Lim, Gwendolyn J. H.; Wu, Yue; Shah, Bhuvan B.; Koh, J. Justin; Liu, Connie K.; Zhao, Dan; Cheetham, Anthony K.; Wang, John; Ding, Jun
3D-Printing of Pure Metal–Organic Framework Monoliths
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are usually synthesized in powder form. For many practical applications, MOFs need to be shaped into monoliths that can be easily handled. However, conventional shaping methods, such as pelletization, often result in a decrease in functionality. Recently, MOF-containing monoliths have been made using direct ink writing (DIW;…
Core-crystalline nanoribbons of controlled length via diffusion-limited colloid aggregation
Schmarsow, Ruth N.; Ceolín, Marcelo; Zucchi, Ileana A.; Schroeder, Walter F.
It has been previously reported that poly(ethylene) (PE)-based block copolymers self-assemble in certain thermosetting matrices to form a dispersion of one-dimensional (1D) nanoribbons. Such materials exhibit exceptional properties that originate from the high aspect ratio of the elongated nano-objects. However, the ability to prepare 1D assemblies with well-controlled dimensions is…
Thermoreversible crystallization-driven aggregation of diblock copolymer nanoparticles in mineral oil
Derry, Matthew J.; Mykhaylyk, Oleksandr O.; Ryan, Anthony J.; Armes, Steven P.
A poly(behenyl methacrylate)37 (PBeMA37) macromolecular chain transfer agent is utilized for the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization of benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) directly in mineral oil at 90 °C. Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) occurs under these conditions, yielding a series of sterically-stabilized PBeMA37-PBzMA …
Hierarchical self-assembly of 3D lattices from polydisperse anisometric colloids
Luo, Binbin; Kim, Ahyoung; Smith, John W.; Ou, Zihao; Wu, Zixuan; Kim, Juyeong; Chen, Qian
Anisometric colloids—which have both nanometer and micrometer dimensions—combine features of their two constituent length scales. Here, using optical microscopy and modeling, the authors find that highly polydisperse anisometric colloids self-assemble into 3D, periodic lattices in a manner hardly inaccessible to nano- or micron-scale…
Precise Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles into Ordered Nanoarchitectures Directed by Tobacco Mosaic Virus Coat Protein
Zhang, Jianting; Zhou, Kun; Zhang, Yejun; Du, Mingming; Wang, Qiangbin
Self-assembly guided by biological molecules is a promising approach for fabricating predesigned nanostructures. Protein is one such biomolecule possessing deterministic 3D crystal structure and peptide information, which acts as a good candidate for templating functional nanoparticles (fNPs). However, inadequate coordination efficacy during the establishment of interfacial interactions with fNPs…
Using the singular value decomposition to extract 2D correlation functions from scattering patterns
Bender, Philipp; Zákutná, Dominika; Disch, Sabrina; Marcano, Lourdes; Venero, Diego Alba; Honecker, Dirk
We apply the truncated singular value decomposition (SVD) to extract the underlying 2D correlation functions from small-angle scattering patterns. We test the approach by transforming the simulated data of ellipsoidal particles and show that also in case of anisotropic patterns (i.e. aligned ellipsoids) the derived correlation functions correspond to the…
Scalable preparation of alternating block copolymer particles with inverse bicontinuous mesophases
Lv, Fei; An, Zesheng; Wu, Peiyi
Block copolymer particles with controlled morphologies play a vital role in materials science and nanotechnology. Here the authors show a scalable preparation of amphiphilic alternating block polymer particles with inverse bicontinuous mesophases via polymerization-induced…
Transforming an inert nanopolymer into broad-spectrum bactericidal by superstructure tuning
Scilletta, Natalia A.; Pezzoni, Magdalena; Desimone, Martín F.; Soler-Illia, Galo J.A.A.; Catalano, Paolo N.; Bellino, Martín G.
Poloxamer block copolymers (also known as Pluronic®) are particularly useful for drug delivery and self-assembly techniques. These nanopolymers are generally considered to be biologically inert and they were used to generate only bacteria repellent surfaces but keeps bacteria alive and as a latent threat. However, the inherent capabilities of these…
Combining Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and X-ray Powder Diffraction to Investigate Size, Shape and Crystallinity of Silver, Gold and Alloyed Silver-Gold Nanoparticles
Garcia, P. R. A. F.; Loza, K.; Daumann, S.; Grasmik, V.; Pappert, K.; Rostek, A.; Helmlinger, J.; Prymak, O.; Heggen, M.; Epple, M.; Oliveira, C. L. P.
The combination of simultaneous measurements of small and wide angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS–SWAXS) to investigate the overall size, shape, and crystallinity of silver nanoparticles and alloyed silver-gold nanoparticles in the size range of 8 to 80 nm is shown. The obtained results for overall size are in agreement with the…
Redox-Activatable ATP-Depleting Micelles with Dual Modulation Characteristics for Multidrug-Resistant Cancer Therapy
Wang, Hebin; Li, Yang; Zhang, Miaozun; Wu, Di; Shen, Youqing; Tang, Guping; Ping, Yuan
A fast adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-depleting micellar system that is activated by intracellular redox for the codelivery of anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) and small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting polo-like kinase1 (PLK1) is developed to address the key challenges of multidrug-resistant (MDR) cancer therapy. The ATP-depleting micelle is self-assembled from a redox-responsive…