Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Eva Zarkadoula, Ying Yang, Albina Borisevich, Easo George
Summary: Using molecular dynamics simulations, this study investigates the deformation-induced phase transition in an Fe-Ni alloy with and without precipitates. The results show that larger precipitates and smaller spacings hinder the phase transformation. These findings help interpret the experimental results and analyze the individual effects of precipitate size and spacing.
MATERIALS RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ying Li, Yaqi Ren, Yu Bai, Muhammad Ikram, Yue Xu, Yongkai Wang, Zhongyue Zhang
Summary: The study demonstrates a method to improve the CD signal of 3D chiral nanostructures by designing templates for double-layer nanostructures. These double-layer nanostructures can be prepared with one-time electron beam lithography and electron beam deposition, and produce CD effects by breaking the symmetry of the structure and manipulating near-field coupling.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiao Jin, Fangsheng Wu, Jiaping Lin, Chunhua Cai, Liquan Wang, Jianding Chen, Liang Gao
Summary: Here, a programmable morphology evolution of rod-coil-rod triblock copolymers induced by variation of chain ordering is reported, leading to a sequence of morphology transitions from ellipsoids to vesicles via disks and bowls as solution temperature increases. The increase of rod chain mobility and the decrease of rod chain rigidity at high temperatures drive a decrease of chain ordering of rod blocks, resulting in an ellipsoid-to-vesicle morphology transition. This gained information can guide the construction of nanoassemblies based on rod-coil block copolymers.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zaneta Wojnarowska, Shinian Cheng, Beibei Yao, Malgorzata Swadzba-Kwasny, Shannon McLaughlin, Anne McGrogan, Yoan Delavoux, Marian Paluch
Summary: The authors report and characterize a first-order liquid-liquid transition (LLT) in a series of ionic liquids, providing insight into the structure-property relationships governing LLT. Ion dynamics exhibit anomalous behavior during the LLT, with dramatically elongated conductivity relaxation times and broader distribution. The discontinuity in specific volume at LLT was estimated using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, showing that LLT has an isochronal character similar to liquid-glass transition.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Leena Majumder, Nayim Sepay, Biswadip Banerji
Summary: Self-assembled structures derived from short peptides, like the dityrosine-based short peptide (TP) studied in this research, have great potential in various domains. Through spectroscopic studies and single crystal X-ray analysis, it was confirmed that TP adopted a B-sheet pattern and further self-assembled into B-sheet-promoted helical architectures. This is the first crystallographic report of this kind of short peptide adopting B-sheet-promoted helical structures. CD spectroscopy, NMR study, and other analyses also supported the self-assembly phenomenon of TP. These small peptide units mimicking protein secondary structures could be of pivotal significance.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Zhonghua Zhao, Liuqing Yang, Yang Feng, Daomin Min, Pengfei Zhai, Jie Liu, Shengtao Li
Summary: In this study, the monoclinic to tetragonal phase transition in HfO2 was simulated using molecular dynamics and the two-temperature model. The key factors contributing to the phase transition, including thermal spike and oxygen defects, as well as their coupling effects, were investigated.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Wang Xi, Mengjiao Zhu, Chengxin Lei, Shenggui Fu, Zhongsheng Man, Xiaolu Ge
