Article
Polymer Science
Tianyu Wu, Sivasurender Chandran, Yao Zhang, Tianze Zheng, Thomas Pfohl, Jun Xu, Guenter Reiter
Summary: This study investigates the characteristics of the critical primary nucleus in polymer crystallization using a combination of experimental and simulation models. The results suggest that classical nucleation theory may not be applicable for weakly supersaturated solutions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhiyu Liao, Klaas Wynne
Summary: Research on laser-induced crystal nucleation shows that the presence of amorphous intermediates is a general requirement for nucleation.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aisha Fahim, Onofrio Annunziata
Summary: The addition of small amounts of HEPES near physiological ionic strength is essential for converting protein-rich droplets into compact tetragonal crystalline microparticles, which exhibit small size, narrow size distribution, and guest-binding properties. The interactions between lysozyme and HEPES were found to be weakly attractive and exothermic. These findings suggest that salting-in type additives play an important role in controlling the fate of metastable protein-rich microdroplets.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Weiwei Zuo, Mahdi Malekshahi Byranvand, Tim Kodalle, Mohammadreza Zohdi, Jaekeun Lim, Brian Carlsen, Theresa Magorian Friedlmeier, Malgorzata Kot, Chittaranjan Das, Jan Ingo Flege, Wansheng Zong, Antonio Abate, Carolin M. Sutter-Fella, Meng Li, Michael Saliba
Summary: This work introduces DMS (dimethyl sulfide) as a novel nucleation trigger for perovskite films, providing a universal strategy to control perovskite crystallization. The use of DMS allows for more efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alice Parkes, Ahmad Ziaee, Gavin Walker, Emmet O'Reilly
Summary: This study presents a systematic approach to control the polymorphism of carbamazepine (CBZ) and isolate the metastable polymorph CBZ form IV using spray drying as a continuous method of manufacture, with droplet size as a key factor. The confinement of CBZ molecules within specific-sized spray dried droplets during the nucleation process was investigated to understand its impact on polymorphic outcome.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Morten Lykkegaard Christensen, Cristina Cvitanich, Cejna Anna Quist-Jensen, Martin Thau, Bjorn Malmgren-Hansen
Summary: Phosphorus, a limited resource and an environmental pollutant, was successfully precipitated and recovered from wastewater through pilot-scale and bench-scale experiments. The study identified suitable conditions for the precipitation and removal of phosphate, as well as the recovery of phosphorus-containing precipitate.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Di Jia, Murugappan Muthukumar
Summary: Uniformly charged polyelectrolyte molecules usually disperse uniformly in aqueous electrolyte solutions. However, we report a phenomenon where an aqueous solution of positively charged poly(L-lysine) (PLL) exhibits precipitation of similarly charged macromolecules at low ionic strength and a homogeneous solution at very high ionic strength, with a stable mesomorphic state of spherical aggregates as an interlude between these two limits. This unusual behavior is triggered by the presence of a monovalent small organic anion, acrylate, in the electrolyte solution. The findings suggest the importance of dipole-directed assembly and the anti-polyelectrolyte effect in understanding more complex situations such as coacervation and biomolecular condensates.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xuehua Zhang, Zixiang Wei, Howon Choi, Hao Hao, Huaiyu Yang
Summary: This study reports on the solvent-exchange crystallization processes of beta-alanine on solid surfaces in a mixture of isopropanol and water. It was found that flow rates and solid surfaces significantly influence droplet size, growth rate, and crystal size and morphology. Rapid flow rates result in spherical-cap structures while slow flow rates lead to crystal microdomains or thin films. Surfaces with high hydrophilicity form thin films without droplet formation.
ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Oluwatoyin E. Jegede, Nafisul Haque, Andrew M. Mullis, Robert F. Cochrane
Summary: Cu-50% Co and Cu-68.5% Co metastable monotectic Cu-Co alloys were rapidly solidified under nitrogen atmosphere. Liquid phase separation and dendritic structures were observed. Regression relationship between cooling rate and SDAS measurements was established.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andras Laszlo Szabo, Anna Santa, Rita Pancsa, Zoltan Gaspari
Summary: Protein phase separation plays a major role in cellular processes, but the exact structural characteristics of proteins involved in this process are still not fully understood. This study shows that proteins with specific patterns of charged residues are significantly associated with liquid-liquid phase separation, particularly those with repetitive arrays of alternating charges.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Lan Fang, Zhenguo Gao, Zhenjie Gao, Wenfeng Huang, Xuxing Wan, Sohrab Rohani, Junbo Gong
Summary: This study presents the successful continuous preparation of pure metastable crystal Form III of APZ using ultrasound and slug-assisted tubular crystallizers, providing a solution to the difficulty of reproducibly obtaining metastable polymorphs in traditional batch crystallizers.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Shaosuo Bing, Weipeng Xian, Sifan Chen, Yanpei Song, Linxiao Hou, Xiaolong Liu, Shengqian Ma, Qi Sun, Lin Zhang
Summary: This study demonstrates the construction of lithium nanochannels in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks to create biomimetic membranes, achieving high selectivity and permeability for Li+/Mg2+ separation through specificity and enhanced Li+ diffusion.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Hao Xiu, Tianshu Gao, Na An, Ying Wang, Yang Zhou, Xiaopeng Qi, Deyu Liu, Yongbo Kuang
Summary: A general solution method using citrate to prepare nanoporous oxide thin films with controllable porosity was reported. The impacts of morphology on photoelectrochemical performance were studied using CuBi2O4 as a model material. The synthesis technique can be applied to prepare crystallized nanoporous oxide thin films with tunable morphologies for photovoltaic and other catalytic applications.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yue Sun, Xiaojie Xu, Liwei Chen, Wei Leong Chew, Yuan Ping, Ali Miserez
Summary: CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing tools have great potential for developing various therapeutic treatments. However, the efficient intracellular delivery of the editing machinery is a challenge. This study utilized a phase-separating peptide with intracellular redox-triggered release properties to encapsulate and deliver all three forms of CRISPR/Cas9 editing machinery, resulting in higher transfection and editing efficiency compared to commercially available transfection reagents.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Da Hye Yang, Francesco Ricci, Fredrik L. Nordstrom, Na Li
Summary: Through systematic evaluation of the oiling-out behavior of procaine, we identified both stable and metastable liquid-liquid phase separation, and established phase diagrams to assist in rational selection of crystallization strategies.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2024)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ralph Maier, Rodrigo Cuevas Arenas, Fajun Zhang, Ana Garcia-Saez, Frank Schreiber
Summary: This study investigates the use of polymer-bounded nanodiscs to study the lipid model system. The size of nanodiscs formed with styrene maleic acid (SMA) is smaller compared to diisobutylene maleic acid (DIBMA). Increasing polymer concentration leads to a decrease in nanodisc size. The stability of nanodiscs formed with SMA is less affected by temperature compared to those formed with DIBMA in phosphate buffer. These findings contribute to the development of protocols for studying membrane proteins in similar membrane mimics.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Tobias Antrack, Martin Kroll, Lena Merten, Miguel Albaladejo-Siguan, Alexander Hinderhofer, Oleg Konovalov, Maciej Jankowski, Johannes Benduhn, Frank Schreiber, Yana Vaynzof, Karl Leo
Summary: The impact of the environment on the formation of island-like layers in CsPbBr3/LiBr thermally deposited bilayers is investigated. It is found that the island-like layers only form in humid environments, leading to a 350-fold enhancement in photoluminescence quantum yield. Time-resolved grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering experiments reveal that LiBr alters the crystal orientation of the perovskite prior to the formation of island-like layers.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alexander Hinderhofer, Alessandro Greco, Vladimir Starostin, Valentin Munteanu, Linus Pithan, Alexander Gerlach, Frank Schreiber
Summary: This paragraph discusses the status, opportunities, challenges, and limitations of machine learning applied to X-ray and neutron scattering techniques, focusing on surface scattering. Typical strategies and potential pitfalls are outlined. The applications to reflectometry and grazing-incidence scattering are critically discussed. Comment is also given on the availability of training and test data for machine learning applications, such as neural networks, and a large reflectivity data set is provided as reference data for the community.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tatiana I. Morozova, Nicolas A. Garcia, Olga Matsarskaia, Felix Roosen-Runge, Jean-Louis Barrat
