Administrative Information
‫المعلومات االدارية‬
:‫المرجع‬
Project Title - )‫عنوان المشروع (عربي وأجنبي‬
Synthesis of nanoparticle assembled novel microcapsule and its nanotechnological
application as sensor for industrial effluents
Principal Investigator - ‫الباحث الرئيسي‬
‫رقم الهاتف‬
‫العنوان االلكتروني‬
Telephone
e-mail
3985 dp03@aub.edu.lb
‫العنوان‬
Address
Dept. Of
Chemistry,
American
University
of Beirut,
Beirut,
Lebanon
‫الوظيفية‬
‫المؤسسة‬
Post
Institution
Associate
American
Professor University of
Beirut
‫االسم‬
Name
Digambara
Patra
Co-Workers - ‫الباحثون المشاركون‬
‫العنوان االلكتروني‬
e-mail
sra y owT
‫المؤسسة‬
Institution
‫االسم‬
Name
: Duration -‫المدة التعاقدية للمشروع‬
2013 ‫برنامج دعم البحوث العلمية‬
Grant Program for Scientific Research in Lebanon – 2013
Programme de subvention à la recherche scientifique au Liban – 2013
Page 1 of 5
Scientific Information
‫العلمية‬
‫المعلومات‬
ّ
Objectives - ‫الهدف‬
The main goals of this project were to:
(i)
Synthesize nanoparticle assembles microcapsule
(ii)
Characterize the microcapsule by SEM and optical microscopy
(iii)
Study the Optical properties of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon inside the
microcapsule
(iv)
Investigate the polarizability inside the microcapsule
(v)
Examine the photostability of the microcapsule
(vi)
Apply the synthesized microcapsule for sensing industrial effluents
Achievements -‫أالنجازات المحققة‬
Synthesize nanoparticle assembles microcapsule was achieved by using poly l-lysine or poly
allyl amine hydrochloride in the presence of salt.
These microcapsule could be characterized by SEM and optical microscopy.
Investigation of optical properties of the PAHs and probe molecules inside the capsules was
successfully carried out, which has been accepted for publication in RSC Advances (2014).
The polarizability inside the microcapsule could be estimated and the photostability was
examined effectively.
Ammonia is produced in large quantities and released by farming and chemical industries for
application as fertilizers and refrigeration. Leakage of ammonia may threat life of workers and
thus need alarm system. The synthesized microcapsules were positively applied for sensing
industrial effluents like ammonia, which was published in Analytica Chimica Acta (2011).
Further more such capsules could be useful to determine nucleic acid and for drug delivery
application. This work was published in Microchimica Acta (2013), Colloids and Surfaces A
(2014) and Analytica Chimica Acta (2013). This project was also helpful partially to publish six
different publications in related research area as given below.
Perspectives - ‫آفاق البحث‬
Nanotechnology potentially has wide applications to solve modern problems. Encapsulation
processes are increasingly being used in areas of medicine, pharmaceutical, agriculture,
cosmetics etc. In this project we successfully applied encapsulation process to prepare robust
material for developing and sensing industrial effluents by applying nanotechnology. Synthesis
of encapsulated HPTS in microcapsule was achieved using Poly-L-Lysine, trisodium citrate and
silica sol and characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Confocal and Optical
microscopy. Spectroscopic evaluation of encapsulated HPTS in microcapsule showed
completely different but more stable optical properties by lowering the energy gap between the
excited and ground state. The encapsulation of molecular probes in a suitable nanostructured
matrix can be exploited to alter their optical properties and robustness for fabricating efficient
chemical sensors. Despite high sensitivity, simplicity, selectivity and cost effectiveness, the
2013 ‫برنامج دعم البحوث العلمية‬
Grant Program for Scientific Research in Lebanon – 2013
Programme de subvention à la recherche scientifique au Liban – 2013
Page 2 of 5
photo-destruction and photo-bleaching are the serious concerns while utilizing molecular
probes. Herein we demonstrated that hydroxy pyrene trisulfonate (HPTS), a pH sensitive
molecular probe, when encapsulated in a microcapsule structure prepared via the assembly of
silica nanoparticles mediated by Poly-L-Lysine and trisodium citrate, provided a robust sensing
material for pH sensing under the physiological conditions. The temporal evolution under
continuous irradiation indicated that the fluorophore inside the silica microcapsule was
extraordinarily photostable. The fluorescence intensity alternation at dual excitation facilitates
for a ratiometic sensing of the pH, however, the fluorescence lifetime was insensitive to
hydrogen ion concentration. The sensing scheme was found to be robust, fast and simple for the
measurement of pH in the range 5.8 to 8.0, and could be successfully applied for the
determination of ammonia in the concentration range 0 – 1.2 mM, which is important for
aquatic life and the environment. Similar capsules could also be successfully tested for
determining nucleic acid concentration and drug delivery uses toward biomedical applications.
This project triggers further studies in this field to open up the way to applications of selfassembly of nanoparticles for biomedical and industrial applications.
Publications & Communications - ‫المنشورات والمساهمات في المؤتمرات‬
1. Arlin Jose Amali, Nour H. Awwad, Rohit Kumar Rana*, Digambara Patra*,
Nanoparticle Assembled Microcapsules for Application as pH and Ammonia Sensor,
Analytica Chimica Acta, 708, 75 - 83 (2011)
Highlighted: Ammonia Sensor
http://www.nature.com/nindia/2011/111029/full/nindia.2011.154.html
2. Digambara Patra*, Riwa Aridi, Kamal Bouhadir, Fluorometric sensing of DNA using
curcumin
encapsulated
nanoparticles
assembled
microcapsules
from
poly(diallylammonium chloride-co-sulfur dioxide), Microchimica Acta, 180, 59 – 64
(2013)
3. Digambara Patra*, Fatima Sleem, A new method for pH triggered curcumin release by
applying poly (L-lysine) mediated nanoparticle-congregation, Analytica Chimica Acta,
795, 60 - 68 (2013)
4. Mai Mouslmani, Digambara Patra*, Revoking excited state intra-molecular hydrogen
transfer by size dependent tailored made hierarchically ordered nanocapsules, RSC
Advances, in press, 2013
5. Digambara Patra*, Fatima Sleem, Acridine orange and silica nanoparticles facilitated
novel robust fluorescent hollow microcapsules towards DNA bio-sensor, Colloids and
Surfaces A: General, in press, 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2013.11.032
International Conference from this project
1. Digambara Patra*, Riwa Aridi, Kamal Bouhadir, Fabrication and Application of
Poly(Diallyl Ammonium Chloride) Mediated Nanoparticle Assembly Microcapsules,
Nano 2012 XI International Conference on Nanostructured Materials, Rodos Palace
Convention Center, Rhodes, Greece, Aug 26-31, 2012
2. Digambara Patra*, Riwa Aridi, Kamal Bouhadir, Synthesis and application of curcumin
encapsulated poly(diallylammonium chloride-co-SO2) mediated nanoparticles assembly
microcapsule as DNA sensor, Submitted 2012.
2013 ‫برنامج دعم البحوث العلمية‬
Grant Program for Scientific Research in Lebanon – 2013
Programme de subvention à la recherche scientifique au Liban – 2013
Page 3 of 5
The project was also partially helpful for the following publications.
1. Elsy El Khoury, Digambara Patra*, Ionic liquid expedites partition of curcumin into
solid gel but discourages into liquid crystalline phases of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3phosphocholine liposome, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 117, 9699 - 9708 (2013)
2. Digambara Patra*, Diana Ahmadieh, Riwa Aridi, Study on interaction of bile salts with
curcumin and curcumin embedded in dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
liposome, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 110, 296 - 304 (2013)
3. Christelle Barakat, Digambara Patra*, Combining time-resolved fluorescence
technique with synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy to study bovine serum albumincurcumin complex during unfolding and refolding processes, Luminescence, 28, 149 –
155 (2013)
4. Digambara Patra*, Christelle Barakat, Rana M. Tafech, Study on effect of lipophilic
curcumin on sub-domain IIA site of human serum albumin during unfolded and refolded
states: A synchronous fluorescence spectroscopic study, Colloids and Surfaces B:
Biointerfaces, 94, 354 – 361 (2012)
5. Digambara Patra*, Christelle Barakat, Time-resolved fluorescence study during
denaturation and renaturation of curcumin-myoglobin complex, International Journal of
Biological Macromolecules, 50, 885 - 890 (2012)
6. Digambara Patra*, Elsy El Khoury, Diana Ahmadieh, Shaza Darwish, Rana M. Tafech,
Effect of Curcumin on Liposome: Curcumin as a Molecular Probe for Monitoring
Interaction of Ionic Liquids with 1,2-Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
Liposome, Photochemistry and Photobiology, 88, 317 - 327 (2012)
Copies of the articles are attached. Some of the recent research findings are not yet published
and work is still under progress. After completing of this project, the research findings will be
published together.
Abstract - ‫موجز عن نتائج البحث‬
Material science has drawn lots of attention in past two decades due to potential development of
nanotechnology for various applications in industries and life sciences. Nanotechnology may
potentially have wide applications to solve modern problems. Encapsulation processes are
increasingly being used in areas of medicine, pharmaceutical, agriculture, cosmetics etc. In the
present proposal we will apply encapsulation process to prepare robust material for developing
and sensing industrial effluents by applying nanotechnology. We will introduce synthesis of
encapsulated modified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons inside the microcapsule containing
self-assembled nanoparticles using Poly-L-Lysine, trisodium citrate and silica sol and
characterize by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Confocal and Optical microscopy.
Spectroscopic evaluation of encapsulated modified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in
microcapsule may have completely different and more stable optical properties by lowering the
2013 ‫برنامج دعم البحوث العلمية‬
Grant Program for Scientific Research in Lebanon – 2013
Programme de subvention à la recherche scientifique au Liban – 2013
Page 4 of 5
energy gap between the excited and ground state. The spectroscopic and fluorescence lifetime
study of encapsulated modified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons will be carried out. Similarly
photostability and polarizability inside the microcapsule cavity will be studied. Finally, the
system will be applied for sensing industrial effluents like ammonia and other materials. The
pH and solvatochromic dependent study will be carried out to realize the robustness of
developed sensor in various other environments.
‫توقيع الباحث‬
2013 ‫برنامج دعم البحوث العلمية‬
Grant Program for Scientific Research in Lebanon – 2013
Programme de subvention à la recherche scientifique au Liban – 2013
Page 5 of 5