Search results for "nanostructures"
showing 10 items of 352 documents
Measurement of elastic forces between iron colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal.
2006
The forces that arise between two iron particles in a nematic liquid crystal with a strong homeotropic anchoring were studied. For the first time, the short range repulsive force resulting from the presence of a hedgehog defect between two particles was precisely determined thanks to application of a small magnetic field and observation of the equilibrium position resulting from the balance between the elastic and magnetic forces. Above a given threshold force, the particles stuck together whereas the hedgehog defect was expelled and transformed into a Saturn ring located between the particles. The attractive part of the interparticle force was determined with the same method on the entire …
How molecular knots can pass through each other
2014
We propose a mechanism in which two molecular knots pass through each other and swap positions along a polymer strand. Associated free energy barriers in our simulations only amount to a few $k_{B}T$, which may enable the interchange of knots on a single DNA strand.
Carbon nanorings: A challenge to theoretical chemistry
2006
High-level quantum-chemical methods show that the binding in the inclusion complex of hexamethylbenzene (HMB) in 6-cycloparaphenilacetylene (6-CPPA) cannot be explained only in terms of electrostatic interactions - caused by the polarization associated to curved Ï-conjugated systems - and the inclusion of dispersion forces is definitely needed. The theoretical description of van der Waals interactions is notoriously complicated and in fact some DFT methods cannot even predict the existence of the relatively small supramolecular nanoring studied here. However, ab initio MP2 calculations agree with experimental data and show that, in the considered complex, the HMB fragment is placed at the …
Assembly of modular asymmetric organic-inorganic polyoxometalate hybrids into anisotropic nanostructures.
2010
Three organic-inorganic hybrid Mn-Anderson polyoxometalates (POMs), with both symmetrical and asymmetrical appended groups, have been synthesized, identified using electrospray mass spectrometry, and isolated using an approach that allows the three AA, BB, and AB compounds to be structurally characterized. Investigation of the self-assembly of the hybrids on hydrophilic surfaces reveals the formation of nanofibres with characteristics that reflect the nature of the substitution of the POM yielding a route to the programmed assembly of anisotropic hybrid nanostructures.
Nano-materials for use in sensing of salmonella infections: Recent advances
2016
Salmonella infectious diseases spreading every day through food have become a life-threatening problem for millions of people and growing menace to society. Health expert's estimate that the yearly cost of all the food borne diseases is approximately $5-6 billion. Traditional methodologies for salmonella analysis provide high reliability and very low limits of detection. Among them immunoassays and Nucleic acid-based assays provide results within 24h, but they are expensive, tedious and time consuming. So, there is an urgent need for development of rapid, robust and cost-effective alternative technologies for real-time monitoring of salmonella. Several biosensors have been designed and comm…
An Intermetallic Au24Ag20 Superatom Nanocluster Stabilized by Labile Ligands
2015
An intermetallic nanocluster containing 44 metal atoms, Au24Ag20(2-SPy)4(PhC≡C)20Cl2, was successfully synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal analysis and density funtional theory computations. The 44 metal atoms in the cluster are arranged as a concentric three-shell Au12@Ag20@Au12 Keplerate structure having a high symmetry. For the first time, the co-presence of three different types of anionic ligands (i.e., phenylalkynyl, 2-pyridylthiolate, and chloride) was revealed on the surface of metal nanoclusters. Similar to thiolates, alkynyls bind linearly to surface Au atoms using their σ-bonds, leading to the formation of two types of surface staple units (PhC≡C-Au-L, L …
Interaction of Heparins and Dextran Sulfates with a Mesoscopic Protein Nanopore
2009
A mechanism of how polyanions influence the channel formed by Staphylococcus aureus alpha-hemolysin is described. We demonstrate that the probability of several types of polyanions to block the ion channel depends on the presence of divalent cations and the polyanion molecular weight and concentration. For heparins, a 10-fold increase in molecular weight decreases the half-maximal inhibitory concentration, IC(50), nearly 10(4)-fold. Dextran sulfates were less effective at blocking the channel. The polyanions are significantly more effective at reducing the conductance when added to the trans side of this channel. Lastly, the effectiveness of heparins on the channel conductance correlated wi…
Fracture Resistance of New Metal-Free Materials Used for CAD-CAM Fabrication of Partial Posterior Restorations
2020
Background and Objectives: To evaluate in vitro the fracture resistance and fracture type of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) materials. Materials and Methods: Discs were fabricated (10 ×
The prevalence of surface oxygen vacancies over the mobility of bulk oxygen in nanostructured ceria for the total toluene oxidation
2015
12 figures, 2 tables
An ab initio study of the polytypism in InP
2016
AbstractThe existence of polytypism in semiconductor nanostructures gives rise to the appearance of stacking faults which many times can be treated as quantum wells. In some cases, despite of a careful growth, the polytypism can be hardly avoided. In this work, we perform an ab initio study of zincblende stacking faults in a wurtzite InP system, using the supercell approach and taking the limit of low density of narrow stacking faults regions. Our results confirm the type II band alignment between the phases, producing a reliable qualitative description of the band gap evolution along the growth axis. These results show an spacial asymmetry in the zincblende quantum wells, that is expected …