Kool, Lars; Dekker, Floris; Bunschoten, Anton; Smales, Glen J.; Pauw, Brian R.; Velders, Aldrik H.; Saggiomo, Vittorio
Gold and silver dichroic nanocomposite in the quest for 3D printing the Lycurgus cup
The Lycurgus cup is an ancient glass artefact that shows dichroism as it looks green when a white light is reflected on it and a red colouring appears when a white light is transmitted through it. This peculiar dichroic effect is due to silver and gold nanoparticles present in the…
Role of the Hydrophilic Latex Particle Surface in Water Diffusion into Films from Waterborne Polymer Colloids
Konko, Iuliia; Guriyanova, Svetlana; Boyko, Volodymyr; Sun, Lichao; Liu, Dong; Reck, Bernd; Men, Yongfeng
The diffusion mechanism and growth of large-scale domains during the immersion of latex films in water have been thoroughly investigated with scattering techniques in a combination with the gravimetric method. Latex dispersions for film formation studies had identical main monomer compositions and only differ in the hydrophilic comonomers that result…
Collective orientational order and phase behavior of a discotic liquid crystal under nanoscale confinement
Yildirim, Arda; Sentker, Kathrin; Smales, Glen Jacob; Pauw, Brian Richard; Huber, Patrick; Schönhals, Andreas
The phase behavior and molecular ordering of hexakishexyloxy triphenylene (HAT6) DLCs under cylindrical nanoconfinement are studied utilizing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dielectric spectroscopy (DS), where cylindrical nanoconfinement is established through embedding HAT6 into the nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes, and a silica membrane with pore diameters ranging
Dental Resin Monomer Enables Unique NbO2/Carbon Lithium-Ion Battery Negative Electrode with Exceptional Performance
Ji, Qing; Gao, Xiangwen; Zhang, Qiuju; Jin, Liyu; Wang, Da; Xia, Yonggao; Yin, Shanshan; Xia, Senlin; Hohn, Nuri; Zuo, Xiuxia; Wang, Xiaoyan; Xie, Shuang; Xu, Zhuijun; Ma, Liujia; Chen, Liang; Chen, George Z.; Zhu, Jin; Hu, Binjie; Müller?Buschbaum, Peter; Bruce, Peter G.; Cheng, Ya-Jun
Niobium dioxide (NbO2) features a high theoretical capacity and an outstanding electron conductivity, which makes it a promising alternative to the commercial graphite negative electrode. However, studies on NbO2 based lithium-ion battery negative electrodes have been rarely reported. In the present work, NbO2 nanoparticles homogeneously embedded in a carbon matrix…
Nucleation and Growth Kinetics of ZnO Nanoparticles Studied by in Situ Microfluidic SAXS/WAXS/UVVis Experiments
Herbst, Maria; Hofmann, Eddie; Förster, Stephan
The synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles proceeds through a complex sequence of precursor reactions, nucleation, and growth processes. For further advancement and control of nanoparticle synthesis, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms and kinetics is essential. With the recent advancement in X-ray scattering and spectroscopy methods, in situ experiments during nanoparticle…
Two Growth Mechanisms of Thiol-Capped Gold Nanoparticles Controlled by Ligand Chemistry
Chen, Xuelian; Wei, Meng; Jiang, Shaohua; Förster, Stephan
Thiols play an important role in the synthesis of well-defined nanoparticles (NPs) with tailored properties, but their effects on the formation kinetics of NPs are still under investigation. Here, we used in situ small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)/UVvis spectroscopy and time-dependent transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to elucidate the role of thiols…
Soft cellulose II nanospheres: solgel behaviour, swelling and material synthesis
Beaumont, Marco; Rosenfeldt, Sabine; Tardy, Blaise L.; Gusenbauer, Claudia; Khakalo, Alexey; Nonappa; Opietnik, Martina; Potthast, Antje; Rojas, Orlando J.; Rosenau, Thomas
High axial aspect crystalline nanomaterials have emerged as polymeric building blocks for the construction of supermaterials. In contrast to this form, amorphous nanospheres have remained largely untapped. This is especially peculiar in the context of material assembly, due to the wide range of opportunities they offer by virtue of their…
Probing the Nanostructure and Arrangement of Bacterial Magnetosomes by Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering
Rosenfeldt, Sabine; Riese, Cornelius N.; Mickoleit, Frank; Schüler, Dirk; Schenk, Anna S.
Magnetosomes are membrane-enveloped single-domain ferromagnetic nanoparticles enabling the navigation of magnetotactic bacteria along magnetic field lines. Strict control over each step of biomineralization generates particles of high crystallinity, strong magnetization, and remarkable uniformity in size and shape, which is particularly interesting for many biomedical and biotechnological
Investigation of the internal structure of thermoresponsive diblock poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-b-poly[N-(2,2-difluoroethyl)acrylamide] copolymer nanoparticles
Babuka, David; Kolouchova, Kristyna; Hruby, Martin; Groborz, Ondrej; Tosner, Zdenek; Zhigunov, Alexander; Stepanek, Petr
The poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-b-poly self-assembled nanoparticles show great potential in biological applications as, e.g., 19F MRI tumour diagnostic agents. As such their internal structure needs to be thoroughly investigated while the results also help to understand temperature-dependent self-assembly behaviour of copolymers comprised of the hydrophilic and
Tandem catalysis in multicomponent solvent-free biofluids
Atkins, Dylan Luke; Berrocal, José Augusto; Mason, Alexander Francesco; Voets, Ilja Karina
Enzymes are widely employed to reduce the environmental impact of chemical industries as biocatalysts improve productivity and offer high selectively under mild reaction conditions in a diverse range of chemical transformations. The poor stability of biomacromolecules under reaction conditions is often a critical bottleneck to their application. Protein engineering or…