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    Ring-Closure Mechanisms Mediated by Laccase to Synthesize Phenothiazines, Phenoxazines, and Phenazines
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2020) Hahn, Veronika; Mikolasch, Annett; Weitemeyer, Josephine; Petters, Sebastian; Davids, Timo; Lalk, Michael; Lackmann, Jan-Wilm; Schauer, Frieder
    The green and environmentally friendly synthesis of highly valuable organic substances is one possibility for the utilization of laccases (EC 1.10.3.2). As reactants for the herein described syntheses, different o-substituted arylamines or arylthiols and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid and its derivatives were used. In this way, the formation of phenothiazines, phenoxazines, and phenazines was achieved in aqueous solution mediated by the laccase of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus in the presence of oxygen. Two types of phenothiazines (3-hydroxy- and 3-oxo-phenothiazines) formed in one reaction assay were described for the first time. The cyclization reactions yielded C–N, C–S, or C–O bonds. The syntheses were investigated with regard to the substitution pattern of the reaction partners. Differences in C–S and C–N bond formations without cyclization are discussed.
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    Synthesis and Characterization of Oxide Chloride Sr2VO3Cl, a Layered S = 1 Compound
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2023) Sannes, Johnny A.; Kizhake Malayil, Ranjith K.; Corredor, Laura T.; Wolter, Anja U. B.; Grafe, Hans-Joachim; Valldor, Martin
    The mixed-anion compound with composition Sr2VO3Cl has been synthesized for the first time, using the conventional high-temperature solid-state synthesis technique in a closed silica ampule under inert conditions. This compound belongs to the known Sr2TmO3Cl (Tm = Sc, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) family, but with Tm = V. All homologues within this family can be described with the tetragonal space group P4/nmm (No. 129); from a Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray diffraction data on the Tm = V homologue, the unit cell parameters were determined to a = 3.95974(8) and c = 14.0660(4) Å, and the atomic parameters in the crystal structure could be estimated. The synthesized powder is black, implying that the compound is a semiconductor. The magnetic investigations suggest that Sr2VO3Cl is a paramagnet at high temperatures, exhibiting a μeff = 2.0 μB V-1 and antiferromagnetic (AFM) interactions between the magnetic vanadium spins (θCW = −50 K), in line with the V-O-V advantageous super-exchange paths in the V-O layers. Specific heat capacity studies indicate two small anomalies around 5 and 35 K, which however are not associated with long-range magnetic ordering. 35Cl ss-NMR investigations suggest a slow spin freezing below 4.2 K resulting in a glassy-like spin ground state.
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    Segregated Network Polymer Composites with High Electrical Conductivity and Well Mechanical Properties based on PVC, P(VDFTFE), UHMWPE, and rGO
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2020) Shiyanova, Kseniya A.; Gudkov, Maksim V.; Gorenberg, Arkady Ya; Rabchinskii, Maxim K.; Smirnov, Dmitry A.; Shapetina, Maria A.; Gurinovich, Tatiana D.; Goncharuk, Galina P.; Kirilenko, Demid A.; Bazhenov, Sergey L.; Melnikov, Valery P.
    The formation of a segregated network structure (wittingly uneven distribution of a filler) is one of the most promising strategies for the fabrication of electrically conductive polymer composites at present. However, the simultaneous achievement of high values of electrical conductivity with the retention of well mechanical properties within this approach remains a great challenge. Here, by means of X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dielectric spectroscopy, and compression engineering stress-strain curve analysis, we have studied the effect of a segregated network structure on the electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of a set of polymer composites. The composites were prepared by applying graphene oxide (GO) with ultralarge basal plane size (up to 150 μm) onto the surface of polymer powder particles, namely, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TFE)), and ultrahigh-molecular-weight poly(ethylene) (UHMWPE) with the subsequent GO reduction and composite hot pressing. A strong dependence of the segregated network polymer composites' physical properties on the polymer matrix was demonstrated. Particularly, 12 orders of magnitude rise of the polymers' electrical conductivity up to 0.7 S/m was found upon the incorporation of the reduced GO (rGO). A 17% increase in the P(VDF-TFE) elastic modulus filled by 1 wt % of rGO was observed. Fracture strength of PVC/rGO at 0.5 wt % content of the filler was demonstrated to decrease by fourfold. At the same time, the change in strength was not significant for P(VDF-TFE) and UHMWPE composites in comparison with pure polymers. Our results show a promise to accelerate the development of new composites for energy applications, such as metal-free supercapacitor plates and current collectors of lithium-ion batteries, bipolar plates of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, antistatic elements of various electronic devices, etc. © 2020 American Chemical Society.
