The ionic liquid (IL), tetrakis (2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium triflouromethanesulfonate is rationally... more The ionic liquid (IL), tetrakis (2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium triflouromethanesulfonate is rationally designed for horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the basis of its stability and activity in the presence of an excipient, tris (hydroxymethyl) aminoethane (TRIS) in different ILs. ...
The search for efficient low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) with possible structure-activity c... more The search for efficient low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) with possible structure-activity correlation is on the rise. The present work reports a novel set of amphiphilic dipeptide-based carboxylic acids capable of efficiently gelating organic solvents. More interestingly, their sodium salts showed enhanced efficiency in organogelation with the additional ability to gelate water. Electrostatic interactions present in the aggregation of the sodium carboxylates of amphiphilic dipeptides seem to be important because some of the nongelator carboxylic acids turned out to be excellent gelators upon salt formation. The combinations and sequence of the amino acids in the dipeptide moiety were systematically altered to understand the collective importance of the nonpolar aliphatic/aromatic substitution in amino acids in the self-assembling behavior of amphiphiles. Almost a 20-fold enhancement in the gelation ability was observed on reversing the sequence of the amino acid residues, and in some cases, nongelators were transformed to efficient gelators. Spectroscopic and microscopic studies of these thermoreversible organo/hydrogels revealed that balanced participation of the noncovalent interactions including hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions are crucial for organo/hydrogelation. These dipeptides selectively gelate organic solvents from their mixtures with water, and the xerogels prepared from these organogels showed time-dependent adsorption of dyes such as crystal violet. The most remarkable feature of these gelators is the pH responsiveness, which was aptly utilized for the pH-dependent phase-selective gelation of either solvent in a biphasic mixture of oil and water. The dissimilar gelation ability of the acid and its salt originating from the pH responsiveness of the amphiphilic dipeptide was employed in the instant removal of large amounts of dyes for wastewater treatment.
The gelation of ionic liquids is attracting significant attention because of its large spectrum o... more The gelation of ionic liquids is attracting significant attention because of its large spectrum of applications across different disciplines. These ‘green solvents’ have been the solution to a number of common problems due to their eco-friendly features. To expand their applications, the gelation of ionic liquids has been achieved by using amino acid-based low-molecular-weight compounds. Variation of individual segments in the molecular skeleton of the gelators, which comprise the amino acid and the protecting groups at the N and C termini, led to an understanding of the structure–property correlation of the ionogelation process. An aromatic ring containing amino acid-based molecules protected with a phenyl or cyclohexyl group at the N terminus were efficient in the gelation of ionic liquids. In the case of aliphatic amino acids, gelation was more prominent with a phenyl group as the N-terminal protecting agent. The probable factors responsible for this supramolecular association of the gelators in ionic liquids have been studied with the help of field-emission SEM, 1H NMR, FTIR, and luminescence studies. It is the hydrophilic–lipophilic balance that needs to be optimized for a molecule to induce gelation of the green solvents. Interestingly, to maximize the benefits from using these green solvents, these ionogels have been employed as templates for the synthesis of uniform-sized TiO2 nanoparticles (25–30 nm). Furthermore, as a complement to their applications, ionogels serve as efficient adsorbents of both cationic and anionic dyes and were distinctly better relative to their organogel counterparts.
We consider a single Rouse polymer chain in two dimensions in presence of a transverse shear flow... more We consider a single Rouse polymer chain in two dimensions in presence of a transverse shear flow along the $x$ direction and calculate the persistence probability $P_0(t)$ that the $x$ coordinate of a bead in the bulk of the chain does not return to its initial position up to time $t$. We show that the persistence decays at late times as a power law, $P_0(t)\sim t^{-\theta}$ with a nontrivial exponent $\theta$. The analytical estimate of $\theta=0.359...$ obtained using an independent interval approximation is in excellent agreement with the numerical value $\theta\approx 0.360\pm 0.001$.
We study a model of freely cooling inelastic granular gas in one dimension, with a restitution co... more We study a model of freely cooling inelastic granular gas in one dimension, with a restitution coefficient which approaches the elastic limit below a relative velocity scale v. While at early times (t << 1/v) the gas behaves as a completely inelastic sticky gas conforming to predictions of earlier studies, at late times (t >> 1/v) it exhibits a new fluctuation dominated phase ordering state. We find distinct scaling behavior for the (i) density distribution function, (ii) occupied and empty gap distribution functions, (iii) the density structure function and (iv) the velocity structure function, as compared to the completely inelastic sticky gas. The spatial structure functions (iii) and (iv) violate the Porod law. Within a mean-field approximation, the exponents describing the structure functions are related to those describing the spatial gap distribution functions.
