are colloidally stable at neutral pH and they are readily recovered from the aqueous milieu by high-gradient magnetic separation methods.

Catalytic nanoparticles for nerve-agent destruction

One aspect of the present invention relates to a permanently linked, rigid, magnetic chain of particles prepared by sol-gel methods. A second aspect of the present invention relates to a method of preparing a permanently linked, rigid, magnetic chain of particles comprising: coating a core material with one or more polyelectrolyte layers resulting in a coated particle; further coating the coated particle with a layer of magnetic nanoparticles resulting in a magnetic particle; coating the magnetic particle with a layer of a polycationic polyelectrolyte resulting in a coated magnetic particle; and applying a magnetic field to the coated magnetic particle in the presence of a metal oxide or metal oxide precursor capable of undergoing hydrolysis.

Permanently linked, rigid, magnetic chains

One aspect of the present invention relates to magnetic nanoparticles colloidally stabilized in aqueous milieu by association with an organic phase. The organic phase may be either a fluorinated polymer or an organic hydrocarbon bilayer, wherein the two layers are chemically bonded to each other. The stabilized particles are further non-toxic and provide useful enhancements in bioprocesses. Another aspect of the present invention relates to compositions comprising an oxygen-dissolving fluid vehicle and surface modified, nanometer-sized magnetic particles. The inventive compositions have utility in a wide range of applications, but are particularly suitable for use as recyclable oxygen carriers, separation and purification vehicles, and bioprocessing media, including fermentation processes.

Bioprocesses enhanced by magnetic nanoparticles

Replacement solvents for use in chemical synthesis include polymer-immobilized solvents having a flexible polymer backbone and a plurality of pendant groups attached onto the polymer backbone, the pendant groups comprising a flexible linking unit bound to the polymer backbone and to a terminal solvating moiety. The polymer-immobilized solvent may be dissolved in a benign medium. Replacement solvents for chemical reactions for which tetrahydrofuran or diethyl may be a solvent include substituted tetrahydrofurfuryl ethers and substituted tetrahydro-3-furan ethers. The replacement solvents may be readily recovered from the reaction train using conventional methods.

Replacement solvents for use in chemical synthesis

A system for the simultaneous measurement of the size and velocities of bubbles or drops in a multiphase process environment wherein light passing through a Ronchi grating is projected onto a measurement volume within the multiphase process stream by a coherent fiber optic bundle and a gradient index imaging lens. Drops or bubbles passing through the measurement volume reflect or refract light which is sensed by velocity and size sensor fiber optic bundles disposed opposite the imaging lens and the sensed signal is coupled to signal processing means which convert the light signal to electrical signals and the appropriate size velocity measurments are made using one or more of the visibility techniques, phase lag techniques or transit time techniques.

Growing community of inventors

Sudbury, MA, United States of America

T Alan Hatton