Membranes ion-conductive

As far as the biological action in Aplysia neurons of hepoxilin A3 and 12-kete is concerned, application of hepoxilin A3 to L14 neurons results in a marked membrane hyperpolarization, accompanied by an increased membrane ion conductance, while application of 12-kete to the same cells produced... 

The introduction at the C- or N-terminal position of a crown ether unit has been used as a strategy to control the aggregation of poly(benzyl glutamate) derivatives 19 The incorporation of the crown unit at the C-terminal position is performed using (benzo-15-crown-5)-4-amine as initiator of the polymerization of l-G1u(OBz1)-NCA. Physical properties of such crown derivatives can be modulated by the formation of sandwich 2 1 complexes driven by the addition of specific alkali metal ions. In the reported case, the formation of K+ sandwich complex between two C-terminal benzo-15-crown-5 modified helical polypeptides induced aggregation. In a similar approach,f20 addition of Cs+ to 18-crown-6 terminated helical peptides results in the formation of supramolecular assemblies having membrane ion conductivity activities. 

Smooth muscle exhibits very diverse behaviors depending on which control mechanisms are present. Vascular smooth muscle, for example, lacks fast voltage-dependent Na+ or Ca + channels and so does not have action potentials or Ca + spikes. It has slow voltage-dependent Ca + channels that admit calcium in a graded fashion in response to fluctuations in membrane potential induced by humoral or transmitter effects on membrane ion conductances, and it has several membrane receptor-initiated second-messenger cascades that control Ca " " entry and Ca + release from its limited SR, and which moderate the effectiveness of Ca +. Vascular smooth muscle contraction is thus tonic rather than phasic, and is very dependent on extracellular Ca + therefore Ca + channel blockers effectively inhibit contraction. In contrast, gut smooth muscle does have fast voltage-dependent channels sufficient to produce action potentials and more SR than vascular smooth muscle, and also has gap junctions through which ion fluxes can occur. It also has receptor-mediated Ca +... 

Ion channels initially were classified on the basis of their most important permeant ion. In Hodgkin and Huxley s classic analysis of membrane ion conductivity. 

J. W. Moore, Temperature and Drug Effects on Squid Axon Membrane Ion Conductances, Fed. Proc. 17, 113 (1958). 

The external set-up of different battery systems is generally simple and differs in principle only little from one system to another. A mechanically stable cell case bears the positive and negative electrodes, which are separated by a membrane and are connected with electron-conducting poles. Ion conduction between the electrodes is guaranteed usually by fluid or gel-like electrolyte [13]. 

B.C.H. Steele. Dense Ceramic ion conducting membranes in Oxygen ion and mixed conductors and their technological applications, (1997) Erice, Italy Kluwer. 

A fuel cell consists of an ion-conducting membrane (electrolyte) and two porous catalyst layers (electrodes) in contact with the membrane on either side. The hydrogen oxidation reaction at the anode of the fuel cell yields electrons, which are transported through an external circuit to reach the cathode. At the cathode, electrons are consumed in the oxygen reduction reaction. The circuit is completed by permeation of ions through the membrane. 

This presentation reports some studies on the materials and catalysis for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) in the author s laboratory and tries to offer some thoughts on related problems. The basic materials of SOFC are cathode, electrolyte, and anode materials, which are composed to form the membrane-electrode assembly, which then forms the unit cell for test. The cathode material is most important in the sense that most polarization is within the cathode layer. The electrolyte membrane should be as thin as possible and also posses as high an oxygen-ion conductivity as possible. The anode material should be able to deal with the carbon deposition problem especially when methane is used as the fuel. 

A special case of interfaces between electrolytes are those involving membranes. A membrane is a thin, ion-conducting interlayer (most often solid but sometimes also a solution in an immiscible electrolyte) separating two similar liquid phases and exhibiting selectivity (Fig. 5.1). Nonselective interlayers, interlayers uniformly permeable for all components, are called diaphragms. Completely selective membranes (i.e., membranes that are permeable for some and impermeable for other substances) are called permselective membranes. 

Electrolytes for Electrochromic Devices Liquids are generally used as electrolytes in electrochemical research, but they are not well suited for practical devices (such as electrochromic displays, fuel cells, etc.) because of problems with evaporation and leakage. For this reason, solid electrolytes with single-ion conductivity are commonly used (e.g., Nafion membranes with proton conductivity. In contrast to fuel cells in electrochromic devices, current densities are much lower, so for the latter application, a high conductivity value is not a necessary requirement for the electrolyte. 

Ion-exchanger membranes with fixed ion-exchanger sites contain ion conductive polymers (ionomers) the properties of which have already been described on p. 128. These membranes are either homogeneous, consisting only of a polyelectrolyte that may be chemically bonded to an un-ionized polymer matrix, and heterogeneous, where the grains of polyelectrolyte are incorporated into an un-ionized polymer membrane. The electrochemical behaviour of these two groups does not differ substantially. 

If a substance that can form a transmembrane channel exists in several conformations with different dipole moments, and only one of these forms is permeable for ions, then this form can be favoured by applying an electric potential difference across the membrane. The conductivity of the membrane then suddenly increases. Such a dependence of the conductivity of the membrane on the membrane potential is characteristic for the membranes of excitable cells. 

This type of electrolytic cell consists of anodes and cathodes that are separated by a water impermeable ion-conducting membrane. Brine is fed through the anode where chlorine gas is generated and sodium hydroxide solution collects at the cathode. Chloride ions are prevented from migrating from the anode compartment to the cathode compartment by the membrane and this, consequently, leads to the production of sodium hydroxide, free of contaminants like salts. The condition of the membrane during operation requires more care. They must remain stable while being exposed to chlorine and strong caustic solution on either side they must allow, also, the transport of sodium ions and not chloride ions. 

J.E. Zachara, R. Toczylowska, R. Pokrop, M. Zagorska, A. Dybko, and W. Wroblewski, Miniaturised all-solid-state potentiometric ion sensors based on PVC-membranes containing conducting polymers. Sens. Actuators B. 101, 207-212 (2004). 

Lackner, K.S., West, A.C., and Wade, J.L., Ion Conducting Membranes for Separation of Molecules, U.S. Patent Publication Number WO2006113674, 2006. 

The multilamellar bilayer structures that form spontaneously on adding water to solid- or liquid-phase phospholipids can be dispersed to form vesicular structures called liposomes. These are often employed in studies of bilayer properties and may be combined with membrane proteins to reconstitute functional membrane systems. A valuable technique for studying the properties of proteins inserted into bilayers employs a single bilayer lamella, also termed a black lipid membrane, formed across a small aperture in a thin partition between two aqueous compartments. Because pristine lipid bilayers have very low ion conductivities, the modifications of ion-conducting... 

As has been mentioned previously, gramicidin has limited utility as an antibiotic because of its hemolytic activity (Section 1.0). Various workers have utilized the hemolytic property of the antibiotic as an assay tool. The hemolytic activity of gramicidin is probably due to its ability to form ion conducting channels in the membranes of red blood cells. The loss of isotonicity causes the cells to rupture. 

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