Summary: We theoretically demonstrate that enhanced optical chirality can be achieved in achiral magnetoplasmonic nanostructures, including dual-metallic grating (DMG) structure and single-metallic grating (SMG) structure, under linearly polarized light. Simulated results show that the designed structures exhibit enhanced optical chirality in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Furthermore, the DMG structure outperforms the SMG structure in terms of optical chirality, despite the former's easier fabrication process. The physical origin of the enhanced optical chirality is investigated in detail, and the potential for adjusting optical chirality using an external magnetic field suggests the potential development of new chiro-optical devices using magnetoplasmonic nanostructures.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Talgat Shugabaev, Vladislav O. Gridchin, Sergey D. Komarov, Demid A. Kirilenko, Natalia V. Kryzhanovskaya, Konstantin P. Kotlyar, Rodion R. Reznik, Yelizaveta I. Girshova, Valentin V. Nikolaev, Michael A. Kaliteevski, George E. Cirlin
Summary: In this study, hybrid nanostructures based on InGaN nanowires with decorated plasmonic silver nanoparticles were investigated. It was found that plasmonic nanoparticles caused the redistribution of room temperature photoluminescence between short-wavelength and long-wavelength peaks of InGaN nanowires. The short-wavelength maxima decreased by 20%, while the long-wavelength maxima increased by 19%. This phenomenon was attributed to energy transfer and enhancement between different parts of the nanowires with varying In content and a proposed Frohlich resonance model was used to explain the enhancement effect.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jun-Hu Cheng, Huifen Wang, Da-Wen Sun
Summary: This study investigated the effects of cold plasma (CP) treatment on the IgE-binding sites between allergenic peptides of tropomyosin (TM) in shrimp and plasma active particles. Results showed that the IgE-binding ability of two critical peptides (P1 and P2) initially increased and then decreased after 15 min of CP treatment. The contribution rates of different active particles in reducing IgE-binding ability were also determined. Additionally, specific amino acids in the peptides were identified as the IgE sites. These findings contribute to the accurate control of TM allergenicity and provide insights into allergenicity mitigation during food processing.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Luc Driencourt, Benjamin Gallinet, Catherine E. Housecroft, Soeren Fricke, Edwin C. Constable
Summary: This work presents a method for analyzing the contributions of optical effects from nanostructures to enhance the performance of PEC water-splitting electrodes. Electromagnetic simulations and modeling of photogenerated charges transport are used to calculate the power density in semiconductor materials. Parameters of the semiconductor material are determined by fitting the model to experimentally measured IPCE curve, and then used to compute the IPCE spectra of the photoelectrode with optical enhancement strategies. The calculated IPCE enhancement ratio is in agreement with experimental observations, indicating the effectiveness of optical nanostructures in improving IPCE.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yu-Jia Chen, Ai-Ling Yan, Wei-You Dai, Kuan-Ting Lin, Meng-Ru Huang, Yu-Hsuan Tseng, Ming-Hui Shen, Vamsi Krishna Karapala, Jiun-Tai Chen
Summary: This study presents a versatile selective light-induced nanowetting method for fabricating hierarchical polymer nanoarrays, based on the selective wetting abilities of polymer chains via photoliquefaction of azobenzene-containing polymers into nanopores. This method allows for controlled sizes of hierarchical nanostructures by manipulating the domain sizes of polymer blends and pore sizes of templates. Furthermore, the erasability and rewritability of this strategy are demonstrated, showing its potential for various applications in nanotechnology.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Haoran Chen, Xiaofen Qi, Kaifang Guan, Yuxiang Gu, Rongchun Wang, Qiming Li, Ying Ma
Summary: The study showed that peptides from alpha-lactalbumin hydrolysate could improve lipid metabolism in HepG2 cells, with P2 and P8 being more effective in enhancing intracellular TG and PPAR alpha levels. These peptides acted as PPAR alpha ligands to regulate lipid metabolism-related gene expression, showing promise in ameliorating obesity.