Summary: Elastin-like peptides (ELPs) mimic the protein elastin and exhibit lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. Through molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the interactions and behavior of ELPs at different temperatures and peptide concentrations. We found that the peptides undergo a hydrophobic collapse and exhibit LCST-like behavior. Additionally, the formation of dynamic aggregates and the slowing down of peptide motion were observed.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Furio Surfaro, Ralph Maier, Kai-Florian Pastryk, Fajun Zhang, Frank Schreiber, Roland Roth
Summary: This article establishes a connection between B-2 and supersaturation, and shows that the values of B-2 calculated from SAXS data agree with those obtained from supersaturation measurements. This method is useful for estimating B-2 for globular proteins in the proximity of the binodal biphasic coexistent region.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Frank Hirschmann, Hender Lopez, Felix Roosen-Runge, Tilo Seydel, Frank Schreiber, Martin Oettel
Summary: The researchers developed a coarse-grained, structure-based, low-resolution, 6-bead model for bovine serum albumin (BSA) and compared it with a 12-bead model for immunoglobulin G (IgG). They studied the effects of packing and flexibility on the behavior of these models in denser solutions. They also determined the effective sphere sizes of BSA.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Oscar Telschow, Niels Scheffczyk, Alexander Hinderhofer, Lena Merten, Ekaterina Kneschaurek, Florian Bertram, Qi Zhou, Markus Loeffler, Frank Schreiber, Fabian Paulus, Yana Vaynzof
Summary: Metal halide perovskites, a type of crystalline semiconductors, are of great interest for optoelectronics. This study investigates the formation of highly oriented triple cation perovskite films using different alcohols as solvents. A short-lived highly oriented crystalline intermediate is found and used as a template for the formation of highly oriented perovskite layers. The photovoltaic devices fabricated from the highly oriented films show superior performance and stability compared to those with a random polycrystalline structure.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sara Wirsing, Marc Haensel, Luca Craciunescu, Valentina Belova, Frank Schreiber, Katharina Broch, Bernd Engels, Petra Tegeder
Summary: By combining femtosecond time-resolved second harmonic generation (SHG) with large scale quantum chemical calculations, we studied the ultrafast excited state dynamics at interfaces between diindenoperylene (DIP) and dicyano-perylene-bis(dicarboximide) (PDIR-CN2). Our results showed that an optically induced charge transfer (CT) is observed in the configuration with edge-on geometry and additional face-on domains, resulting in an increase in SHG signal intensity. The interfacial CT state decays within 7.5±0.7 ps, while the creation of hot CT states leads to a faster decay (5.3±0.2 ps). The formation of interfacial CT is suppressed in bilayer structures with mainly edge-on geometries due to the lack of π-π overlap perpendicular to the interface. Our study provides important insights into the D/A charge transfer properties and the interfacial photophysics of these molecules.
CHEMISTRY-AN ASIAN JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yubexi Correa, Rita Del Giudice, Sarah Waldie, Michel Thepaut, Samantha Micciula, Yuri Gerelli, Martine Moulin, Clara Delaunay, Franck Fieschi, Harald Pichler, Michael Haertlein, V. Trevor Forsyth, Anton Le Brun, Michael Moir, Robert A. Russell, Tamim Darwish, Jonas Brinck, Tigist Wodaje, Martin Jansen, Cesar Martin, Felix Roosen-Runge, Marite Cardenas
Summary: There is a close relationship between the SARS-CoV-2 virus and lipoproteins, especially high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The severity of COVID-19 is inversely correlated with HDL plasma levels. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to HDL particles, depleting them of lipids and altering HDL function.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Christoph P. Theurer, Florian Laible, Jia Tang, Katharina Broch, Monika Fleischer, Frank Schreiber
Summary: Utilizing strong light-matter coupling can modify the energy landscapes of excited states of organic semiconductors. This can be achieved by implementing them in optical microcavities, without the need for chemical modification. In this study, the strong coupling of Davydov transitions in polycrystalline pentacene thin films to surface lattice resonances supported by open cavities made of silver nanoparticle arrays was demonstrated. These thin films, together with the open architecture, are more suitable for device applications.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Julian Hausch, Nico Hofeditz, Jona Bredehoeft, Sebastian Hammer, Jens Pflaum, Katharina Broch, Marina Gerhard, Frank Schreiber
Summary: The coherent distribution of an electronic excitation over multiple organic molecules in the solid state, known as excited-state delocalization, plays a crucial role in processes like singlet fission. However, experiments studying the influence of excited-state delocalization on singlet fission have been challenging due to the difficulty of measuring it and accessing the optically dark triplet-pair state, which is an important intermediate in singlet fission. By altering the growth conditions, researchers demonstrate that the emission from the triplet-pair state is observable in films with low growth rates of the singlet fission material, indicating a correlation between luminescence and higher excited-state delocalization.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Maximilian D. Senft, Ralph Maier, Anusha Hiremath, Fajun Zhang, Frank Schreiber
