Search results for "self-assembly"

Subcomponent self‐assembly of a cyclic tetranuclear Fe(II) helicate in a highly diastereoselective self‐sorting manner

2019

Abstract An enantiomerically pure diamine based on the 4,15‐difunctionalized [2.2]paracyclophane scaffold and 2‐formylpyridine self‐assemble into an optically pure cyclic metallosupramolecular Fe4L6 helicate upon mixing with iron(II) ions in a diastereoselective subcomponent self‐assembly process. The cyclic assembly results from steric strain that prevents the formation of a smaller linear dinuclear triple‐stranded helicate, and hence, leads to the larger strain‐free assembly that fulfils the maximum occupancy rule. Interestingly, use of the racemic diamine also leads to a racemic mixture of the homochiral cyclic helicates as the major product in a highly diastereoselective narcissistic ch…

Supramolecular polymerization of sulfated dendritic peptide amphiphiles into multivalent L-selectin binders

2021

The synthesis of a sulfate-modified dendritic peptide amphiphile and its self-assembly into one-dimensional rod-like architectures in aqueous medium is reported. The influence of the ionic strength on the supramolecular polymerization was probed via circular dichroism spectroscopy and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. Physiological salt concentrations efficiently screen the charges of the dendritic building block equipped with eight sulfate groups and trigger the formation of rigid supramolecular polymers. Since multivalent sulfated supramolecular structures mimic naturally occurring L-selectin ligands, the corresponding affinity was evaluated using a competitive SPR binding assay…

Chemical Routes Toward Multicompartment Colloids

2012

The search for mimicking natural living and non-living systems with synthetic products leads to the fabrication of advanced colloidal morphologies with hierarchical micro- and nanostructures. Different chemical routes toward the synthesis of colloids with complex morphologies are presented and a tentative analogy between these routes and the four basic arithmetic operations is proposed.

Cover Picture: Complexation and Extraction of PAHs to the Aqueous Phase with a Dinuclear Pt II Diazapyrenium‐Based Metallacycle (Chem. Eur. J. 41/201…

2010

Dynamic DNA Origami Devices: from Strand-Displacement Reactions to External-Stimuli Responsive Systems

2018

DNA nanotechnology provides an excellent foundation for diverse nanoscale structures that can be used in various bioapplications and materials research. Among all existing DNA assembly techniques, DNA origami proves to be the most robust one for creating custom nanoshapes. Since its invention in 2006, building from the bottom up using DNA advanced drastically, and therefore, more and more complex DNA-based systems became accessible. So far, the vast majority of the demonstrated DNA origami frameworks are static by nature; however, there also exist dynamic DNA origami devices that are increasingly coming into view. In this review, we discuss DNA origami nanostructures that exhibit controlled…

The Observation of Formation and Annihilation of Solitons and Standing Strain Wave Superstructures in a Two-Dimensional Colloidal Crystal

2008

Confining a colloidal crystal within a long narrow channel produced by two parallel walls can be used to impose a meso-scale superstructure of a predominantly mechanical elastic character [Chui et al., EPL 2008, 83, 58004]. When the crystal is compressed in the direction perpendicular to the walls, we obtain a structural transition when the number of rows of particles parallel to the walls decreases by one. All the particles of this vanishing row are distributed throughout the crystal. If the confining walls are structured (say with a corrugation along the length of the walls), then these extra particles are distributed neither uniformly nor randomly; rather, defect structures are created a…

Manifestation of dipole-induced disorder in self-assembly of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic nanocubes

2019

The authors thank Marjeta Maˇcek Kržmanc for many useful discussions. The financial support of M-ERA.NET Project Har-vEnPiez (Innovative nano-materials and architectures for integrated piezoelectric energy harvesting applications) is gratefully acknowledged. D.Z. acknowledges the support of the postdoctoral research program at the University of Latvia (Project No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/1/16/072). The computing time of the LASC cluster was provided by the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP).

Unraveling modular microswimmers: From self-assembly to ion-exchange-driven motors

2018

Active systems contain self-propelled particles and can spontaneously self-organize into patterns making them attractive candidates for the self-assembly of smart soft materials. One key limitation of our present understanding of these materials hinges on the complexity of the microscopic mechanisms driving its components forward. Here, by combining experiments, analytical theory, and simulations we explore such a mechanism for a class of active system, modular microswimmers, which self-assemble from colloids and ion-exchange resins on charged substrates. Our results unveil the self-assembly processes and the working mechanism of the ion-exchange driven motors underlying modular microswimme…

Cooperative mechanism for anchoring highly polar molecules at an ionic surface

2009

Structure formation of the highly polar molecule cytosine on the (111) cleavage plane of calcium fluoride is investigated in ultrahigh vacuum using noncontact atomic force microscopy at room temperature. Molecules form well-defined trimer structures, covering the surface as homogeneously distributed stable structures. Density-functional theory calculations yield a diffusion barrier of about 0.5 eV for individual molecules suggesting that they are mobile at room temperature. Furthermore, it is predicted that the molecules can form trimers in a configuration allowing all molecules to attain their optimum adsorption position on the substrate. As the trimer geometry facilitates hydrogen bonding…

Self-assembly in surfactant-based liquid mixtures: Octanoic acid/Bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine systems

2012

Abstract The physico-chemical properties of Bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine (BEEA) plus octanoic acid (OA) mixtures have been investigated by IR, SAXS, WAXS, viscosimetry, and AC complex impedance spectroscopy in the whole composition range. Mainly driven by proton transfer from the acidic OA to the basic BEEA, the formation of stoichiometrically well-defined adducts takes place in the mixtures. This causes the slowing down of molecular dynamics and the increase in charge carrier number density. Interestingly, while the pure components possess no significant conductivity (about 10−12 S cm−1 at 25 °C), their mixtures show a composition-dependent enhanced conductivity (up to about 10−5 S cm−1), i.e., …