Currently,pyrolysis as the most widely used method still has some key issues not well resolved for synthesis of carbon-supported single-atom catalysts(C-SACs),e.g.,the sintering of metal atoms at high temperature as w...Currently,pyrolysis as the most widely used method still has some key issues not well resolved for synthesis of carbon-supported single-atom catalysts(C-SACs),e.g.,the sintering of metal atoms at high temperature as well as the high cost and complicated preparations of precursors.In this report,molten salts are demonstrated to be marvellous medium for preparation of C-SACs by pyrolysis of small molecular precursors(ionic liquid).The ultrastrong polarity on one hand establishes robust interaction with precursor and enables better carbonization,resulting in largely enhanced yield.On the other hand,the aggregation of metal atoms is effectively refrained while no nanoparticle or cluster is formed.By this strategy,a C-SAC with atomically dispersed Fe-N_(4) sites and a high specific area over 2000 m^(2) g^(-1) is obtained,which illustrates high ORR activity in both acid and alkaline media.Moreover,this SAC exhibits superior methanol tolerance and stability after acid soaking at 85℃ for 48 h.It is believed that the molten-salts-assisted pyrolysis can be developed into a routine strategy as it not only can largely simply the synthesis of C-SACs,but also can be extended to prepare other types of SACs.展开更多
Buried interfacial voids have always been a notorious phenomenon observed in the fabrication of lead perovskite films. The existence of interfacial voids at the buried interface will capture the carrier, suppress carr...Buried interfacial voids have always been a notorious phenomenon observed in the fabrication of lead perovskite films. The existence of interfacial voids at the buried interface will capture the carrier, suppress carrier transport efficiencies, and affect the stability of photovoltaic devices. However, the impact of these buried interfacial voids on tin perovskites, a promising avenue for advancing lead-free photovoltaics, has been largely overlooked. Here, we utilize an innovative weakly polar solvent pretreatment strategy(WPSPS) to mitigate buried interfacial voids of tin perovskites. Our investigation reveals the presence of numerous voids in tin perovskites during annealing, attributed to trapped dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO) used in film formation. The WPSPS method facilitates accelerated DMSO evaporation, effectively reducing residual DMSO. Interestingly, the WPSPS shifts the energy level of PEDOT:PSS downward, making it more aligned with the perovskite. This alignment enhances the efficiency of charge carrier transport. As the result, tin perovskite film quality is significantly improved,achieving a maximum power conversion efficiency approaching 12% with only an 8.3% efficiency loss after 1700 h of stability tests, which compares well with the state-of-the-art stability of tin-based perovskite solar cells.展开更多
A new method, non-polar solvent microwave-assisted extraction (NPSMAE), was applied to the extraction of essential oil from Zingiber officinale Rosc. in closed-vessel system. By adding microwave absorption mediumcar...A new method, non-polar solvent microwave-assisted extraction (NPSMAE), was applied to the extraction of essential oil from Zingiber officinale Rosc. in closed-vessel system. By adding microwave absorption mediumcarbonyl iron powders (CIP) into extraction system, the essential oil was extracted by the non-polar solvent (ether) which can be heated by CIP. The constituents of essential oil obtained by NPSMAE were comparable with those obtained by hydrodistillation (HD) by GC-MS analysis, which indicates that NPSMAE is a feasible way to extract essential oil from dried plant materials. The NPSMAE took much less extraction time (5 min) than HD (180 min), and its extraction efficiency was much higher than that of conventional polar solvent microwave-assisted extraction (PSMAE) and mixed solvent microwave-assisted extraction (MSMAE). It can be a good alternative for the extraction of volatile constituents from dried plant samples.展开更多
Fluorescence mode is influenced by the substituents, the polarity of the solvent, the steric factor and even the aggregation state of molecules in solvent under the testing environment. By comparing the fluorescent be...Fluorescence mode is influenced by the substituents, the polarity of the solvent, the steric factor and even the aggregation state of molecules in solvent under the testing environment. By comparing the fluorescent behavior of three anthracene derivatives, we observe that the hydrophobic interaction and steric effect in structures reduce fluorescence intensity, quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime. The emitting mode of two amphiphilic salts changes from aggregation emission in weak polar solvent to monomer emission in strong polar solvent and gives the similar variety in mixed solvent.展开更多
