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Now showing 1 - 10 of 38
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    Light-Driven Proton Transfer for Cyclic and Temporal Switching of Enzymatic Nanoreactors
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2020) Moreno, Silvia; Sharan, Priyanka; Engelke, Johanna; Gumz, Hannes; Boye, Susanne; Oertel, Ulrich; Wang, Peng; Banerjee, Susanta; Klajn, Rafal; Voit, Brigitte; Lederer, Albena; Appelhans, Dietmar
    Temporal activation of biological processes by visible light and subsequent return to an inactive state in the absence of light is an essential characteristic of photoreceptor cells. Inspired by these phenomena, light-responsive materials are very attractive due to the high spatiotemporal control of light irradiation, with light being able to precisely orchestrate processes repeatedly over many cycles. Herein, it is reported that light-driven proton transfer triggered by a merocyanine-based photoacid can be used to modulate the permeability of pH-responsive polymersomes through cyclic, temporally controlled protonation and deprotonation of the polymersome membrane. The membranes can undergo repeated light-driven swelling-contraction cycles without losing functional effectiveness. When applied to enzyme loaded-nanoreactors, this membrane responsiveness is used for the reversible control of enzymatic reactions. This combination of the merocyanine-based photoacid and pH-switchable nanoreactors results in rapidly responding and versatile supramolecular systems successfully used to switch enzymatic reactions ON and OFF on demand.
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    Polymer Featuring Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence as Emitter in Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells
    (Washington, DC : ACS, 2020) Lundberg, Lundberg; Wei, Qiang; Ge, Ziyi; Voit, Brigitte; Reineke, Sebastian; Edman, Ludvig
    Semiconducting polymers that feature thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) can deliver a much desired combination of high-efficiency and metal-free electroluminescence and cost-efficient solution-based fabrication. A TADF polymer is thus a very good fit for the emitting compound in light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) because the commonly employed air-stabile and few-layer LEC architecture is well suited for such solution-based fabrication. Herein we report on the first LEC device based on a TADF polymer as the emitting species, which delivers a luminance of 96 cd m-2 at 4 V and a current efficacy of 1.4 cd A-1 and >600 cd m-2 at 6 V, which is competitive with the performance of multilayer organic light-emitting diodes based on the same TADF polymer. We further utilize the established sensitivity of the emission of the TADF polymer to its environment to draw conclusions on the exciton populations in host-guest and host-free TADF LEC devices. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.
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    Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Grown on Cellulose/GO Hydrogels as Advanced Catalytic Materials for the Heterogeneous Fenton-like Reaction
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2019) Chen, Yian; Pötschke, Petra; Pionteck, Jürgen; Voit, Brigitte; Qi, Haisong
    Cellulose/graphene oxide (GO)/iron oxide (Fe3O4) composites were prepared by coprecipitating iron salts onto cellulose/GO hydrogels in a basic solution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared, and X-ray diffraction characterization showed that Fe3O4 was successfully coated on GO sheets and cellulose. Cellulose/GO/Fe3O4 composites showed excellent catalytic activity by maintaining almost 98% of the removal of acid orange 7 (AO7) and showed stability over 20 consecutive cycles. This performance is attributable to the synergistic effect of Fe3O4 and GO during the heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction. Especially, the cellulose/GO/Fe3O4 composites preserve their activity by keeping the ratio of Fe3+/Fe2+ at 2 even after 20 catalysis cycles, which is supported by XPS analysis.
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    Toward Functional Synthetic Cells: In-Depth Study of Nanoparticle and Enzyme Diffusion through a Cross-Linked Polymersome Membrane
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Gumz, Hannes; Boye, Susanne; Iyisan, Banu; Krönert, Vera; Formanek, Petr; Voit, Brigitte; Lederer, Albena; Appelhans, Dietmar
    Understanding the diffusion of nanoparticles through permeable membranes in cell mimics paves the way for the construction of more sophisticated synthetic protocells with control over the exchange of nanoparticles or biomacromolecules between different compartments. Nanoparticles postloading by swollen pH switchable polymersomes is investigated and nanoparticles locations at or within polymersome membrane and polymersome lumen are precisely determined. Validation of transmembrane diffusion properties is performed based on nanoparticles of different origin—gold, glycopolymer protein mimics, and the enzymes myoglobin and esterase—with dimensions between 5 and 15 nm. This process is compared with the in situ loading of nanoparticles during polymersome formation and analyzed by advanced multiple-detector asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4). These experiments are supported by complementary i) release studies of protein mimics from polymersomes, ii) stability and cyclic pH switches test for in polymersome encapsulated myoglobin, and iii) cryogenic transmission electron microscopy studies on nanoparticles loaded polymersomes. Different locations (e.g., membrane and/or lumen) are identified for the uptake of each protein. The protein locations are extracted from the increasing scaling parameters and the decreasing apparent density of enzyme-containing polymersomes as determined by AF4. Postloading demonstrates to be a valuable tool for the implementation of cell-like functions in polymersomes.
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    Photo-Cross-Linked Dual-Responsive Hollow Capsules Mimicking Cell Membrane for Controllable Cargo Post-Encapsulation and Release
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2016) Liu, Xiaoling; Appelhans, Dietmar; Wei, Qiang; Voit, Brigitte
    Multifunctional and responsive hollow capsules are ideal candidates to establish highly sophisticated compartments mimicking cell membranes for controllable bio-inspired functions. For this purpose pH and temperature dual-responsive and photo-cross-linked hollow capsules, based on silica-templated layer-by-layer approach by using poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)-blockpolymethacrylate) and polyallylamine, have been prepared to use them for the subsequent and easily available post-encapsulation process of proteinlike macromolecules at room temperature and pH 7.4 and their controllable release triggered by stimuli. The uptake and release properties of the hollow capsules for cargos are highly affected by changes in the external stimuli temperature (25, 37, or 45 °C) and internal stimuli pH of the phosphate-containing buffer solution (5.5 or 7.4), by the degree of photo-cross-linking, and the size of cargo. The photo-cross-linked and dual stimuli-responsive hollow capsules with different membrane permeability can be considered as attractive material for mimicking cell functions triggered by controllable uptake and release of different up to 11 nm sized biomolecules.
