Ludmila Aricov

• PhD
• Researcher at Institute of Physical Chemistry

For decades, royal jelly achieved notoriety and became an ultra-rich ingredient with numerous pharmacological properties especially for its use in production of topical ointments and creams. A novel formulation enriched with 2% royal jelly has been developed and characterized. Rheological results highlight a gel-like behavior of the product in the...

The comonomer bisphenol A (BPA) finds applications in the plastics industry, where it is used in the production of polycarbonates, plastics, PVC, thermal paper, epoxy and vinyl ester resins, and polyurethane. The water, with which many of these materials come into contact, is one of the main sources of human exposure to BPA. When ingested or touche...

Hydrogels are a viable option for biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ability to incorporate various healing agents while maintaining their biological efficacy. This study focused on the preparation and characterization of novel hybrid hydrogels enriched with the natural algae compound Ulvan for potential us...

Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels suffer from efficiency losses due to the accumulation of dust on their surface during operation, as well as the loss of transparency in the top glass. The efficiency can be increased when hydrophobic films are deposited on the top glass of the solar cells. The top glass of solar cells must have three characteristics:...

In this study, the impact of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the structure and activity of laccase from Trametes versicolor (Lc) was described. Fluorescence experiments revealed that AuNPs efficiently quench Lc's tryptophan fluorescence by a static and dynamic process. By using differential scanning microcalorimetry and circular dichroism spectroscop...

Oxidoreductases are a special class of enzymes that use the redox mechanism for the efficient transformation of organic substrates. Most oxidoreductases contain metals in the active site and, for optimal functioning, require the participation of a small co-substrate with the ability to donate electrons. From the multitude of enzymes with economic a...

The removal of pharmaceutical contaminants from wastewater has gained considerable attention in recent years, particularly in the advancements of hydrogel-based adsorbents as a green solution for their ease of use, ease of modification, biodegradability, non-toxicity, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. This study focuses on the des...

This study analyzes the physico-chemical properties of interpenetrated polymer networks (IPNs) and semi-IPN resulting from cross-linking chitosan with glutaraldehyde and alginate with Ca²⁺ cations, as a function of the order in which the cross-linking agents are added to the polymer mixture. Three physico-chemical methods were used to assess the di...

The present research aims to describe a new methodology to obtain biocompatible hydrogels based on Aloe vera used for wound healing applications. The properties of two hydrogels (differing in Aloe vera concentration, AV5 and AV10) prepared by an all-green synthesis method from raw, natural, renewable and bioavailable materials such as salicylic aci...

This study aimed to analyze the physicochemical properties of solutions containing the mixture of polyacrylates functionalized with alkyl chains moieties and alginate (Alg) functionalized with β‐cyclodextrins (CD). Functionalization of anionic polymers with host (CD) and guest units (alkyl chain) allow locally host‐guest interaction which determine...

Means of eliminating water pollutants or transforming them into less hazardous compounds by green catalysis are desired. The current work was developed with the goal of discovering supports suited for laccase (Lc) immobilization. The effect of the chitosan (CS) molecular weight (Mw) or the polyacrylic acid (PAA) addition was evaluated in microspher...

Oxidative stress is associated with aging, cancers, and numerous metabolic and chronic disorders, and phenolic compounds are well known for their health-promoting role due to their free-radical scavenging activity. These phytochemicals could also exhibit pro-oxidant effects. Due to its bioactive phenolic secondary metabolites, Usnea barbata (L.) We...

The study and discovery of bioactive compounds and new formulations as potential tools for promoting the repair of dermoepidermal tissue in wound healing is of continuing interest. We have developed a new formulation of amorphous hydrogel based on sodium alginate (NaAlg); type I collagen, isolated by the authors from silver carp tails (COL); glycer...

The CS and CSPAA (2: 1 wt.) microspheres were obtained by the precipitation of the polymeric solutions in sodium hydroxide solution [1, 2]. The laccase was covalently immobilized onto glutaraldehyde activated polymeric microspheres and the total protein content evaluated by the modified Bradford assay [1]. The final products were noted CSGaLc and C...

Cyclodextrins are natural cyclic oligosaccharides with a cone shape delimiting a hydrophobic cavity. The rims of cyclodextrins can be functionalized in order to improve their properties. Based on this, cyclodextrins can be linked to polymer chains, which further allows the tuning of the polymer properties. This review describes the methods of polym...

A facile, green synthesis methodology to obtain zinc oxide nanoparticles using three polysaccharide gums (Acacia gum, Guar gum and Xanthan gum) of biological origin was developed. Subsequently, biosynthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles were incorporated into a sustainable chitosan hydrogel matrix functionalized with propolis extract. This study has r...

Low cost and non-toxic microspheres constituted by different ratios of chitosan (Cs) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) were manufactured as carriers for laccase (Lc). The CsPAA microspheres characterization proved that the PAA content played an important role on the size, surface morphology and rheological properties, and modulated the enzyme immobilizati...

Chitosan can associate in the presence of polyphosphates into insoluble hydrogels capable of drug encapsulation and safe and efficient release. On the one hand, chitosan hydrogels were synthesized using the phytate anion as a crosslinking agent and were characterized by employing dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Fourier transform infrared spectro...