Summary: It has been established that DNA and RNA exhibit reentrant condensation behavior in the presence of trivalent hexamine cobalt(III) cations, but it is not clear if other multivalent metal cations can induce similar phase behavior for proteins. This study investigates whether negatively charged globular proteins feature cation-induced reentrant condensation. The results show that only beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) exhibits similar behavior, while other proteins have weak attraction and do not show reentrant condensation.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL E
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Benedikt Sohmen, Christian Beck, Veronika Frank, Tilo Seydel, Ingo Hoffmann, Bianca Hermann, Mark Nueesch, Marco Grimaldo, Frank Schreiber, Steffen Wolf, Felix Roosen-Runge, Thorsten Hugel
Summary: This study reveals fast molecule-spanning dynamics in the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), which may serve as precursors for larger conformational changes. The research combines single-molecule fluorescence, quasi-elastic neutron scattering, and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to observe global real-space movements.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yiping Yin, Zhe Wang, Hua Zou
Summary: This study presents a novel method for preparing dimpled polymer-silica nanocomposite particles using interfacial swelling-based seeded polymerization. The optimized conditions allow for a relatively high percentage of dimpled particles to be achieved.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Brenden D. Hoehn, Elizabeth A. Kellstedt, Marc A. Hillmyer
Summary: Porous materials with nanometer-scale pores have important applications as nanoporous membranes. In this study, ABA triblock copolymers were used as precursors to produce nanoporous polymeric membranes (NPMs) in thin film form by degrading the end blocks. Polycyclooctene (PCOE) NPMs with tunable pore sizes were successfully prepared using solvent casting technique. Oxygen plasma etching was employed to improve the surface porosity and hydrophilicity of the membranes. This study provides a straightforward method to produce tough NPMs with high porosity and hydrophilic surface properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Vladislav S. Petrovskii, Stepan I. Zholudev, Igor I. Potemkin
Summary: This article investigates the behavior of linear and ring polypeptide chains in aqueous solution and explores the properties of the complexes formed by these chains with oppositely charged surfactants. The results demonstrate that the complexes of linear supercharged unfolded polypeptides and the corresponding surfactants exhibit impressive adhesive properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Merve Cevik, Serkan Dikici
Summary: Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death globally, and vascular grafts are a promising treatment option. This study focuses on tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) using decellularized parsley stems as a potential biomaterial. The decellularized parsley stems showed suitable properties for TEVGs, providing a suitable environment for human endothelial cells to form a pseudo endothelium. This study showcases the potential of using parsley stems for TEVGs.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Gustavo A. Vasquez-Montoya, Tadej Emersic, Noe Atzin, Antonio Tavera-Vazquez, Ali Mozaffari, Rui Zhang, Orlando Guzman, Alexey Snezhko, Paul F. Nealey, Juan J. de Pablo
Summary: The optical properties of liquid crystals are typically controlled by electric fields. In this study, we investigate the effects of microfluidic flows and acoustic fields on the molecular orientation and optical response of nematic liquid crystals. We identify several previously unknown structures and explain them through calculations and simulations. These findings hold promise for the development of new systems combining sound, flow, and confinement.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xinjun Wu, Xin Guan, Shushu Chen, Jiangpeng Jia, Chongyi Chen, Jiawei Zhang, Chuanzhuang Zhao
Summary: This research presents a novel shape memory hydrogel with a remodelable permanent shape and programmable cold-induced shape recovery behavior. The hydrogel is prepared using specific treatment methods to achieve shape fixation by heating and shape recovery by cooling. Additionally, deformable devices can be obtained by assembling hydrogel blocks with different concentrations.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rebecca Hengsbach, Gerhard Fink, Ulrich Simon
Summary: This study examines the properties of DNA functionalized pNipmam microgels and pure pNipmam microgels at different concentrations of sodium chloride and in PBS solutions using temperature dependent H-1-NMR measurements. The results show that DNA modification affects the volume phase transition temperature and the addition of salt and PBS further enhances this effect.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ningyi Li, Junhong Li, Lijingting Qing, Shicheng Ma, Yao Li, Baohui Li
Summary: This paper investigates the self-assembly behavior of colloids with competing interactions under spherical confinement and finds that different ordered structures can be formed under different sized spherical confinements. Moreover, more perforated structures are formed in smaller spheres.