The effects of the protic and aprotic polar solvents on the emission spectrum of the naphthalene-triethyl-amine system in THF were studied under conditions of steady-state illumination. The fluorescence spectrum of th...The effects of the protic and aprotic polar solvents on the emission spectrum of the naphthalene-triethyl-amine system in THF were studied under conditions of steady-state illumination. The fluorescence spectrum of the naphthalene-triethylamine system consists of two emission bands, the fluorescence band of naphthalene(band A, 329 nm) and the emission band of the exciplex(band B, 468 nm). The intensities of both the emission bands decrease with increasing the solvent polarity. The intensity of band B also decreases due to the hydrogen-bonding interaction between triethylamine and protic solvent, while that of band A increases. It is thus suggested that the quenching of naphthalene fluorescence by triethylamine in THF occurs through the charge transfer and electron transfer reactions. The spectral changes upon the increase of solvent polarity can be explained by the dependences of the equilibrium constant between exciplex and ion-pair and the rate constant for the electron transfer reaction from triethylamine to the excited naphthalene on the relative permittivity of solvent. It is shown that the formation of intermolecular hydrogen-bonding between triethylamine and protic solvent suppresses the quenching reaction by the decrease in free amine. Acetonitrile has only a polar effect and trichloroacetic acid only a hydrogen-bonding(or protonation) effect, while alcohols have both the effects. The effects of alcohols could be separated into the effects of solvent polarity and intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interaction quantitatively.展开更多
The use of polar organic solvents for the separations of rare earth elements (Ⅲ) is effective especially for their extensive separations despite the solubility limitations. The study shows that polyacrylate anion exc...The use of polar organic solvents for the separations of rare earth elements (Ⅲ) is effective especially for their extensive separations despite the solubility limitations. The study shows that polyacrylate anion exchangers, particularly the weakly basic, gel anion exchanger Amberlite IRA 68, can be applied to the separation of rare earth complexes with EDTA in H_2O-methanol and H_2O-ethanol systems. In most cases the determined distribution coefficients of Ln^(3+) complexes with EDTA in mixed media like water-methanol on polyacrylate anion exchangers are larger than those in pure water (media.)展开更多
The excited-state double proton transfer(ESDPT)properties of 1,5-dihydroxyanthraquinone(1,5-DHAQ)in various solvents were investigated using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and the DFT/TDDFT method.The s...The excited-state double proton transfer(ESDPT)properties of 1,5-dihydroxyanthraquinone(1,5-DHAQ)in various solvents were investigated using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and the DFT/TDDFT method.The steady-state fluorescence spectra in toluene,tetrahydrofuran(THF)and acetonitrile(ACN)solvents presented that the solvent polarity has an effect on the position of the ESDPT fluorescence emission peak for the 1,5-DHAQ system.Transient absorption spectra show that the increasing polarity of the solvent accelerates the rate of excited state dynamics.Calculated potential energy curves analysis further verified the experimental results.The ESDPT barrier decreases gradually with the increase of solvent polarity from toluene,THF to ACN solvent.It is convinced that the increase of solvent polarity can promote the occurrence of the ESDPT dynamic processes for the 1,5-DHAQ system.This work clarifies the mechanism of the influence of solvent polarity on the ESDPT process of 1,5-DHAQ,which provides novel ideas for design and synthesis of new hydroxyanthraquinone derivatives.展开更多
Three unbridged metallocenes, bis(2,4,7-Me3-indenyl)zirconium dichloride(1) , bis(2-Me-4, 7-Et2-indenyl)zirconium dichloride (2) and bis (2, 4, 6-Me3-indenyl) zirconium dichloride (3) were synthesized. The effect of s...Three unbridged metallocenes, bis(2,4,7-Me3-indenyl)zirconium dichloride(1) , bis(2-Me-4, 7-Et2-indenyl)zirconium dichloride (2) and bis (2, 4, 6-Me3-indenyl) zirconium dichloride (3) were synthesized. The effect of solvent polarity on propylene polymerization catalyzed by the metallocenes in the presence of methylaluminoxane(MAO) and triisobutylaluminum(TIBA) was investigated in the toluene/CH2Cl2 mixed solvent. Changing the solvent polarity was found to influence the catalytic activity, polymer molecular weight and stereospecificity of the catalysts. The changes in the position of the substituents on the ligand caused the different responses of the catalyst to the changes in solvent polarity. The isotactic stereosequence of polypropylene was found to increase with the increase in the polarity of the reaction medium.展开更多