Multifunctional composite coatings composed of metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed in polymer matrices are an advanced solution to solve the problem of stone heritage deterioration. Their innovative design is meant to be stable, durable, transparent, easy to apply and remove, non-toxic, hydrophobic, and permeable. Coating formulations for the prote...

The effect of the hexaethylene glycol mono-dodecyl ether (C12E6) on the solubilization of Eosin Yellow (2,4,5,7-tetrabromofluorescein, disodium salt) in 0.1 % wt. solution of unmodified and hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was investigated by steady-state and dynamic fluorescence. To this end, firstly the poly(acrylic acid) was hyd...

Alginate gels have been explored in different fields for applications in daily life such as pharmaceuticals and environmental remediation. The structural features of alginate allow its functionalization, which can modify its gel properties to a certain extent. Herein, we explored the properties of ionotropic gels resulting from the complexation of...

This study was focused on creating a new and effective immobilization method for Trametes versicolor laccase (Lc) by using chitosan (CS) microspheres activated with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydro-chloride. The activation of the support alternated with immobilization of the enzyme, in repetitive procedures, led to obtaining thr...

Corrosion inhibition performance of three sodium polyacrylates polymers was analyzed for carbon steel type OLC 45 in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. Effectiveness of this polymers were investigated by potentiostatic and potentiodynamic polarization methods, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scannin...

Multifunctional composite coatings composed of metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed in polymer matrices are an innovative solution for stone heritage protection, specifically designed to be stable, durable, transparent (should not alter color), easy to apply, nontoxic, removable, hydrophobic, and permeable to allow stone transpiration. Sol-gel metal...

The binding of drugs to serum proteins is governed by weak non-covalent forces. In this study, the nature and magnitude of the interactions between piroxicam (PRX) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was assessed using spectroscopic, calorimetric and computational molecular methods. The fluorescence data revealed an atypical behavior during PRX and BSA...

Three organic polymers were studied as corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel type OLC 45 and brass in 1M H 2 SO 4 and 1M HCl solution using potentiostatic and potentiodynamic polarization methods, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and metallurgical micro...

Multilayer films from hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid) (HMPA) and their complexes with cationic surfactants were successfully prepared using the layer-by-layer (LbL) method. Alkyl trimethylammonium bromide derivatives with various lengths of the hydrophobic chain (C10–C18) were used to interact with the HMPA polymer, generating highly hy...

This work was devoted to investigate the aggregation of methylene blue (MB) with pyrene labeled poly(acrylic acid) (PAA25Py3) by using the measurements of UV–vis absorption, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence. For comparison, the effect of unlabeled poly(acrylic acid) (PAA25) on the self-association of MB was also evaluated. The spectral p...

The paper reports the natural aging of polyelectrolyte multilayers containing sodium hydrophobically modified poly(acrylates) (PACnNa, n = 10 and 18) or complexes of PACnNa with alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (CxTAB, x = 10, 12, 14, 18) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC). Wettability, thickness and surface morphology of aged mult...

The different complexation between surfactants and polymers can influence the hosting properties of the formed system. If the polymer is hydrophobically modified, the behavior is even more exciting. Therefore, we study the surfactants impact on hydrophobically modified sodium polyacrylates (NaPACn, n = 10 and 18), polyacrylic acid (PAA), and sodium...

The paper investigates the behavior of pyrene labeled poly(acrylic acid) with various graft content in sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse micelles (RMs) at various hydration degrees (w0). The work is carried out by UV-Vis, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence as well as dynamic light scattering (DLS). The report indicates...

In this study, we evaluated borax’s effect upon sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)–poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) complexes. Comparison was made by using both unmodified and fluorescently modified polymers. Also, the influence of sodium chloride on the polymer–surfactant association was followed. To this end, a poly(acrylic acid) with molecular weight of 25,00...

Pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) based on butyl acrylate (BA), 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), vinyl acetate (VAc), and acrylic acid (AA) were prepared via semi continuous emulsion polymerization, the obtained latexes having nanometer particles, narrow monomodal particle size distribution, and concentrations close to ma...

A series of hydrophobically modified sodium polyacrylates (NaPACn) grafted with linear alkyl side chains with 10 to 18 atoms of carbon (n) has been synthesized. FT-IR and 1H-NMR characterization proved that the alkyl grafts were attached to the polymer backbone via the amide link and the grafted amount was around 3 % (mol). The aqueous solutions of...

The present study demonstrates the hydrophobic effect of poly(electrolyte) multilayer films when they are alkyl-grafted and complexed or not with surfactants. For this purpose, sodium hydrophobically modified poly(acrylates) (PACnNa, n = 10, 18) or their anionic complexes with alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (CxTAB, x = 10, 12, 14, 18), and the cat...

The study presents results on alternative fuel microemulsions prepared with diesel and diesel-colza oil mixtures. The surfactants employed were Brij 30 and AOT and the cosurfactant was i-butanol. The water solubilization in oil/water/surfactant-cosurfactant (OWSC) microemulsion systems was studied by pseudo-ternary phase diagrams and phase behavior...