0000000000590090
AUTHOR
Dirk W. Schubert
Polymer-Functionalised Nanograins of Mg-Doped Amorphous Calcium Carbonate via a Flow-Chemistry Approach
Calcareous biominerals typically feature a hybrid nanogranular structure consisting of calcium carbonate nanograins coated with organic matrices. This nanogranular organisation has a beneficial effect on the functionality of these bioceramics. In this feasibility study, we successfully employed a flow-chemistry approach to precipitate Mg-doped amorphous calcium carbonate particles functionalized by negatively charged polyelectrolytes&mdash
Switchable assembly of stable, ordered molecular layers
Bisamidines can be assembled on self-assembled monolayers of mercaptoalkanoic acids on gold to form stable and ordered but pH-switchable layers (see diagram). At basic pH the layers are stable and charge selective towards charged surfactants and plasma proteins. The system can potentially be used to reversibly introduce new surface properties for given applications that use one single substrate.
Neutron reflectometry studies on the interfacial width between polystyrene and various poly(alkylmethacrylates)
From neutron reflectometry we have obtained the interfacial width (typically 2-8 nm) between incompatible polymers above the glass transition temperatures. The investigated polymer bilayers consist of a deuterated polystyrene top layer and various poly(alkylmethacrylates) as a bottom layer. We obtained interesting effects of the length of the alkyl group on the interfacial width. Using mean-field theory we calculate Flory-Huggins-Stavermann interaction parameters X from the interfacial width a I data. These results are compared with investigations of the interfacial width between deuterated poly(methylmethacrylate) and respective polyalkyl-methacrylates.