The n-channel behavior has been occasionally reported in the organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) that usually exhibit p-channel transport only. Reconfirmation and further examination of these unusual device per...The n-channel behavior has been occasionally reported in the organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) that usually exhibit p-channel transport only. Reconfirmation and further examination of these unusual device performances should deepen the understanding on the electron transport in organic semiconductors. 6,13-bis(triisopropyl-silylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene), a widely examined p-channel material as Au is used for source-drain electrodes, has recently been reported to exhibit electron transport when grown from non-polar solvent on divinyltetramethyldisiloxanebis (benzocy- clobutene) (BCB) dielectric, spurring the study on this unusual electron transport. This paper describes FET characteristics of solution-grown TlPS-pentacene single crystals on five polymer gate dielectrics including polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(4-vinyl phenol) (PVP), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE-CFE)). In addition to the p-channel behavior, electron transport occurs in the crystals on PMMA, PS, thick PVA (40 nm) and a bilayer dielectric of PMMA on P(VDF-TrFE-CFE), while does not on PVP and thin PVA (2 nm). The two distinct FET characteristics are consistent with the previous reported trap effect of hydroxyl groups (in PVP and PVA) and reduced injection barrier by Na~ ions (as impurity in PVA). The highest electron mobility of 0.48 cm2 V-1 s-1 has been achieved in the crystals on PMMA. Furthermore, the electron transport is greatly attenuated after the crystals are exposed to the vapor of a variety of polar solvents and the attenuated electron transport partially recovers if the crystals are heated, indicating the adverse effect of polar impurities on electron transport. By reconfirming the n-channel behavior in the OFETs based on TIPS-pentacene, this work has implications for the design of n-channel and ambipolar OFETs.展开更多
Steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra, and time-resolved fluorescence spectra of coumarin 343 (C343) were measured in different solvents. The effect of the solvent on the spectral properties and dipole mo...Steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra, and time-resolved fluorescence spectra of coumarin 343 (C343) were measured in different solvents. The effect of the solvent on the spectral properties and dipole moment of the lowest excited state of C343 were investigated. It was found that the absorption and fluorescence spectra red-shifted slightly and strongly with increasing solvent polarity, respectively, because the charge distribution of the excited state leaded to the increasing difference between the absorption and fluorescence spectra with increasing solvent polarity. The dipole moment of the lowest excited state of C343 was determined from solvatochromic measurements and the quantum chemical calculation, and the results obtained from these two methods were fully consistent. Investigations of the time-resolved fluorescence of C343 in different solvents indicated that the fluorescence lifetimes increased nearly linearly with 4.45 ns in water. This can be ascribed between C343 and hydrogen donating increasing solvent polarity from 3.09 ns in toluene to to the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions solvents展开更多
Immobilization systems more frequently used are calcium alginate spheres. These biocatalysts have many potential applications in the immobilization of enzymes, prokaryotic cells, vegetal and animal cells, algae, organ...Immobilization systems more frequently used are calcium alginate spheres. These biocatalysts have many potential applications in the immobilization of enzymes, prokaryotic cells, vegetal and animal cells, algae, organelles and mixtures of these living components. Other applications of immobilized cells imply the use of non aqueous systems. Some bioconversions are carried out in the presence of solvents such as hexane acetone or acetonitrile, or mixtures water-solvents. The aim of this work was to investigate the behaviour of Ca-alginate spheres when put in contact with different solvents (water, diesel, ethanol, methanol, acetone, n-hexane, isopropyl alcohol, THF, acetonitrile, and