• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.303-309
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• 2019

Earlier studies by our group revealed that gallic acid in phytochemicals stimulated biofilm production in epiphytes, while caffeic acid in phytochemicals inhibited biofilm production in non-epiphytes. It is well documented that antimicrobial secretion by some epiphytic bacteria inhibits non-epiphytic bacterial growth on leaf surfaces. These selection criteria help plants choose their microbial inhabitants. Calcium and iron in phytochemicals also stimulate biofilm formation and thus, may be selection criteria adopted by plants with respect to their native epiphytic population. Furthermore, the processing of leaves during phytochemical extraction impacts the composition of the extract, and therefore its ability to affect bacterial biofilm formation. Computation of the Hurst exponent using biofilm thickness data obtained from the Ellipsometry of Brewster Angle Microscopic (BAM) images is an efficient tool for understanding the impact of phytochemicals on epiphytic and non-epiphytic populations when compared to fluorescent microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and staining techniques. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that uses the Hurst exponent to elucidate the mechanism involved in plant microbe interaction.

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• v.3C no.6
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• pp.216-219
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• 2003

A new class of carbosiloxane dendrimer (G4-48PyP) terminated with 4-pyridylpropano I was synthesized and its possible application to functional thin films was examined through metal complexation and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. The highly concentrated periphery pyridyl groups of G4-48PyP were exposed on aq. aluminum ions at the air-water interface. The monolayers showed stability up to ca. 50 mN/m of surface pressure. When the subphase became acidic or alkaline, the monolayers changed to condensed phase. The presence of aluminum ions also caused reduction of the molecular area. The macroscopic images of the monolayers were monitored by Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and only the images of dendrimer aggregates could be observed after the monolayer collapse. The surface images of the monolayer LB film were scanned by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The convex structures of single and aggregate molecules were directly observed. The structures of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films were characterized by FT-IR, UV-Vis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The UV-Vis spectrum of the aluminum ion-complexed LB film showed additional band around 670nm, which was not found in the spectra of dendrimer itself or aq. aluminum ions. XPS spectra also supported the incorporation of aluminum ions into the LB films.

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• v.4C no.1
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• pp.26-30
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• 2004

Orientation control of a polyoxometalate (POM) nanoparticle in its two-dimensional arrangement was attempted by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. For their uniorientation, two carboxyl groups were introduced on one side of the POM particle, and hydrophobic long chains were attached by esterification with the carboxyl groups (C18-POM). The C18-POM layer spread on water surface showed stability against surface pressure up to 60 mN/m. The pattern of the C18-POM isotherm was quite different from stearyl alcohol (C18-OH), while the POM itself did not show any development of surface pressure on water surface. The AFM images of C18-POM LB films showed some microcrystalline structures that were noticed as dot structures by Brewster angle microscopy. The microimages for C18-POM did not completely spread out as a monolayer on the water surface. The XPS spectra indicated the presence of POM structures and stearyl ester bonds formed from about 65% of the total carboxyls. The XRD spectra showed that the unioriented POMs were not positioned with the same lattice distance but rather in a wavy surface state.