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    Ni-In Synergy in CO2Hydrogenation to Methanol
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2021) Zhu, Jiadong; Cannizzaro, Francesco; Liu, Liang; Zhang, Hao; Kosinov, Nikolay; Filot, Ivo A.W.; Rabeah, Jabor; Brückner, Angelika; Hensen, Emiel J.M.
    Indium oxide (In2O3) is a promising catalyst for selective CH3OH synthesis from CO2but displays insufficient activity at low reaction temperatures. By screening a range of promoters (Co, Ni, Cu, and Pd) in combination with In2O3using flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) synthesis, Ni is identified as the most suitable first-row transition-metal promoter with similar performance as Pd-In2O3. NiO-In2O3was optimized by varying the Ni/In ratio using FSP. The resulting catalysts including In2O3and NiO end members have similar high specific surface areas and morphology. The main products of CO2hydrogenation are CH3OH and CO with CH4being only observed at high NiO loading (≥75 wt %). The highest CH3OH rate (∼0.25 gMeOH/(gcath), 250 °C, and 30 bar) is obtained for a NiO loading of 6 wt %. Characterization of the as-prepared catalysts reveals a strong interaction between Ni cations and In2O3at low NiO loading (≤6 wt %). H2-TPR points to a higher surface density of oxygen vacancy (Ov) due to Ni substitution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance analysis of the used catalysts suggest that Ni cations can be reduced to Ni as single atoms and very small clusters during CO2hydrogenation. Supportive density functional theory calculations indicate that Ni promotion of CH3OH synthesis from CO2is mainly due to low-barrier H2dissociation on the reduced Ni surface species, facilitating hydrogenation of adsorbed CO2on Ov © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
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    Melt Electrowriting of Graded Porous Scaffolds to Mimic the Matrix Structure of the Human Trabecular Meshwork
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publ., 2022) Włodarczyk-Biegun, Małgorzata K.; Villiou, Maria; Koch, Marcus; Muth, Christina; Wang, Peixi; Ott, Jenna; del Campo, Aranzazu
    The permeability of the human trabecular meshwork (HTM) regulates eye pressure via a porosity gradient across its thickness modulated by stacked layers of matrix fibrils and cells. Changes in HTM porosity are associated with increases in intraocular pressure and the progress of diseases such as glaucoma. Engineered HTMs could help to understand the structure-function relation in natural tissues and lead to new regenerative solutions. Here, melt electrowriting (MEW) is explored as a biofabrication technique to produce fibrillar, porous scaffolds that mimic the multilayer, gradient structure of native HTM. Poly(caprolactone) constructs with a height of 125-500 μm and fiber diameters of 10-12 μm are printed. Scaffolds with a tensile modulus between 5.6 and 13 MPa and a static compression modulus in the range of 6-360 kPa are obtained by varying the scaffold design, that is, the density and orientation of the fibers and number of stacked layers. Primary HTM cells attach to the scaffolds, proliferate, and form a confluent layer within 8-14 days, depending on the scaffold design. High cell viability and cell morphology close to that in the native tissue are observed. The present work demonstrates the utility of MEW for reconstructing complex morphological features of natural tissues.
