Peters, Kristina; Lokupitiya, Hasala N.; Sarauli, David; Labs, Mathias; Pribil, Mathias; Rathouský, Jiří; Kuhn, Alexander; Leister, Dario; Stefik, Morgan; Fattakhova-Rohlfing, Dina
Nanostructured Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Layers with Tunable Pore Architectures as Versatile Transparent Current Collectors for Biophotovoltaics
Nanostructured transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layers gain increasing importance as high surface area electrodes enabling incorporation of functional redox species with high loading. The fabrication of porous TCO films, namely, antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO), is reported using the self-assembly of preformed ATO nanocrystals with poly(ethylene oxide-b-hexyl acrylate) (PEO-b-PHA) block…
High Modulus Regenerated Cellulose Fibers Spun from a Low Molecular Weight Microcrystalline Cellulose Solution
Zhu, Chenchen; Richardson, Robert M.; Potter, Kevin D.; Koutsomitopoulou, Anastasia F.; van Duijneveldt, Jeroen S.; Vincent, Sheril R.; Wanasekara, Nandula D.; Eichhorn, Stephen J.; Rahatekar, Sameer S.
We have developed a novel process to convert low molecular weight microcrystalline cellulose into stiff regenerated cellulose fibers using a dry-jet wet fiber spinning process. Highly aligned cellulose fibers were spun from optically anisotropic microcrystalline cellulose/1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate (EMImDEP) solutions. As the cellulose concentration increased from 7.6 to 12.4…
The sulfated polysaccharide from a marine red microalga as a platform for the incorporation of zinc ions
Netanel Liberman, Gal; Ochbaum, Guy; (Malis) Arad, Shoshana; Bitton, Ronit
The cell-wall sulfated polysaccharide of the marine red microalga Porphyridium sp. is a high molecular weight biopolymer that has potential for use as a platform for metal complexation for various applications. This paper describes the structural and rheological characterization and antibacterial activity of the polysaccharide in combination with Zn2+ (Zn-PS).…
Blocked Shape Memory Effect in Negative Poisson’s Ratio Polymer Metamaterials
Boba, Katarzyna; Bianchi, Matteo; McCombe, Greg; Gatt, Ruben; Griffin, Anselm C.; Richardson, Robert M.; Scarpa, Fabrizio; Hamerton, Ian; Grima, Joseph N.
We describe a new class of negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) open cell PU–PE foams produced by blocking the shape memory effect in the polymer. Contrary to classical NPR open cell thermoset and thermoplastic foams that return to their auxetic phase after reheating (and therefore limit their use in technological applications),…
In vitro imaging of β-cells using fluorescent cubic bicontinuous liquid crystalline nanoparticles
Miceli, V.; Meli, V.; Blanchard-Desce, M.; Bsaibess, T.; Pampalone, M.; Conaldi, P. G.; Caltagirone, C.; Obiols-Rabasa, M.; Schmidt, J.; Talmon, Y.; Casu, A.; Murgia, S.
To evaluate the potential of monoolein-based cubic bicontinuous liquid crystalline nanoparticles (cubosomes) as diagnostic tools in diabetes and pancreatic β-cell transplantation, fluorescent cubosomes were formulated, entrapping within the lipid bilayer a newly synthesized, potent, hydrophobic dye. Cryo-TEM, SAXS, and DLS were performed to assess the morphological and structural aspects of…
Improving the Transparency of Ultra-Drawn Melt-Crystallized Polyethylenes: Toward High-Modulus/High-Strength Window Application
Shen, Lihua; Nickmans, Koen; Severn, John; Bastiaansen, Cees W. M.
Highly transparent, ultradrawn high-density polyethylene (HDPE) films were successfully prepared using compression molding and solid-state drawing techniques. The low optical transmittance (90%) by incorporating a small amount (>1 wt %/wt) of specific additives to HDPE materials prior to drawing. It is shown that additives with…
Atomic Layer Deposition of Bismuth Vanadates for Solar Energy Materials
Stefik, Morgan
The fabrication of porous nanocomposites is key to the advancement of energy conversion and storage devices that interface with electrolytes. Bismuth vanadate, BiVO4, is a promising oxide for solar water splitting where the controlled fabrication of BiVO4 layers within porous, conducting scaffolds has remained a challenge. Here, the atomic layer…
Silicon Oxycarbide/Carbon Nanohybrids with Tiny Silicon Oxycarbide Particles Embedded in Free Carbon Matrix Based on Photoactive Dental Methacrylates
Wang, Meimei; Xia, Yonggao; Wang, Xiaoyan; Xiao, Ying; Liu, Rui; Wu, Qiang; Qiu, Bao; Metwalli, Ezzeldin; Xia, Senlin; Yao, Yuan; Chen, Guoxin; Liu, Yan; Liu, Zhaoping; Meng, Jian-Qiang; Yang, Zhaohui; Sun, Ling-Dong; Yan, Chun-Hua; Müller-Buschbaum, Peter; Pan, Jing; Cheng, Ya-Jun
A new facile scalable method has been developed to synthesize silicon oxycarbide (SiOC)/carbon nanohybrids using difunctional dental methacrylate monomers as solvent and carbon source and the silane coupling agent as the precursor for SiOC. The content (from 100% to 40% by mass) and structure (ratio of disordered carbon over ordered…
An investigation into the hexagonal phases formed in high-concentration dispersions of well-defined cylindrical block copolymer micelles
Hayward, D. W.; Whittell, G. R.; Gilroy, J. B.; Manners, I.; Richardson, R. M.
This paper presents a detailed analysis of the structure of the hexagonal phase of poly(ferrocenylsilane) (PFS)-based cylindrical micelles found at concentrations above ca. 5 wt. % in non-polar solvents such as decane. Small-angle X-ray scattering indicated that the hexagonal order is not long-range. In all samples, deviations in the lower…
Monodisperse hollow silica spheres: An in-depth scattering analysis
Ruckdeschel, Pia; Dulle, Martin; Honold, Tobias; Förster, Stephan; Karg, Matthias; Retsch, Markus
Herein, we fabricate hollow silica nanoparticles with exceptionally narrow size distributions that inherently possess two distinct length scales—tens of nanometers with regards to the shell thickness, and hundreds of nanometers in regards to the total diameter. We characterize these structures using dynamic and static light scattering (DLS and SLS), small…