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    Construction of Eukaryotic Cell Biomimetics: Hierarchical Polymersomes-in-Proteinosome Multicompartment with Enzymatic Reactions Modulated Protein Transportation
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Wen, Ping; Wang, Xueyi; Moreno, Silvia; Boye, Susanne; Voigt, Dagmar; Voit, Brigitte; Huang, Xin; Appelhans, Dietmar
    The eukaryotic cell is a smart compartment containing an outer permeable membrane, a cytoskeleton, and functional organelles, presenting part structures for life. The integration of membrane-containing artificial organelles (=polymersomes) into a large microcompartment is a key step towards the establishment of exquisite cellular biomimetics with different membrane properties. Herein, an efficient way to construct a hierarchical multicompartment composed of a hydrogel-filled proteinosome hybrid structure with an outer homogeneous membrane, a smart cytoskeleton-like scaffold, and polymersomes is designed. Specially, this hybrid structure creates a micro-environment for pH-responsive polymersomes to execute a desired substance transport upon response to biological stimuli. Within the dynamic pH-stable skeleton of the protein hydrogels, polymersomes with loaded PEGylated insulin biomacromolecules demonstrate a pH-responsive reversible swelling-deswelling and a desirable, on-demand cargo release which is induced by the enzymatic oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid. This stimulus responsive behavior is realized by tunable on/off states through protonation of the polymersomes membrane under the enzymatic reaction of glucose oxidase, integrated in the skeleton of protein hydrogels. The integration of polymersomes-based hybrid structure into the proteinosome compartment and the stimuli-response on enzyme reactions fulfills the requirements of eukaryotic cell biomimetics in complex architectures and allows mimicking cellular transportation processes.
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    Dendritic glycopolymers based on dendritic polyamine scaffolds: view on their synthetic approaches, characteristics and potential for biomedical applications
    (London : Soc., 2014) Appelhans, Dietmar; Klajnert-Maculewicz, Barbara; Janaszewska, Anna; Lazniewska, Joanna; Voit, Brigitte
    In this review we highlight the potential for biomedical applications of dendritic glycopolymers based on polyamine scaffolds. The complex interplay of the molecular characteristics of the dendritic architectures and their specific interactions with various (bio)molecules are elucidated with various examples. A special role of the individual sugar units attached to the dendritic scaffolds and their density is identified, which govern ionic and H-bond interactions, and biological targeting, but to a large extent are also responsible for the significantly reduced toxicity of the dendritic glycopolymers compared to their polyamine scaffolds. Thus, the application of dendritic glycopolymers in drug delivery systems for gene transfection but also as therapeutics in neurodegenerative diseases has great promise.
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    Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Conjugation-Induced Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Polymers: Interplay Between Intra- and Intermolecular Charge Transfer States
    (Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2019) Li, Yungui; Wei, Qiang; Cao, Liang; Fries, Felix; Cucchi, Matteo; Wu, Zhongbin; Scholz, Reinhard; Lenk, Simone; Voit, Brigitte; Ge, Ziyi; Reineke, Sebastian
    In this work, interactions between different host materials and a blue TADF polymer named P1 are systematically investigated. In photoluminescence, the host can have substantial impact on the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and the intensity of delayed fluorescence (ΦDF), where more than three orders of magnitude difference of ΦDF in various hosts is observed, resulting from a polarity effect of the host material and energy transfer. Additionally, an intermolecular charge-transfer (CT) emission with pronounced TADF characteristics is observed between P1 and 2,4,6-tris[3-(diphenylphosphinyl)phenyl]-1,3,5-triazine (PO-T2T), with a singlet-triplet splitting of 7 meV. It is noted that the contribution of harvested triplets in monochrome organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) correlates with ΦDF. For devices based on intermolecular CT-emission, the harvested triplets contribute ~90% to the internal quantum efficiency. The results demonstrate the vital importance of host materials on improving the PLQY and sensitizing ΦDF of TADF polymers for efficient devices. Solution-processed polychrome OLEDs with a color close to a white emission are presented, with the emission of intramolecular (P1) and intermolecular TADF (PO-T2T:P1). © Copyright © 2019 Li, Wei, Cao, Fries, Cucchi, Wu, Scholz, Lenk, Voit, Ge and Reineke.
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    The chemistry of cross-linked polymeric vesicles and their functionalization towards biocatalytic nanoreactors
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2020) Moreno, Silvia; Voit, Brigitte; Gaitzsch, Jens
    Self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers into polymersomes continues to be a hot topic in modern research on biomimetics. Their well-known and valued mechanical strength can be increased even further if they are cross-linked. These additional bonds prevent a collapse or disassembly of the polymersomes and open the way towards smart nanoreactors. A variety of chemistries have been applied to obtain the desired cross-linked polymersomes, and therefore, the chemical approaches performed over time will be highlighted in this mini-review. Due to the large number of studies, a selected set of photo-cross-linked and pH-sensitive polymersomes will be specifically highlighted. This system has proven to be a very potent candidate for the formation of nanoreactors and drug delivery systems, and even for the formation of functional multicompartment cell mimics. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2020, The Author(s).