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    Biochemical Characterization of Mouse Retina of an Alzheimer's Disease Model by Raman Spectroscopy
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2020) Stiebing, Clara; Jahn, Izabella J.; Schmitt, Michael; Keijzer, Nanda; Kleemann, Robert; Kiliaan, Amanda J.; Drexler, Wolfgang; Leitgeb, Rainer A.; Popp, Jürgen
    The presence of biomarkers characteristic for Alzheimer's disease in the retina is a controversial topic. Raman spectroscopy offers information on the biochemical composition of tissues. Thus, it could give valuable insight into the diagnostic value of retinal analysis. Within the present study, retinas of a double transgenic mouse model, that expresses a chimeric mouse/human amyloid precursor protein and a mutant form of human presenilin 1, and corresponding control group were subjected to ex vivo Raman imaging. The Raman data recorded on cross sections of whole eyes highlight the layered structure of the retina in a label-free manner. Based on the Raman information obtained from en face mounted retina samples, a discrimination between healthy and Alzheimer's disease retinal tissue can be done with an accuracy of 85.9%. For this a partial least squares-linear discriminant analysis was applied. Therefore, although no macromolecular changes in form of, i.e., amyloid beta plaques, can be noticed based on Raman spectroscopy, subtle biochemical changes happening in the retina could lead to Alzheimer's disease identification. ©
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    Podosome-Driven Defect Development in Lamellar Bone under the Conditions of Senile Osteoporosis Observed at the Nanometer Scale
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2021) Simon, Paul; Pompe, Wolfgang; Bobeth, Manfred; Worch, Hartmut; Kniep, Rüdiger; Formanek, Petr; Hild, Anne; Wenisch, Sabine; Sturm, Elena
    The degradation mechanism of human trabecular bone harvested from the central part of the femoral head of a patient with a fragility fracture of the femoral neck under conditions of senile osteoporosis was investigated by high-resolution electron microscopy. As evidenced by light microscopy, there is a disturbance of bone metabolism leading to severe and irreparable damages to the bone structure. These defects are evoked by osteoclasts and thus podosome activity. Podosomes create typical pit marks and holes of about 300-400 nm in diameter on the bone surface. Detailed analysis of the stress field caused by the podosomes in the extracellular bone matrix was performed. The calculations yielded maximum stress in the range of few megapascals resulting in formation of microcracks around the podosomes. Disintegration of hydroxyapatite and free lying collagen fibrils were observed at the edges of the plywood structure of the bone lamella. At the ultimate state, the disintegration of the mineralized collagen fibrils to a gelatinous matrix comes along with a delamination of the apatite nanoplatelets resulting in a brittle, porous bone structure. The nanoplatelets aggregate to big hydroxyapatite plates with a size of up to 10 x 20 μm2. The enhanced plate growth can be explained by the interaction of two mechanisms in the ruffled border zone: the accumulation of delaminated hydroxyapatite nanoplatelets near clusters of podosomes and the accelerated nucleation and random growth of HAP nanoplatelets due to a nonsufficient concentration of process-directing carboxylated osteocalcin cOC. © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
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    Nanoscale Mapping of the 3D Strain Tensor in a Germanium Quantum Well Hosting a Functional Spin Qubit Device
    (Washington, DC : Soc., 2023) Corley-Wiciak, Cedric; Richter, Carsten; Zoellner, Marvin H.; Zaitsev, Ignatii; Manganelli, Costanza L.; Zatterin, Edoardo; Schülli, Tobias U.; Corley-Wiciak, Agnieszka A.; Katzer, Jens; Reichmann, Felix; Klesse, Wolfgang M.; Hendrickx, Nico W.; Sammak, Amir; Veldhorst, Menno; Scappucci, Giordano; Virgilio, Michele; Capellini, Giovanni
    A strained Ge quantum well, grown on a SiGe/Si virtual substrate and hosting two electrostatically defined hole spin qubits, is nondestructively investigated by synchrotron-based scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy to determine all its Bravais lattice parameters. This allows rendering the three-dimensional spatial dependence of the six strain tensor components with a lateral resolution of approximately 50 nm. Two different spatial scales governing the strain field fluctuations in proximity of the qubits are observed at <100 nm and >1 μm, respectively. The short-ranged fluctuations have a typical bandwidth of 2 × 10-4 and can be quantitatively linked to the compressive stressing action of the metal electrodes defining the qubits. By finite element mechanical simulations, it is estimated that this strain fluctuation is increased up to 6 × 10-4 at cryogenic temperature. The longer-ranged fluctuations are of the 10-3 order and are associated with misfit dislocations in the plastically relaxed virtual substrate. From this, energy variations of the light and heavy-hole energy maxima of the order of several 100 μeV and 1 meV are calculated for electrodes and dislocations, respectively. These insights over material-related inhomogeneities may feed into further modeling for optimization and design of large-scale quantum processors manufactured using the mainstream Si-based microelectronics technology.
