Bilchak, Connor R.; Buenning, Eileen; Asai, Makoto; Zhang, Kai; Durning, Christopher J.; Kumar, Sanat K.; Huang, Yucheng; Benicewicz, Brian C.; Gidley, David W.; Cheng, Shiwang; Sokolov, Alexei P.; Minelli, Matteo; Doghieri, Ferruccio
Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticle Membranes with Controllable Free Volume
Polymer-based membranes play a key role in several industrially important gas separation technologies, e.g., removing CO2 from natural gas, with enormous economic and environmental impact. Here, we develop a novel hybrid membrane construct comprised entirely of nanoparticles grafted with polymers. These membranes are shown to have broadly tunable separation performance…
Changes in Nafion® 117 internal structure and related properties during exposure to elevated temperature and pressure in an aqueous environment
Mališ, Jakub; Paidar, Martin; Bystron, Tomas; Brožová, Libuše; Zhigunov, Alexander; Bouzek, Karel
In this study the behaviour and structure of a Nafion® 117 membrane exposed to liquid water at temperatures and pressures of up to 150 °C and 700 kPa, respectively, were investigated. The results clearly showed that, as the temperature of the environment approaches or exceeds the glass transition temperature of the membrane,…
Evaluation of the Interaction Parameter for Poly(solketal methacrylate)-block-polystyrene Copolymers
Yu, Duk Man; Mapas, Jose Kenneth D.; Kim, Hyeyoung; Choi, Jaewon; Ribbe, Alexander E.; Rzayev, Javid; Russell, Thomas P.
A series of symmetric poly(solketal methacrylate-b-styrene) (PSM-b-PS) copolymers with varying molecular weights that can transform a hydrophobic PSM block to a hydrophilic poly(glycerol monomethacrylate) (PGM) block through an acid hydrolysis were investigated. This simple chemical transformation significantly enhances the segmental interaction parameter (χ), enabling a phase-mixed block…
Characterization of cereal β-glucan extracts: Conformation and structural aspects
Zielke, Claudia; Stradner, Anna; Nilsson, Lars
Several health benefits have been established for cereal mixed-linkage β-glucan of high molar mass (M), and are said to be attributed to the ability of β-glucan to form viscous slurries in the gut. As no comprehensive understanding exists yet, the characterization of β-glucan solution behavior is crucial. β-Glucan was characterized…
Adjuvants Based on Synthetic Mycobacterial Cord Factor Analogues: Biophysical Properties of Neat Glycolipids and Nanoself-Assemblies with DDA
Kallerup, Rie S.; Franzyk, Henrik; Schiøth, Mikkel L.; Justesen, Sarah; Martin-Bertelsen, Birte; Rose, Fabrice; Madsen, Cecilie M.; Christensen, Dennis; Korsholm, Karen S.; Yaghmur, Anan; Foged, Camilla
Synthetic mycobacterial cord factor analogues, e.g., trehalose 6,6′-dibehenate (TDB), are highly promising adjuvants due to their strong immunopotentiating capabilities, but their biophysical properties have remained poorly characterized. Here, we report the synthesis of an array of synthetic TDB analogues varying in acyl chain length, degree of acylation, and headgroup display,…
Designing Block Copolymer Architectures toward Tough Bioplastics from Natural Rosin
Rahman, Md Anisur; Lokupitiya, Hasala N.; Ganewatta, Mitra S.; Yuan, Liang; Stefik, Morgan; Tang, Chuanbing
Resin acids (or natural rosin) are a class of abundant, renewable natural biomass. Most low molecular weight resin acid-containing polymers are very brittle due to their low chain entanglement associated with the pendant, intrinsically bulky hydrophenanthrene group. The use of block copolymer architectures can enhance chain entanglement and thus improve…
Morphological Behavior of A2B Block Copolymers in Thin Films
Kim, Hyeyoung; Kang, Beom-Goo; Choi, Jaewon; Sun, Zhiwei; Yu, Duk Man; Mays, Jimmy; Russell, Thomas P.
Copolymer composed of two poly(2-vinylpyridine) blocks and one polystyrene block ((P2VP)2–PS) with a PS volume fraction (ΦPS) of 0.44 was synthesized, and their morphologies in bulk and thin films were compared to linear block copolymers (BCPs) having a similar ΦPS (PS-b-P2VP). For the symmetric diblock copolymer, a lamellar morphology was…
Chiral Arrangements of Au Nanoparticles with Prescribed Handedness Templated by Helical Pores in Block Copolymer Films
Lu, Xuemin; Song, Dong-po; Ribbe, Alexander; Watkins, James J.
Fabrication of films with plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) arrays arranged in chiral configurations of prescribed handedness is highly attractive for the design of new functional materials; however, this remains a formidable challenge in nanotechnology. In this study, we demonstrated the controlled arrangements of gold (Au) NPs into helical structures templated by…
Characterization of Monoclonal Antibody–Protein Antigen Complexes Using Small-Angle Scattering and Molecular Modeling
Castellanos, Maria Monica; Snyder, James A.; Lee, Melody; Chakravarthy, Srinivas; Clark, Nicholas J.; McAuley, Arnold; Curtis, Joseph E.
The determination of monoclonal antibody interactions with protein antigens in solution can lead to important insights guiding physical characterization and molecular engineering of therapeutic targets. We used small-angle scattering (SAS) combined with size-exclusion multi-angle light scattering high-performance liquid chromatography to obtain monodisperse samples with defined stoichiometry to…
Mesostructure of Mesoporous Silica/Anodic Alumina Hierarchical Membranes Tuned with Ethanol
Meoto, Silo; Kent, Niall; Nigra, Michael M.; Coppens, Marc-Olivier
Hierarchically structured membranes composed of mesoporous silica embedded inside the channels of anodic alumina (MS-AAM) were synthesized using the aspiration method. Ethanol is shown to have a significant effect on the type and organization of the mesoporous silica phase. Detailed textural analysis revealed that the pore size distribution of the…