scholarly journals Self-Assembly of Asymmetrically Functionalized Titania Nanoparticles into Nanoshells

Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 4856
Author(s):  
Fredric G. Svensson ◽  
Gulaim A. Seisenbaeva ◽  
Nicholas A. Kotov ◽  
Vadim G. Kessler

Titania (anatase) nanoparticles were anisotropically functionalized in water-toluene Pickering emulsions to self-assemble into nanoshells with diameters from 500 nm to 3 μm as candidates for encapsulation of drugs and other compounds. The water-phase contained a hydrophilic ligand, glucose-6-phosphate, while the toluene-phase contained a hydrophobic ligand, n-dodecylphosphonic acid. The addition of a dilute sodium alginate suspension that provided electrostatic charge was essential for the self-limited assembly of the nanoshells. The self-assembled spheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, elemental mapping, and atomic force microscopy. Drug release studies using tetracycline suggest a rapid release dominated by surface desorption.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin N. Baumann ◽  
Luca Piantanida ◽  
Javier García-Nafría ◽  
Diana Sobota ◽  
Kislon Voïtchovsky ◽  
...  

The self-assembly of the protein clathrin on biological membranes facilitates essential processes of endocytosis in biological systems and has provided a source of inspiration for materials design by the highly ordered structural appearance. By mimicking the architecture of clathrin self-assemblies to coat liposomes with biomaterials, new classes of hybrid carriers can be derived. Here we present a method for fabricating DNA-coated liposomes by hydrophobically anchoring and subsequently growing a DNA network on the liposome surface which structurally mimics clathrin assemblies. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), ζ-potential and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) measurements independently demonstrate successful DNA coating. Nanomechanical measurements conducted with atomic force microscopy (AFM) show that the DNA coating enhances the mechanical stability of the liposomes relative to uncoated ones. Furthermore, we provide the possibility to reverse the coating process by triggering the disassembly of the DNA coating through a toehold-mediated displacement reaction. Our results describe a straightforward, versatile, and reversible approach for coating and stabilizing lipid vesicles by an interlaced DNA network. This method has potential for further development towards the ordered arrangement of tailored functionalities on the surfaces of liposomes and for applications as hybrid nanocarrier.


COSMOS ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 173-183
Author(s):  
BOON TEE ONG ◽  
PARAYIL KUMARAN AJIKUMAR ◽  
SURESH VALIYAVEETTIL

The present article reviews the self-assembly of oligopeptides to form nanostructures, both in solution and in solid state. The solution structures of the peptides were examined using circular dichroism and dynamic light scattering. The solid state assembly was examined by adsorbing the peptides onto a mica surface and analyzing it using atomic force microscopy. The role of pH and salt concentration on the peptide self-assembly was also examined. Nanostructures within a size range of 3–10 nm were obtained under different conditions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiwei Wang ◽  
Qi Xiao ◽  
Xuan Song ◽  
Yunfei Wan ◽  
Jie Zhu

The well-organized collagen layers on mica surface have drawn extensive attention for its essential applications and studies on the process of self-assembly as a model system. In this work, collagen extracted from fish scales by acid-base method was used to explore the self-assembly characters, and atomic force microscopy was applied to observe the collagen assembled on mica surface mediated by acetate with four different cations, including K+, Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+. It showed that cations might influence the interaction between collagen fibrils and mica surface at high ionic concentration. And a similar network structure was acquired with uniform pore size for four kinds of acetates; nearly ranged collagen fibrils in the same direction were collected in Mg2+ solutions, while flat films with some fibrils were achieved in K+ solutions. The Hofmeister series and Collins’ model were adapted to explain the effects of cations and acetate on the self-assembly of collagen. These results and analysis would be helpful for directing the pattern of collagen assembly on a solid surface with a potential application in food science and engineering.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 696-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imtiaz Ahmad ◽  
Floor Derkink ◽  
Tim Boulogne ◽  
Pantelis Bampoulis ◽  
Harold J W Zandvliet ◽  
...  

The formation of self-assembled superstructures of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) after drying on a nonwetting highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface have been investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Although SEM did not reveal coverage of CTAB layers, AFM showed not only CTAB assembly, but also the dynamics of the process on the surface. The self-assembled layers of CTAB molecules on the HOPG terraces prior to nanorod deposition were shown to change the wettability of the surface, and as a result, gold nanorod deposition takes place on nonwetting HOPG terraces.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanchao Tan ◽  
Wendi Luo ◽  
Yongjie Zhang ◽  
Xiang-Kui Ren ◽  
Yuhong Liu ◽  
...  

