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    Turning a Killing Mechanism into an Adhesion and Antifouling Advantage
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Dedisch, Sarah; Obstals, Fabian; los Santos Pereira, Andres; Bruns, Michael; Jakob, Felix; Schwaneberg, Ulrich; Rodriguez‐Emmenegger, Cesar
    Mild and universal methods to introduce functionality in polymeric surfaces remain a challenge. Herein, a bacterial killing mechanism based on amphiphilic antimicrobial peptides is turned into an adhesion advantage. Surface activity (surfactant) of the antimicrobial liquid chromatography peak I (LCI) peptide is exploited to achieve irreversible binding of a protein–polymer hybrid to surfaces via physical interactions. The protein–polymer hybrid consists of two blocks, a surface-affine block (LCI) and a functional block to prevent protein fouling on surfaces by grafting antifouling polymers via single electron transfer-living radical polymerization (SET-LRP). The mild conditions of SET-LRP of N-2-hydroxy propyl methacrylamide (HPMA) and carboxybetaine methacrylamide (CBMAA) preserve the secondary structure of the fusion protein. Adsorption kinetics and grafting densities are assessed using surface plasmon resonance and ellipsometry on model gold surfaces, while the functionalization of a range of artificial and natural surfaces, including teeth, is directly observed by confocal microscopy. Notably, the fusion protein modified with poly(HPMA) completely prevents the fouling from human blood plasma and thereby exhibits a resistance to protein fouling that is comparable to the best grafted-from polymer brushes. This, combined with their simple application on a large variety of materials, highlights the universal and scalable character of the antifouling concept. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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    Strategies for Analyzing Noncommon-Atom Heterovalent Interfaces: The Case of CdTe-on-InSb
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Luna, Esperanza; Trampert, Achim; Lu, Jing; Aoki, Toshihiro; Zhang, Yong-Hang; McCartney, Martha R.; Smith, David J.
    Semiconductor heterostructures are intrinsic to a wide range of modern-day electronic devices, such as computers, light-emitting devices, and photodetectors. Knowledge of chemical interfacial profiles in these structures is critical to the task of optimizing the device performance. This work presents an analysis of the composition profile and strain across the noncommon-atom heterovalent CdTe/InSb interface, carried out using a combination of electron microscopy imaging techniques. Because of the close atomic numbers of the constituent elements, techniques such as high-angle annular-dark-field and large-angle bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy, as well as electron energy-loss spectroscopy, give results from the interface region that are inherently difficult to interpret. By contrast, use of the 002 dark-field imaging technique emphasizes the interface location by comparing differences in structure factors between the two materials. Comparisons of experimental and simulated CdTe-on-InSb profiles reveal that the interface is structurally abrupt to within about 1.5 nm (10–90% criterion), while geometric phase analysis based on aberration-corrected electron microscopy images reveals a minimal level of interfacial strain. The present investigation opens new routes to the systematic investigation of heterovalent interfaces, formed by the combination of other valence-mismatched material systems. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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    Chromium Trihalides CrX3 (X = Cl, Br, I): Direct Deposition of Micro- and Nanosheets on Substrates by Chemical Vapor Transport
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Grönke, Martin; Buschbeck, Benjamin; Schmidt, Peer; Valldor, Martin; Oswald, Steffen; Hao, Qi; Lubk, Axel; Wolf, Daniel; Steiner, Udo; Büchner, Bernd; Hampel, Silke
    The experimental observation of intrinsic ferromagnetism in single layered chromium trihalides CrX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) has gained outstanding attention recently due to their possible implementation in spintronic devices. However, the reproducible preparation of highly crystalline chromium(III) halide nanolayers without stacking faults is still an experimental challenge. As chromium trihalides consist of adjacent layers with weak interlayer coupling, the preparation of ultrathin CrX3 nanosheets directly on substrates via vapor transport proves as an advantageous synthesis technique. It is demonstrated that vapor growth of ultrathin highly crystalline CrX3 micro- and nanosheets succeeds directly on yttrium stabilized zirconia substrates in a one-step process via chemical vapor transport (CVT) in temperature gradients of 100 K (600 °C → 500 °C for CrCl3 and 650 °C → 550 °C for CrBr3 or CrI3) without a need for subsequent delamination. Due to simulation results, optimization of synthesis conditions is realized and phase pure CrX3 nanosheets with thicknesses ≤25 nm are obtained via short term CVT. The nanosheets morphology, crystallinity, and phase purity are analyzed by several techniques, including microscopy, diffraction, and spectroscopy. Furthermore, a potential subsequent delamination technique is demonstrated to give fast access to CrX3 monolayers using the example of CrCl3. © 2018 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim