Zhao, Lin; Bhatia, Bikram; Yang, Sungwoo; Strobach, Elise; Weinstein, Lee A.; Cooper, Thomas A.; Chen, Gang; Wang, Evelyn N.
Harnessing Heat Beyond 200 °C from Unconcentrated Sunlight with Nonevacuated Transparent Aerogels
Heat at intermediate temperatures (120-220 °C) is in significant demand in both industrial and domestic sectors for applications such as water and space heating, steam generation, sterilization, and other industrial processes. Harnessing heat from solar energy at these temperatures, however, requires costly optical and mechanical components to concentrate the dilute…
Controlling Crystal Texture in Programmable Atom Equivalent Thin Films
Gabrys, Paul A.; Macfarlane, Robert J.
DNA is a powerful tool in the directed assembly of nanoparticle based superlattice materials, as the predictable nature of WatsonCrick base pairing allows DNA-grafted particles to be programmably assembled into unit cells that arise from the complete control of nanoparticle coordination environment within the lattice. However, while the local environment…
Effects of artepillin C on model membranes displaying liquid immiscibility
Pazin, W. M.; Vilanova, N.; Voets, I. K.; Soares, A. E. E.; Ito, A. S.
It has been hypothesized that the therapeutic effects of artepillin C, a natural compound derived from Brazilian green propolis, are likely related to its partition in the lipid bilayer component of biological membranes. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of the major compound of green propolis, artepillin C,…
Sulfo-Phenylated Polyphenylenes Containing Sterically Hindered Pyridines
Xu, Shaoyi; Adamski, Michael; Killer, Miho; Schibli, Eric M.; Frisken, Barbara J.; Holdcroft, Steven
We systematically investigated the effect of incorporating a sterically hindered pyridyl group into a sulfo-phenylated polyphenylene to control the polymers physicochemical properties through acidbase interactions. Homopolymers with similar molecular weights and comparable structures that vary by only one atom (N vs C?) per repeat unit along the polymer chain were…
Cellular uptake of self-assembled phytantriol-based hexosomes is independent of major endocytic machineries
Rodrigues, Letícia; Schneider, Fabian; Zhang, Xiaohan; Larsson, Elin; Moodie, Lindon W. K.; Dietz, Hendrik; Papadakis, Christine M.; Winter, Gerhard; Lundmark, Richard; Hubert, Madlen
Despite increasing interests in non-lamellar liquid crystalline dispersions, such as hexosomes, for drug delivery, little is known about their interactions with cells and mechanism of cell entry. Here we examine the cellular uptake of hexosomes based on phytantriol and mannide monooleate by HeLa cells using live cell microscopy in comparison…
Microwave-assisted DielsAlder polycondensation of proton conducting poly(phenylene)s
Adamski, Michael; Skalski, Thomas J. G.; Xu, Shaoyi; Killer, Miho; Schibli, Eric M.; Frisken, Barbara J.; Holdcroft, Steven
An exploratory microwave-assisted synthesis of a promising proton-conducting, DielsAlder poly(phenylene) is reported and comprehensively compared against a traditional, thermal polymerization approach. A 24-fold reduction in reaction time is achieved by microwave synthesis. Characterization of polymers prepared by microwave-assisted synthesis vs. the thermal approach reveals little difference in
Poly(bis-arylimidazoliums) possessing high hydroxide ion exchange capacity and high alkaline stability
Fan, Jiantao; Willdorf-Cohen, Sapir; Schibli, Eric M.; Paula, Zoe; Li, Wei; Skalski, Thomas J. G.; Sergeenko, Ania Tersakian; Hohenadel, Amelia; Frisken, Barbara J.; Magliocca, Emanuele; Mustain, William E.; Diesendruck, Charles E.; Dekel, Dario R.; Holdcroft, Steven
The hydroxide anion exchange polymers are key materials of solid polymer electrolyte devices that operate under alkaline conditions. Here the authors show the rational design of such polymers that exhibit high ion exchange capacity and exceptional stability under highly caustic
Improving Processing, Crystallization, and Performance of Poly-l-lactide with an Amide-Based Organic Compound as Both Plasticizer and Nucleating Agent
Leoné, Nils; Roy, Manta; Saidi, Sarah; de Kort, Gijs; Hermida-Merino, Daniel; Wilsens, Carolus H. R. M.
In this work, we report on a novel hydrogen-bonding compound, N,N?-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalamide (BHET), and its potential as additive in poly-l-lactide (PLA). Although the hydroxyl groups of BHET can participate in transesterification with the PLA matrix, we demonstrate through gel permeation chromatography that extrusion at 200 °C does not result in a…
Effect of side chain and backbone length on lamellar spacing in polystyrene-block-poly(dimethyl siloxane) brush block copolymers
Fei, Huafeng; Yavitt, Benjamin M.; Kopanati, Gayathri; Watkins, James J.
We report the synthesis of polystyrene-block-poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PS-b-PDMS) brush block copolymers (BBCPs) through sequential ROMP of norbornene-modified macromonomers (-NB) and explore the effect of side chain length (Nsc) and total backbone degree of polymerization (Nbb) on the self-assembly of lamellar morphologies. Group I (PS-NB Mn = 2.9 kg/mol, PDMS-NB Mn…
Power Law Relaxations in Lamellae Forming Brush Block Copolymers with Asymmetric Molecular Shape
Yavitt, Benjamin M.; Fei, Hua-Feng; Kopanati, Gayathri N.; Winter, H. Henning; Watkins, James J.
We report the linear viscoelasticity of densely grafted poly(styrene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) diblock bottlebrush block copolymers (dbBB) of equal mass fraction over a wide range of backbone degree of polymerization (Nbb = 21119). The difference in side chain length (PS Mn = 2.9 kg/mol, PEO Mn = 5 kg/mol) produces an…