Search results for "Supramolecular"
showing 10 items of 830 documents
Metallo-Polymer Chain Extension Controls the Morphology and Release Kinetics of Microparticles Composed of Terpyridine-Capped Polylactides and their …
2016
Control over morphology and porosity of supramolecular complexed polylactide (PLA) microparticles can be achieved by manipulation of the supramolecular interactions between their constituent polymeric building blocks. It is expected that such modular systems are ideal candidates to serve as degradable delivery carriers. In view of this goal, this study reports about a modular fabrication of biodegradable microparticles from terpyridine (TPy) and bisterpyridine (bisTPy) end-functionalized PLAs that can be transiently extended by chain association through differently strong complexation to three metal cations: Ni2+ , Co2+ , or Fe2+ . Further influence on the morphology of the particles can be…
Hybrid Gold/Silica/Quantum-Dots supramolecular-nanostructures encapsulated in polymeric micelles as potential theranostic tool for targeted cancer th…
2018
Abstract Efficient theranostic tools are today more and more frequently represented by the nano-sized systems. In this paper, polymeric micelles were produced and exploited to encapsulate both an antitumor drug (Doxorubicin) and gold core–shell quantum dots nanoparticles (Au-SiO2/QDs). α,β-poly(N-hydroxyethyl)- dl -aspartamide (PHEA) was functionalized with lipoic acid (LA), polyethylenglycol (PEG), and folic acid (FA) pendant moieties to obtain a synthetic derivative (PHEA-LA-PEG-FA) able to self assemble in aqueous medium giving rise to the formation of polymeric micelles exposing on their surface both targeting groups (FA) and hydrophilic chains (PEG). The drug carrying ability of PHEA-L…
Tuning the life-time of supramolecular hydrogels using ROS-responsive telechelic peptide-polymer conjugates
2019
Abstract The synthesis of multi-stimuli responsive peptide-poly(ethylene glycol) ABA-type conjugates is reported. The β-sheet encoded intramolecular folding and intermolecular self-assembly into 1D nanorods is based on a phenylalanine(F)-methionine(M)-histidine(H) FMHMHF hexapeptide sequence, and the supramolecular nanorods are stabilised by a shielding corona of hydrophilic PEG polymers. Interstrand crosslinking leads to the formation of physical networks and hydrogels at physiological pH and at room temperature. The thioether functional groups integrate oxidation responsive properties in the supramolecular polymer assemblies. We show that the glucose fuelled and glucose oxidase catalysed …
Caffeine as a Gelator
2016
Caffeine (a stimulant) and ethanol (a depressant) may have opposite effects in our body, but under in vitro conditions they can “gel” together. Caffeine, being one of the widely used stimulants, continued to surprise the scientific community with its unprecedented biological, medicinal and physicochemical properties. Here, we disclose the supramolecular self-assembly of anhydrous caffeine in a series of alcoholic and aromatic solvents, rendering a highly entangled microcrystalline network facilitating the encapsulation of the solvents as illustrated using direct imaging, microscopy analysis and NMR studies. Peer reviewed
Surface-relief gratings in halogen-bonded polymer-azobenzene complexes A concentration-dependence study
2017
In recent years, supramolecular complexes comprising a poly(4-vinylpyridine) backbone and azobenzene-based halogen bond donors have emerged as a promising class of materials for the inscription of light-induced surface-relief gratings (SRGs). The studies up to date have focused on building supramolecular hierarchies, i.e., optimizing the polymer–azobenzene noncovalent interaction for efficient surface patterning. They have been conducted using systems with relatively low azobenzene content, and little is known about the concentration dependence of SRG formation in halogen-bonded polymer–azobenzene complexes. Herein, we bridge this gap, and study the concentration dependence of SRG formation…
NO2-controlled cargo delivery from gated silica mesoporous nanoparticles
2017
[EN] Cargo delivery from mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with sulforhodamine B and capped with a difluoroboron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivative was triggered by a NO2-induced oxidative process.
Learning from nature: beta-sheet-mimicking copolymers get organized.
2007
The solution structures formed by coil-coil copolymers arise from the selective solvation of one of the two blocks and have been well described. In most cases in such relatively simple synthetic structures there are no specific attractive forces that can aid the aggregation process. Nature, however, provides plenty of inspiring polymeric architectures that are shaped and ordered hierarchically by noncovalent forces. The high level of structural definition displayed by proteins, for example, is unmatched by synthetic polymers. An emerging area of interest in polymer science tries to combine the best of both worlds, the natural and the synthetic, by conjugating synthetic polymers and beta-she…
Supramolecular silver polyoxometalate architectures direct the growth of composite semiconducting nanostructures.
2009
Nanosilver on a string: Crystalline silver polyoxovanadate supramolecular architectures are employed as precursors for the synthesis of composite nanowires (see scheme). The nanostructures are composed of semiconducting vanadium oxide which forms wires with high aspect ratios, and are embedded with metallic silver nanoparticles. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KCaA.
Thioflavin T templates amyloid β(1–40) conformation and aggregation pathway
2015
Aβ(1-40) peptide supramolecular assembly and fibril formation processes are widely recognized to have direct implications in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The molecular basis of this biological process is still unknown and there is a strong need of developing effective strategies to control the occurring events. To this purpose the exploitation of small molecules interacting with Aβ aggregation represents one of the possible routes. Moreover, the use specific labeling has represented so far one of the most common and effective methods to investigate such a process. This possibility in turn rests on the reliability of the probe/labels involved. Here we present evidences of the effe…
Self-assembly mechanism of nanoparticles of Ni-based Prussian Blue analogues at the air/liquid interface: a synchrotron X-ray reflectivity study.
2015
Prussian Blue analogue (PBA) nanoparticles can be self-assembled at air/liquid interfaces to build novel materials with interesting magnetic features. Herein, we study the influence of the size of PBA Cs0.4 Ni[Cr(CN)6 ]0.9 and K0.25 Ni[Fe(CN)6 ]0.75 nanoparticles on the self-assembly behavior by synchrotron X-ray reflectivity. Both nanoparticles show similar Z-potential values. The phospholipid dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and the amino surfactant dimethyldioctadecylammonium have been used as Langmuir monolayers to anchor the PBA nanoparticles and study the interplay of forces directing the self-assembly of the nanoparticles at the surfactant/liquid interface. Whereas Cs0.4 Ni[Cr(CN)6 ]0.…