Boron-dipyrromethenes (BODIPY) are promising functional dyes, whose exceptional optical properties are closely related to their supramolecular assembly. Herein, the self-assembly of a BODIPY derivative functionalized with uracil groups is explicitly and thoroughly investigated by using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Based on the simulation and calculation by density functional theory (DFT) method, it can be concluded that the construction of ordered self-assembly structure is attributed to the formation of hydrogen bonds between uracil groups. Moreover, the nanotribological property of the self-assembly on HOPG surface is measured by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effort on self-assembly of the BODIPY derivative could enhance the understanding of surface assembly mechanism.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Song ◽  
Zhiwei Wang ◽  
Shiyu Tao ◽  
Guixia Li ◽  
Jie Zhu

Self-assembly of extracted collagen from swine trotter tendon under different conditions was firstly observed using atomic force microscopy; then the effects of collagen concentration, pH value, and metal ions to the topography of the collagen assembly were analyzed with the height images and section analysis data. Collagen assembly under 0.1 M, 0.2 M, 0.3 M CaCl2, and MgCl2 solutions in different pH values showed significant differences (P < 0.05) in the topographical properties including height, width, and roughness. With the concentration being increased, the width of collagen decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The width of collagen fibers was first increased significantly (P < 0.05) and then decreased with the increasing of pH. The collagen was assembled with network structure on the mica in solution with Ca2+ ions. However, it had shown uniformed fibrous structure with Mg2+ ions on the new cleaved mica sheet. In addition, the width of collagen fibrous was 31~58 nm in solution with Mg2+ but 21~50 nm in Ca2+ solution. The self-assembly collagen displayed various potential abilities to construct fibers or membrane on mica surfaces with Ca2+ ions and Mg2+ irons. Besides, the result of collagen self-assembly had shown more relations among solution pH value, metal ions, and collagen molecular concentration, which will provide useful information on the control of collagen self-assembly in tissue engineering and food packaging engineering.


2013 ◽  
Vol 750-752 ◽  
pp. 1630-1634
Author(s):  
Li Ping Ruan ◽  
Zhi Hua Xing

In this paper, we reported the dynamic self-assembly process of an half-sequence ionic self-complementarity peptide CH3CO-Pro-Ser-Phe-Cys-Phe-Lys-Phe-Glu-Pro-NH2, which could self-assemble into stable nanofibers and formed hydrogel consisting of >99% water. The dynamic self-assembly process was detected by circular dichroism (CD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). CD spectrum revealed that the mainly contents of the peptide were regular β-sheet structure. The data indicated that though the secondary structure of the peptide formed immediately, the microstructure of the self-assembly process of the designed peptide formed slowly. AFM image illustrated that the self-assembly process was layer-by-layer assembly.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin N. Baumann ◽  
Luca Piantanida ◽  
Javier García-Nafría ◽  
Diana Sobota ◽  
Kislon Voïtchovsky ◽  
...  

The self-assembly of the protein clathrin on biological membranes facilitates essential processes of endocytosis in biological systems and has provided a source of inspiration for materials design by the highly ordered structural appearance. By mimicking the architecture of clathrin self-assemblies to coat liposomes with biomaterials, new classes of hybrid carriers can be derived. Here we present a method for fabricating DNA-coated liposomes by hydrophobically anchoring and subsequently growing a DNA network on the liposome surface which structurally mimics clathrin assemblies. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), ζ-potential and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) measurements independently demonstrate successful DNA coating. Nanomechanical measurements conducted with atomic force microscopy (AFM) show that the DNA coating enhances the mechanical stability of the liposomes relative to uncoated ones. Furthermore, we provide the possibility to reverse the coating process by triggering the disassembly of the DNA coating through a toehold-mediated displacement reaction. Our results describe a straightforward, versatile, and reversible approach for coating and stabilizing lipid vesicles by an interlaced DNA network. This method has potential for further development towards the ordered arrangement of tailored functionalities on the surfaces of liposomes and for applications as hybrid nanocarrier.


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