toluene), or solvent-water mixtures (i.e., ethanol-water), regarding the resistance of the alginate spheres after days of contact. Calcium alginate particles suffered different damages, depending on the solvent they were put in contact. Water did not damaged the Ca-alginate structure with or without Ca present. On the other hand different solvents lost a proportion of volume, i.e., n-hexane (16%), methanol (19%), ethanol (19.5%), toluene (22%), diesel (34%), acetone (765), isopropyl alcohol (80%), THF and acetonitrile (total loss, total destruction). Nor the dielectric constant nor the polarity indexes were capable of explaining the difference on the volume loss or total sphere destruction, except for water-ethanol mixtures.展开更多
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51773025)the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province(Materials Joint Foundation,Grant No.20180510027)Dalian science and technology innovation fund(Grant No.019J12GX032)。
文摘Currently,pyrolysis as the most widely used method still has some key issues not well resolved for synthesis of carbon-supported single-atom catalysts(C-SACs),e.g.,the sintering of metal atoms at high temperature as well as the high cost and complicated preparations of precursors.In this report,molten salts are demonstrated to be marvellous medium for preparation of C-SACs by pyrolysis of small molecular precursors(ionic liquid).The ultrastrong polarity on one hand establishes robust interaction with precursor and enables better carbonization,resulting in largely enhanced yield.On the other hand,the aggregation of metal atoms is effectively refrained while no nanoparticle or cluster is formed.By this strategy,a C-SAC with atomically dispersed Fe-N_(4) sites and a high specific area over 2000 m^(2) g^(-1) is obtained,which illustrates high ORR activity in both acid and alkaline media.Moreover,this SAC exhibits superior methanol tolerance and stability after acid soaking at 85℃ for 48 h.It is believed that the molten-salts-assisted pyrolysis can be developed into a routine strategy as it not only can largely simply the synthesis of C-SACs,but also can be extended to prepare other types of SACs.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (62274094, 62175117)Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (22KJB510011)+1 种基金Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Soochow University (KJS2260)Huali Talents Program of Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications。
文摘Buried interfacial voids have always been a notorious phenomenon observed in the fabrication of lead perovskite films. The existence of interfacial voids at the buried interface will capture the carrier, suppress carrier transport efficiencies, and affect the stability of photovoltaic devices. However, the impact of these buried interfacial voids on tin perovskites, a promising avenue for advancing lead-free photovoltaics, has been largely overlooked. Here, we utilize an innovative weakly polar solvent pretreatment strategy(WPSPS) to mitigate buried interfacial voids of tin perovskites. Our investigation reveals the presence of numerous voids in tin perovskites during annealing, attributed to trapped dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO) used in film formation. The WPSPS method facilitates accelerated DMSO evaporation, effectively reducing residual DMSO. Interestingly, the WPSPS shifts the energy level of PEDOT:PSS downward, making it more aligned with the perovskite. This alignment enhances the efficiency of charge carrier transport. As the result, tin perovskite film quality is significantly improved,achieving a maximum power conversion efficiency approaching 12% with only an 8.3% efficiency loss after 1700 h of stability tests, which compares well with the state-of-the-art stability of tin-based perovskite solar cells.
文摘A new method, non-polar solvent microwave-assisted extraction (NPSMAE), was applied to the extraction of essential oil from Zingiber officinale Rosc. in closed-vessel system. By adding microwave absorption mediumcarbonyl iron powders (CIP) into extraction system, the essential oil was extracted by the non-polar solvent (ether) which can be heated by CIP. The constituents of essential oil obtained by NPSMAE were comparable with those obtained by hydrodistillation (HD) by GC-MS analysis, which indicates that NPSMAE is a feasible way to extract essential oil from dried plant materials. The NPSMAE took much less extraction time (5 min) than HD (180 min), and its extraction efficiency was much higher than that of conventional polar solvent microwave-assisted extraction (PSMAE) and mixed solvent microwave-assisted extraction (MSMAE). It can be a good alternative for the extraction of volatile constituents from dried plant samples.