JOURNAL OF FUNCTIONAL FOODS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
M. Victoria Gomez, Margarita Ruiz-Castaneda, Philipp Nitschke, Ruth M. Gschwind, M. Angeles Jimenez
Summary: In this study, the conformational transition of LytA(239-252) triggered by DPC micelles was investigated using photo-CIDNP NMR experiments. The results revealed different solvent accessibility and interaction behavior between the two tyrosine residues, Y249 and Y250, providing insights into the disruption of aromatic stacking and initiation of structure conversion towards the alpha-helix. The photo-CIDNP methodology proved to be a powerful tool for observing residue-level information that is difficult to obtain by other spectroscopic techniques.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Micaela Giannetti, Antonio Palleschi, Beatrice Ricciardi, Mariano Venanzi
Summary: The aggregation properties of LG18, a Liraglutide analogue, were analyzed in this study. Spectroscopic experiments, dynamic light scattering measurements, and molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the aggregation process of LG18 from sub-micromolar concentrations to micromolar solutions. The critical aggregation concentration of LG18 in water (pH = 8) was found to be 4.3 mu M, and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that LG18 nanostructures are formed by tetramer building blocks.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fengyu Liu, Xiaoming Liu, Wendi Gao, Libo Zhao, Qiang Huang, Tatsuo Arai
Summary: DNA origami-engineered nanostructures can be enhanced in their transmembrane capability by changing their configuration from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. This study confirms the design feasibility and structural stability of three DNA nanostructures through molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that by changing into tubular and tetrahedral shapes, the penetration efficiency of the original DNA origami sheet increases by approximately three and five times, respectively. These findings provide valuable insights for the rational design of DNA nanostructures for transmembrane delivery.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ramesh Nandi, Yuval Agam, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: A significant effort in modern materials research is focused on developing green environmental and sustainable materials, with natural resources as attractive building blocks. This study demonstrates the creation of materials with high elasticity and proton conductivity using proteins, which show promise in biomedical applications.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Alexei A. Stuchebrukhov, Ambili Ramanthrikkovil Variyam, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: Proton dissociation kinetics and related geminate recombination can serve as probes for proton migration mechanisms. A simple model was developed and applied to analyze results obtained using a photo-induced proton release probe. The existence of a kinetic phase transition between exponential and power-law kinetic phases was observed in systems with dimensionality greater than 2.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Anna Yucknovsky, Benjamin B. Rich, Sara Gutkin, Ambili Ramanthrikkovil Variyam, Doron Shabat, Boaz Pokroy, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: The dynamic control of pH-responsive systems using super photoacids for proton transfer enables self-propulsion of droplets, demonstrating the application of super photoacids in controlling dynamic processes and opening up new possibilities in the field of light-triggered dynamic systems.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ramesh Nandi, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: Molecular fluorescent probes are important tools in various fields for studying the environmental properties surrounding the probe. This Account focuses on a unique class of fluorescent probes called photoacids, specifically on the application of pyranine as a photoacid probe for probing the hydration layer and proton diffusion in bio-related materials. The photophysical properties of pyranine in the ground and excited states are detailed, and the experimental methods and interpretation of results are discussed.
ACCOUNTS OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Srestha Basu, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: In this study, the combination of achiral nanoparticles and solvent-induced chirality transfer is used to create large structures with chiroptical properties in the form of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Carbon dots (C-Dots) with tunable surface moieties are used, and the addition of the chiral solvent limonene to different C-Dots leads to the emergence of CPL signal and the formation of fibrillar assembled structures. The interactions between C-Dots and the limonene phase, as well as the role of the amine groups in both chirality transfer and assembly processes, are discussed.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Anna Yucknovsky, Yaniv Shlosberg, Noam Adir, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: Light is commonly used as an energy source in sustainable technologies for generating photocurrent. We introduced a new mechanism for photocurrent generation based on excited state proton transfer of photoacids and photobases. We demonstrated that the formed ions can serve as electron donors or acceptors, or modify mass transport kinetics, resulting in photocurrent generation. By switching the irradiation between the photoacid and the photobase, control of current polarity can be achieved. Our study represents a new approach in photoelectrochemistry and can be utilized in light-responsive energy production or storage.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ziyu Yang, Amit Kumar Sarkar, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: Biopolymers, primarily proteins and polysaccharides, are attractive environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic polymers. In this study, a new platform for combining the advantages of proteins and polysaccharides is introduced, using a glycosylated protein, mucin, as a starting point. Different chemical strategies are used to crosslink the glycoproteins and introduce proton conductivity properties, resulting in a free-standing proton-conductive soft biopolymer with potential applications in soft bioelectronic devices.