We study a system of hard-core particles sliding downwards on a fluctuating one-dimensional surfa... more We study a system of hard-core particles sliding downwards on a fluctuating one-dimensional surface which is characterized by a dynamical exponent $z$. In numerical simulations, an initially random particle density is found to coarsen and obey scaling with a growing length scale $\sim t^{1/z}$. The structure factor deviates from the Porod law in some cases. The steady state is unusual in that the density-segregation order parameter shows strong fluctuations. The two-point correlation function has a scaling form with a cusp at small argument which we relate to a power law distribution of particle cluster sizes. Exact results on a related model of surface depths provides insight into the origin of this behaviour.
We propose a new scenario for glassy dynamics in frustrated systems with no quenched-in randomnes... more We propose a new scenario for glassy dynamics in frustrated systems with no quenched-in randomness, based on jamming of extended dynamical structures near a critical point. This route to a glassy state is demonstrated in a lattice model of fluctuating lines. Numerical simulations of the model show non-exponential relaxations and diverging energy barriers in the vicinity of a thermodynamic phase transition. A master equation for the coarse grained dynamics is constructed. It shows how topological jamming leads to the observed glassy dynamics.
We study the persistence properties in a simple model of two coupled interfaces characterized by ... more We study the persistence properties in a simple model of two coupled interfaces characterized by heights h_1 and h_2 respectively, each growing over a d-dimensional substrate. The first interface evolves independently of the second and can correspond to any generic growing interface, e.g., of the Edwards-Wilkinson or of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang variety. The evolution of h_2, however, is coupled to h_1 via a quenched random velocity field. In the limit d\to 0, our model reduces to the Matheron-de Marsily model in two dimensions. For d=1, our model describes a Rouse polymer chain in two dimensions advected by a transverse velocity field. We show analytically that after a long waiting time t_0\to \infty, the stochastic process h_2, at a fixed point in space but as a function of time, becomes a fractional Brownian motion with a Hurst exponent, H_2=1-\beta_1/2, where \beta_1 is the growth exponent characterizing the first interface. The associated persistence exponent is shown to be \theta_s^2=1-H_2=\beta_1/2. These analytical results are verified by numerical simulations.
The ionic liquid (IL), tetrakis (2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium triflouromethanesulfonate is rationally... more The ionic liquid (IL), tetrakis (2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium triflouromethanesulfonate is rationally designed for horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the basis of its stability and activity in the presence of an excipient, tris (hydroxymethyl) aminoethane (TRIS) in different ILs. ...
The search for efficient low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) with possible structure-activity c... more The search for efficient low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) with possible structure-activity correlation is on the rise. The present work reports a novel set of amphiphilic dipeptide-based carboxylic acids capable of efficiently gelating organic solvents. More interestingly, their sodium salts showed enhanced efficiency in organogelation with the additional ability to gelate water. Electrostatic interactions present in the aggregation of the sodium carboxylates of amphiphilic dipeptides seem to be important because some of the nongelator carboxylic acids turned out to be excellent gelators upon salt formation. The combinations and sequence of the amino acids in the dipeptide moiety were systematically altered to understand the collective importance of the nonpolar aliphatic/aromatic substitution in amino acids in the self-assembling behavior of amphiphiles. Almost a 20-fold enhancement in the gelation ability was observed on reversing the sequence of the amino acid residues, and in some cases, nongelators were transformed to efficient gelators. Spectroscopic and microscopic studies of these thermoreversible organo/hydrogels revealed that balanced participation of the noncovalent interactions including hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions are crucial for organo/hydrogelation. These dipeptides selectively gelate organic solvents from their mixtures with water, and the xerogels prepared from these organogels showed time-dependent adsorption of dyes such as crystal violet. The most remarkable feature of these gelators is the pH responsiveness, which was aptly utilized for the pH-dependent phase-selective gelation of either solvent in a biphasic mixture of oil and water. The dissimilar gelation ability of the acid and its salt originating from the pH responsiveness of the amphiphilic dipeptide was employed in the instant removal of large amounts of dyes for wastewater treatment.
