Otalvaro, Julián Ortiz; Avena, Marcelo; Brigante, Maximiliano
Adsorption of norfloxacin on a hexagonal mesoporous silica: isotherms, kinetics and adsorbent reuse
The adsorption of the antibiotic norfloxacin (NFX) on MCM-41 type mesoporous silica has been studied in batch experiments by performing adsorption kinetics and isotherms under different conditions. Regeneration of the adsorbent and reuse studies were also carried out and are discussed. On the one hand, the adsorption is very fast…
Tailoring the Hydrophobicity of Mesoporous Organosilica for Protein Trapping and Supported Catalysis
Osta, Oriana; Bombled, Marianne; Partouche, David; Gallier, Florian; Lubin-Germain, Nadège; Brodie-Linder, Nancy; Alba-Simionesco, Christiane
We propose a method to enhance lysozyme trapping and supported-Copper catalysis when confined in organosilica materials. The direct synthesis presented here allows the control of the silica surface hydrophobicity by uniform introduction of methyl or phenyl groups. As a result, the lysozyme trapping is observed to be 3.2 times more…
Determination of the packing model of a supramolecular nanofiber via mass-per-length measurement and de novo simulation
Yao, Qingxin; Bao, Qiang; Li, Xinming; Wang, Hui; Yang, Zhenyu; Shi, Xinghua; Gao, Yuan; Xu, Bing
Herein, we report an example of using scanning transmission electron microscopy to determine the mass-per-length of supramolecular nanofibers. Together with the measurement of the diameter of nanofibers via transmission electron microscopy, we could estimate the packing density of assembling molecules along the nanofibers. A parallel unbiased de novo simulation screens…
Liquid crystal phantom for validation of microscopic diffusion anisotropy measurements on clinical MRI systems
Nilsson, Markus; Larsson, Johan; Lundberg, Dan; Szczepankiewicz, Filip; Witzel, Thomas; Westin, Carl-Fredrik; Bryskhe, Karin; Topgaard, Daniel
Purpose To develop a phantom for validating MRI pulse sequences and data processing methods to quantify microscopic diffusion anisotropy in the human brain. Methods Using a liquid crystal consisting of water, detergent, and hydrocarbon, we designed a 0.5-L spherical phantom showing the theoretically highest possible degree of microscopic anisotropy. Data…
3D Printing of Liquid Crystal Elastomeric Actuators with Spatially Programed Nematic Order
Kotikian, Arda; Truby, Ryan L.; Boley, John William; White, Timothy J.; Lewis, Jennifer A.
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are soft materials capable of large, reversible shape changes, which may find potential application as artificial muscles, soft robots, and dynamic functional architectures. Here, the design and additive manufacturing of LCE actuators (LCEAs) with spatially programed nematic order that exhibit large, reversible, and repeatable contraction with…
Effects of Urea and TMAO on Lipid Self-Assembly under Osmotic Stress Conditions
Pham, Quoc Dat; Wolde-Kidan, Amanuel; Gupta, Anirudh; Schlaich, Alexander; Schneck, Emanuel; Netz, Roland R.; Sparr, Emma
Most land-living organisms regularly experience dehydration. In nature, one commonly applied strategy to protect against this osmotic stress is to introduce small polar molecules with low vapor pressure, commonly called osmolytes. Two examples of naturally occurring small polar compounds are urea and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), which are known to have…
Highly Efficient Luminescent Liquid Crystal with Aggregation-Induced Energy Transfer
Liu, Yi; You, Li Hong; Lin, Fa Xu; Fu, Kuo; Yuan, Wang Zhang; Chen, Er-Qiang; Yu, Zhen-Qiang; Tang, Ben Zhong
A luminescent liquid crystal molecule (TPEMes) with efficient solid-state emission is rationally constructed via the chemical conjugation of blue-emitting tetraphenylethene cores and luminescent mesogenic tolane moieties, which are both featured with aggregation-induced emission properties. As for this fluorophore, aggregation-induced energy transfer from the emissive tolane mesogens to the…