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    Present and future of surface-enhanced Raman scattering
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2020) Langer, Judith; de Aberasturi, Dorleta Jimenez; Aizpurua, Javier; Alvarez-Puebla, Ramon A.; Auguié, Baptiste; Baumberg, Jeremy J.; Bazan, Guillermo C.; Bell, Steven E.J.; Boisen, Anja; Brolo, Alexandre G.; Choo, Jaebum; Cialla-May, Dana; Deckert, Volker; Fabris, Laura; Faulds, Karen; de Abajo, F. Javier García; Goodacre, Royston; Graham, Duncan; Haes, Amanda J.; Haynes, Christy L.; Huck, Christian; Itoh, Tamitake; Käll, Mikael; Kneipp, Janina; Kotov, Nicholas A.; Kuang, Hua; Le Ru, Eric C.; Lee, Hiang Kwee; Li, Jian-Feng; Ling, Xing Yi; Maier, Stefan A.; Mayerhöfer, Thomas; Moskovits, Martin; Murakoshi, Kei; Nam, Jwa-Min; Nie, Shuming; Ozaki, Yukihiro; Pastoriza-Santos, Isabel; Perez-Juste, Jorge; Popp, Juergen; Pucci, Annemarie; Reich, Stephanie; Ren, Bin; Schatz, George C.; Shegai, Timur; Schlücker, Sebastian; Tay, Li-Lin; Thomas, K. George; Tian, Zhong-Qun; Van Duyne, Richard P.; Vo-Dinh, Tuan; Wang, Yue; Willets, Katherine A.; Xu, Chuanlai; Xu, Hongxing; Xu, Yikai; Yamamoto, Yuko S.; Zhao, Bing; Liz-Marzán, Luis M.
    The discovery of the enhancement of Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed on nanostructured metal surfaces is a landmark in the history of spectroscopic and analytical techniques. Significant experimental and theoretical effort has been directed toward understanding the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect and demonstrating its potential in various types of ultrasensitive sensing applications in a wide variety of fields. In the 45 years since its discovery, SERS has blossomed into a rich area of research and technology, but additional efforts are still needed before it can be routinely used analytically and in commercial products. In this Review, prominent authors from around the world joined together to summarize the state of the art in understanding and using SERS and to predict what can be expected in the near future in terms of research, applications, and technological development. This Review is dedicated to SERS pioneer and our coauthor, the late Prof. Richard Van Duyne, whom we lost during the preparation of this article.
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    Sperm Micromotors for Cargo Delivery through Flowing Blood
    (Washington, DC : American Chemical Society, 2020) Xu, Haifeng; Medina-Sánchez, Mariana; Maitz, Manfred F.; Werner, Carsten; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Micromotors are recognized as promising candidates for untethered micromanipulation and targeted cargo delivery in complex biological environments. However, their feasibility in the circulatory system has been limited due to the low thrust force exhibited by many of the reported synthetic micromotors, which is not sufficient to overcome the high flow and complex composition of blood. Here we present a hybrid sperm micromotor that can actively swim against flowing blood (continuous and pulsatile) and perform the function of heparin cargo delivery. In this biohybrid system, the sperm flagellum provides a high propulsion force while the synthetic microstructure serves for magnetic guidance and cargo transport. Moreover, single sperm micromotors can assemble into a train-like carrier after magnetization, allowing the transport of multiple sperm or medical cargoes to the area of interest, serving as potential anticoagulant agents to treat blood clots or other diseases in the circulatory system.