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuval Toren, Ayelet Vilan, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: Carbon dots (CDs) have attracted widespread attention due to their easy preparation, water solubility, biocompatibility, and bright luminescence. This study explores the electron transport across CDs using a molecular junction configuration and demonstrates that the presence of Boron and Phosphorous significantly improves the efficiency of electron transport. Structural characterizations reveal changes in the chemical species across the CDs, and temperature-dependent measurements suggest a tunneling mechanism for electron transport. The conductivity of CDs is comparable to sophisticated molecular wires, indicating their potential as new candidates for molecular electronics applications.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Ramesh Nandi, Anna Orieshyna, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: This study presents a protein-based elastomer that can bind various chromophores and prevent their aggregation. Energy transfer among five different chromophores within the protein matrix is explored, and control over blue, green, and red chromophores results in tunable emission properties and white-light generation. The affordability and simplicity of the chosen protein and molecular doping strategy make these protein elastomers attractive for investigating energy transfer in proteins and potential integration in light-emitting applications.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Srestha Basu, Martina Peric Bakulic, Zeljka Sanader Marsic, Vlasta Bonacic-Koutecky, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: This study demonstrates the assembly of atomically precise gold nanoclusters into large fibrillar structures that exhibit excitation-dependent luminescence and excitation-selective circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). The origin of CPL in the assembly of atomic clusters is attributed to hierarchical organization and hydrogen bonding interaction with a surfactant. The findings have implications for the rational design of materials with chiroptical properties and controlled CPL activity.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Orieshyna, Jennifer L. Puetzer, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: Collagen, a widely studied protein, not only plays a fundamental role in our bodies but also finds extensive applications in tissue engineering scaffolds. This study reveals a new role for hydroxyproline (Hyp), an abundant component of collagen, in supporting proton transport (PT) through collagen fibrils. The researchers found that adding a methanesulfonyl group significantly enhances PT, while reverting Hyp to proline (Pro) reduces PT efficiency. Understanding the role of Hyp in PT can contribute to a better understanding of the physiological functions of collagen, and modulating conductivity in collagen is crucial in regenerative medicine.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alessandro Paradisi, Marcello Berto, Matteo Di Giosia, Sara Mazzali, Marco Borsari, Tainah Dorina Marforio, Francesco Zerbetto, Matteo Calvaresi, Anna Orieshyna, Nadav Amdursky, Carlo Augusto Bortolotti, Fabio Biscarini
Summary: This study introduces a simple solution-based method for fabricating electrolyte-gated transistor (EGT) devices using stable dispersions of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/bovine serum albumin (BSA) hybrids in water. The method allows the formation of a semiconducting random network of SWCNTs as the channel, enabling the fabrication of EGT devices with excellent electrical performance for biosensing applications. The method is demonstrated for the detection of cortisol in solution, showcasing its robustness and cost-effectiveness in overcoming limitations of standard SWCNTs biosensor fabrications.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yuval Agam, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: In this study, a synthetic and artificial solid-state protein-based matrix doped with natural light-harvesting chlorophyll molecules is developed. The photocurrent generation of this protein matrix shows tunable behavior and can be switched by changing the applied bias, the location of irradiated area, and the gradient doping. Furthermore, the synthetic nature of the protein matrix allows the exploration of different light-harvesting cofactors not found in natural systems.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Ambili Ramanthrikkovil Variyam, Yuval Agam, Alessandro Paradisi, Carlo Augusto Bortolotti, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: This article investigates the use of mixed ionic-electronic conductive biopolymers for electronic and bioelectronic applications. The authors demonstrate that by modifying specific amino acids of a protein-based biopolymer with naphthalenediimide (NDI), the electronic transport of the material can be improved without compromising its native ionic transport. The study also shows that by reducing the NDI moieties, a high conductivity value can be achieved. The easy post-polymerization functionalization chemistry of NDI makes this new strategy highly attractive for the development of sustainable mixed conductors using biopolymers.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Mohammad Foqara, Ramesh Nandi, Nadav Amdursky
Summary: Plastic products are essential in our society, but their high carbon footprint and limited degradability raise ecological concerns. A possible solution is using bioplastics derived from biological materials. In this study, we introduce the production of the first ion-conductive bioplastic using easily available casein protein. The sulfonated casein-based bioplastic exhibits desirable mechanical and electrical properties and is degradable. It is also cost-effective due to the abundance of raw materials and absence of purification stages.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2022)