基金Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu(2016 Gansu Science and Technology Support Project)(1610RJZA072)the Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Quality and Standard,Gansu Province(Gansu University of Chinese Medicine)(ZYZL18-006)
文摘Fluorescence mode is influenced by the substituents, the polarity of the solvent, the steric factor and even the aggregation state of molecules in solvent under the testing environment. By comparing the fluorescent behavior of three anthracene derivatives, we observe that the hydrophobic interaction and steric effect in structures reduce fluorescence intensity, quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime. The emitting mode of two amphiphilic salts changes from aggregation emission in weak polar solvent to monomer emission in strong polar solvent and gives the similar variety in mixed solvent.
文摘The effects of the protic and aprotic polar solvents on the emission spectrum of the naphthalene-triethyl-amine system in THF were studied under conditions of steady-state illumination. The fluorescence spectrum of the naphthalene-triethylamine system consists of two emission bands, the fluorescence band of naphthalene(band A, 329 nm) and the emission band of the exciplex(band B, 468 nm). The intensities of both the emission bands decrease with increasing the solvent polarity. The intensity of band B also decreases due to the hydrogen-bonding interaction between triethylamine and protic solvent, while that of band A increases. It is thus suggested that the quenching of naphthalene fluorescence by triethylamine in THF occurs through the charge transfer and electron transfer reactions. The spectral changes upon the increase of solvent polarity can be explained by the dependences of the equilibrium constant between exciplex and ion-pair and the rate constant for the electron transfer reaction from triethylamine to the excited naphthalene on the relative permittivity of solvent. It is shown that the formation of intermolecular hydrogen-bonding between triethylamine and protic solvent suppresses the quenching reaction by the decrease in free amine. Acetonitrile has only a polar effect and trichloroacetic acid only a hydrogen-bonding(or protonation) effect, while alcohols have both the effects. The effects of alcohols could be separated into the effects of solvent polarity and intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interaction quantitatively.
文摘The use of polar organic solvents for the separations of rare earth elements (Ⅲ) is effective especially for their extensive separations despite the solubility limitations. The study shows that polyacrylate anion exchangers, particularly the weakly basic, gel anion exchanger Amberlite IRA 68, can be applied to the separation of rare earth complexes with EDTA in H_2O-methanol and H_2O-ethanol systems. In most cases the determined distribution coefficients of Ln^(3+) complexes with EDTA in mixed media like water-methanol on polyacrylate anion exchangers are larger than those in pure water (media.)
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(No.2019YFA0307701)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11874180)the Young and Middle-aged Scientific and Technological Innovation leaders and Team Projects in Jilin Province(No.20200301020RQ)。
文摘The excited-state double proton transfer(ESDPT)properties of 1,5-dihydroxyanthraquinone(1,5-DHAQ)in various solvents were investigated using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and the DFT/TDDFT method.The steady-state fluorescence spectra in toluene,tetrahydrofuran(THF)and acetonitrile(ACN)solvents presented that the solvent polarity has an effect on the position of the ESDPT fluorescence emission peak for the 1,5-DHAQ system.Transient absorption spectra show that the increasing polarity of the solvent accelerates the rate of excited state dynamics.Calculated potential energy curves analysis further verified the experimental results.The ESDPT barrier decreases gradually with the increase of solvent polarity from toluene,THF to ACN solvent.It is convinced that the increase of solvent polarity can promote the occurrence of the ESDPT dynamic processes for the 1,5-DHAQ system.This work clarifies the mechanism of the influence of solvent polarity on the ESDPT process of 1,5-DHAQ,which provides novel ideas for design and synthesis of new hydroxyanthraquinone derivatives.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China and SINOPEC(No.29734144).
文摘Three unbridged metallocenes, bis(2,4,7-Me3-indenyl)zirconium dichloride(1) , bis(2-Me-4, 7-Et2-indenyl)zirconium dichloride (2) and bis (2, 4, 6-Me3-indenyl) zirconium dichloride (3) were synthesized. The effect of solvent polarity on propylene polymerization catalyzed by the metallocenes in the presence of methylaluminoxane(MAO) and triisobutylaluminum(TIBA) was investigated in the toluene/CH2Cl2 mixed solvent. Changing the solvent polarity was found to influence the catalytic activity, polymer molecular weight and stereospecificity of the catalysts. The changes in the position of the substituents on the ligand caused the different responses of the catalyst to the changes in solvent polarity. The isotactic stereosequence of polypropylene was found to increase with the increase in the polarity of the reaction medium.