The gelation of ionic liquids is attracting significant attention because of its large spectrum o... more The gelation of ionic liquids is attracting significant attention because of its large spectrum of applications across different disciplines. These ‘green solvents’ have been the solution to a number of common problems due to their eco-friendly features. To expand their applications, the gelation of ionic liquids has been achieved by using amino acid-based low-molecular-weight compounds. Variation of individual segments in the molecular skeleton of the gelators, which comprise the amino acid and the protecting groups at the N and C termini, led to an understanding of the structure–property correlation of the ionogelation process. An aromatic ring containing amino acid-based molecules protected with a phenyl or cyclohexyl group at the N terminus were efficient in the gelation of ionic liquids. In the case of aliphatic amino acids, gelation was more prominent with a phenyl group as the N-terminal protecting agent. The probable factors responsible for this supramolecular association of the gelators in ionic liquids have been studied with the help of field-emission SEM, 1H NMR, FTIR, and luminescence studies. It is the hydrophilic–lipophilic balance that needs to be optimized for a molecule to induce gelation of the green solvents. Interestingly, to maximize the benefits from using these green solvents, these ionogels have been employed as templates for the synthesis of uniform-sized TiO2 nanoparticles (25–30 nm). Furthermore, as a complement to their applications, ionogels serve as efficient adsorbents of both cationic and anionic dyes and were distinctly better relative to their organogel counterparts.
We consider a single Rouse polymer chain in two dimensions in presence of a transverse shear flow... more We consider a single Rouse polymer chain in two dimensions in presence of a transverse shear flow along the $x$ direction and calculate the persistence probability $P_0(t)$ that the $x$ coordinate of a bead in the bulk of the chain does not return to its initial position up to time $t$. We show that the persistence decays at late times as a power law, $P_0(t)\sim t^{-\theta}$ with a nontrivial exponent $\theta$. The analytical estimate of $\theta=0.359...$ obtained using an independent interval approximation is in excellent agreement with the numerical value $\theta\approx 0.360\pm 0.001$.
We study a model of freely cooling inelastic granular gas in one dimension, with a restitution co... more We study a model of freely cooling inelastic granular gas in one dimension, with a restitution coefficient which approaches the elastic limit below a relative velocity scale v. While at early times (t << 1/v) the gas behaves as a completely inelastic sticky gas conforming to predictions of earlier studies, at late times (t >> 1/v) it exhibits a new fluctuation dominated phase ordering state. We find distinct scaling behavior for the (i) density distribution function, (ii) occupied and empty gap distribution functions, (iii) the density structure function and (iv) the velocity structure function, as compared to the completely inelastic sticky gas. The spatial structure functions (iii) and (iv) violate the Porod law. Within a mean-field approximation, the exponents describing the structure functions are related to those describing the spatial gap distribution functions.
We study a system of hard-core particles sliding downwards on a fluctuating one-dimensional surfa... more We study a system of hard-core particles sliding downwards on a fluctuating one-dimensional surface which is characterized by a dynamical exponent $z$. In numerical simulations, an initially random particle density is found to coarsen and obey scaling with a growing length scale $\sim t^{1/z}$. The structure factor deviates from the Porod law in some cases. The steady state is unusual in that the density-segregation order parameter shows strong fluctuations. The two-point correlation function has a scaling form with a cusp at small argument which we relate to a power law distribution of particle cluster sizes. Exact results on a related model of surface depths provides insight into the origin of this behaviour.
We propose a new scenario for glassy dynamics in frustrated systems with no quenched-in randomnes... more We propose a new scenario for glassy dynamics in frustrated systems with no quenched-in randomness, based on jamming of extended dynamical structures near a critical point. This route to a glassy state is demonstrated in a lattice model of fluctuating lines. Numerical simulations of the model show non-exponential relaxations and diverging energy barriers in the vicinity of a thermodynamic phase transition. A master equation for the coarse grained dynamics is constructed. It shows how topological jamming leads to the observed glassy dynamics.
We study the persistence properties in a simple model of two coupled interfaces characterized by ... more We study the persistence properties in a simple model of two coupled interfaces characterized by heights h_1 and h_2 respectively, each growing over a d-dimensional substrate. The first interface evolves independently of the second and can correspond to any generic growing interface, e.g., of the Edwards-Wilkinson or of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang variety. The evolution of h_2, however, is coupled to h_1 via a quenched random velocity field. In the limit d\to 0, our model reduces to the Matheron-de Marsily model in two dimensions. For d=1, our model describes a Rouse polymer chain in two dimensions advected by a transverse velocity field. We show analytically that after a long waiting time t_0\to \infty, the stochastic process h_2, at a fixed point in space but as a function of time, becomes a fractional Brownian motion with a Hurst exponent, H_2=1-\beta_1/2, where \beta_1 is the growth exponent characterizing the first interface. The associated persistence exponent is shown to be \theta_s^2=1-H_2=\beta_1/2. These analytical results are verified by numerical simulations.
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Papers by Dibyendu Das