Horwitz, Noah E.; Shevchenko, Elena V.; Park, Jehee; Lee, Eungje; Xie, Jiaze; Filatov, Alexander S.; Anderson, John
Synthesis, Modular Composition, and Electrochemical Properties of Lamellar Iron Sulfides
Transition metal chalcogenides with layered structures have emerged as promising materials for energy storage, catalysis, and electronics, among other areas. We have identified a new layered phase of iron sulfide containing interlayer solvated cations. We present an optimized synthesis for the Li+-containing material from an Fe(III) xanthate complex. Structure and…
A facile approach to thermomechanically enhanced fatty acid-containing bioplastics using metalligand coordination
Lamm, Meghan E.; Song, Lingzhi; Wang, Zhongkai; Lamm, Benjamin; Fu, Lin; Tang, Chuanbing
Biomass-based polymers show promise for the mitigation of environmental issues associated with petroleum-derived commodity polymers; however, due to poor entanglement, many of these polymers typically lack mechanical strength and toughness. Herein, we report a facile approach to utilizing metalligand coordination to create physical crosslinking, and thus chain entanglements for plant…
Macroscopic interpretation of nano-scale scattering data in clay
Birmpilis, G.; Ahmadi-Naghadeh, R.; Dijkstra, J.
The potential of X-ray scattering measurements for monitoring changes on the nano-scale in fine-grained materials in their natural wet state is demonstrated with a series of feasibility tests on well-controlled kaolin samples that is, water content, pH and loading history. The results indicate that subtle changes on the nanometric…
Facile treatment to fine-tune cellulose crystals in cellulose-silk biocomposites through hydrogen peroxide
Love, Stacy A.; Popov, Elizabeth; Rybacki, Karleena; Hu, Xiao; Salas-de la Cruz, David
The modulation of structural fibrous protein and polysaccharide biopolymers for the design of biomaterials is still relatively challenging due to the non-trivial nature of the transformation from a biopolymer's native state to a more usable form. To gain insight into the nature of the molecular interaction between silk and cellulose…
Synthesis and characterization of thermoresponsive ZIF-8@PNIPAm-co-MAA microgel composites with enhanced performance as an adsorption/release platform
Allegretto, Juan A.; Giussi, Juan M.; Moya, Sergio E.; Azzaroni, Omar; Rafti, Matias
Composite materials featuring a synergic combination of interesting properties such as stimuli responsiveness and tailored porosity are highly appealing due to their multiple possible applications. We hereby present an example which brings together such features by using poly(N-isopropyl-acrylamide)-derived thermo-responsive microgels and Zn-based Metal Organic Framework (MOF) ZIF-8, capable of
Rheological modifiers based on supramolecular block copolymers: From weak associations to interconnected micelles
Goldansaz, Hadi; Jangizehi, Amir; Nikravan, Goolia; Verkinderen, Olivier; Goderis, Bart; Ghaffarian, Seyed Reza; van Ruymbeke, Evelyne; Ahmadi, Mostafa
The rheological spectra of poly(n-butyl acrylate) in the presence of a series of P(nBA-b-HEMA) rheology modifiers show a two-step relaxation process originating from the PnBA matrix and the self-assemblies. The HEMA segments are further grafted with strong, hydrogen bonding UPy groups, which both magnifies and slows down the relaxation of…
Tunable circularly polarized luminescence from molecular assemblies of chiral AIEgens
Song, Fengyan; Cheng, Yanhua; Liu, Qiuming; Qiu, Zijie; Lam, Jacky W. Y.; Lin, Liangbin; Yang, Fafu; Tang, Ben Zhong
Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) is important to chiral photonic technologies. In molecular systems, besides their intrinsic chemical structures, architectures of molecular assemblies at the mesoscopic scale also account for the final macroscopic CPL properties. Herein, tunable CPL responses can be induced through architectural regulation of these molecular assemblies in suspension…
Determination of the Critical Size of Secondary Nuclei on the Lateral Growth Front of Lamellar Polymer Crystals
Zhang, Shujing; Han, Jiarui; Gao, Yang; Guo, Baohua; Reiter, Günter; Xu, Jun
Nucleation is the rate-limiting first step of crystallization. The energy barrier related to form the critical nucleus predominantly affects the nucleation rate. Determination of the size of the critical nucleus is a key for understanding the mechanism of nucleation and allows testing theories. However, it has been a great challenge…
Fibril Charge Affects α-Synuclein Hydrogel Rheological Properties
Pogostin, Brett H.; Linse, Sara; Olsson, Ulf
In this paper, we have investigated the interactions between ?-synuclein fibrils at different pH values and how this relates to hydrogel formation and gel properties. Using a combination of rheology, small-angle X-ray scattering, Raman spectroscopy, and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) experiments, we have been able to investigate the relationship between…
Solidification and melting phase change behavior of eutectic gallium-indium-tin
Koh, Amanda; Hwang, Wonseok; Y. Zavalij, Peter; Chun, Seth; Slipher, Geoffrey; Mrozek, Randy
The room-temperature liquid metal alloy of gallium, indium, and tin (galinstan) has been studied as a deformable conductive element for stretchable electronics and soft robotics. While these applications are predicated on the soft and conformable behavior of galinstan, little work has been done to understand the solidification of the liquid…