基金supported by the 973 Program (No.2014CB643503)National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51373150,51461165301)Zhejiang Province Natural Science Foundation (No.LZ13E030002)
文摘The n-channel behavior has been occasionally reported in the organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) that usually exhibit p-channel transport only. Reconfirmation and further examination of these unusual device performances should deepen the understanding on the electron transport in organic semiconductors. 6,13-bis(triisopropyl-silylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene), a widely examined p-channel material as Au is used for source-drain electrodes, has recently been reported to exhibit electron transport when grown from non-polar solvent on divinyltetramethyldisiloxanebis (benzocy- clobutene) (BCB) dielectric, spurring the study on this unusual electron transport. This paper describes FET characteristics of solution-grown TlPS-pentacene single crystals on five polymer gate dielectrics including polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(4-vinyl phenol) (PVP), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE-CFE)). In addition to the p-channel behavior, electron transport occurs in the crystals on PMMA, PS, thick PVA (40 nm) and a bilayer dielectric of PMMA on P(VDF-TrFE-CFE), while does not on PVP and thin PVA (2 nm). The two distinct FET characteristics are consistent with the previous reported trap effect of hydroxyl groups (in PVP and PVA) and reduced injection barrier by Na~ ions (as impurity in PVA). The highest electron mobility of 0.48 cm2 V-1 s-1 has been achieved in the crystals on PMMA. Furthermore, the electron transport is greatly attenuated after the crystals are exposed to the vapor of a variety of polar solvents and the attenuated electron transport partially recovers if the crystals are heated, indicating the adverse effect of polar impurities on electron transport. By reconfirming the n-channel behavior in the OFETs based on TIPS-pentacene, this work has implications for the design of n-channel and ambipolar OFETs.
文摘Steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra, and time-resolved fluorescence spectra of coumarin 343 (C343) were measured in different solvents. The effect of the solvent on the spectral properties and dipole moment of the lowest excited state of C343 were investigated. It was found that the absorption and fluorescence spectra red-shifted slightly and strongly with increasing solvent polarity, respectively, because the charge distribution of the excited state leaded to the increasing difference between the absorption and fluorescence spectra with increasing solvent polarity. The dipole moment of the lowest excited state of C343 was determined from solvatochromic measurements and the quantum chemical calculation, and the results obtained from these two methods were fully consistent. Investigations of the time-resolved fluorescence of C343 in different solvents indicated that the fluorescence lifetimes increased nearly linearly with 4.45 ns in water. This can be ascribed between C343 and hydrogen donating increasing solvent polarity from 3.09 ns in toluene to to the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions solvents
文摘Immobilization systems more frequently used are calcium alginate spheres. These biocatalysts have many potential applications in the immobilization of enzymes, prokaryotic cells, vegetal and animal cells, algae, organelles and mixtures of these living components. Other applications of immobilized cells imply the use of non aqueous systems. Some bioconversions are carried out in the presence of solvents such as hexane acetone or acetonitrile, or mixtures water-solvents. The aim of this work was to investigate the behaviour of Ca-alginate spheres when put in contact with different solvents (water, diesel, ethanol, methanol, acetone, n-hexane, isopropyl alcohol, THF, acetonitrile, and toluene), or solvent-water mixtures (i.e., ethanol-water), regarding the resistance of the alginate spheres after days of contact. Calcium alginate particles suffered different damages, depending on the solvent they were put in contact. Water did not damaged the Ca-alginate structure with or without Ca present. On the other hand different solvents lost a proportion of volume, i.e., n-hexane (16%), methanol (19%), ethanol (19.5%), toluene (22%), diesel (34%), acetone (765), isopropyl alcohol (80%), THF and acetonitrile (total loss, total destruction). Nor the dielectric constant nor the polarity indexes were capable of explaining the difference on the volume loss or total sphere destruction, except for water-ethanol mixtures.