Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 36
  • Item
    AB- Versus AA+BB-Suzuki Polycondensation: A Palladium/Tris(tert-butyl)phosphine Catalyst Can Outperform Conventional Catalysts
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2020) Zhang, Kenan; Tkachov, Roman; Ditte, Kristina; Kiriy, Nataliya; Kiriy, Anton; Voit, Brigitte
    A Pd/Pt-Bu3 catalyst having bulky, electron-rich ligands significantly outperforms conventional “step-growth catalysts” Pd(PPh3)4 and Pd(Po-Tol3)3 in the Suzuki polycondensation of the AB-type arylene-based monomers, such as some of the substituted fluorenes, carbazoles, and phenylenes. In the AA+BB polycondensation, Pd/Pt-Bu3 also performs better under homogeneous reaction conditions, in combination with the organic base Et4NOH. The superior performance of Pd/Pt-Bu3 is discussed in terms of its higher reactivity in the oxidative addition step and inherent advantages of the intramolecular catalyst transfer, which is a key step joining catalytic cycles of the AB-polycondensation. These findings are applied to the synthesis of a carbazole-based copolymer designed for the use as a hole conductor in solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
  • Item
    Achieving electrical conductive tracks by laser treatment of non-conductive polypropylene/polycarbonate blends filled with MWCNTs
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2014) Liebscher, Marco; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Barz, Andrea; Bliedtner, Jens; Möhwald, Michael; Letzsch, Alexander
    Electrical non-conductive polymer blends consisting of a polypropylene (PP) matrix and dispersed particles of polycarbonate (PC) were melt compounded with 3 wt.% multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) loading and processed into plates by injection molding. The morphological analysis confirmed the selective localization of the MWCNTs in the PC component. By local irradiation with a CO2 laser beam, depending on the laser conditions, conductive tracks with dimensions of about 2 mm width, 80 to 370 μm depth and line resistances as low as 1.5 kΩ · cm-1 were created on the surface of the non-conductive plates. The factors affecting the line resistance are the PC content, the laser speed and laser power, as well as laser direction with respect to the melt flow direction. After the irradiation an enrichment of MWCNTs in the laser lines was detected indicating that conductive paths were generated by percolation of nanotubes selectively within these lines in otherwise non-conductive plates. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
  • Item
    A Two-Dimensional Polyimide-Graphene Heterostructure with Ultra-fast Interlayer Charge Transfer
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Liu, Kejun; Li, Jiang; Qi, Haoyuan; Hambsch, Mike; Rawle, Jonathan; Vázquez, Adrián Romaní; Nia, Ali Shaygan; Pashkin, Alexej; Schneider, Harald; Polozij, Mirosllav; Heine, Thomas; Helm, Manfred; Mannsfeld, Stefan C.B.; Kaiser, Ute; Dong, Renhao; Feng, Xinliang
    Two-dimensional polymers (2DPs) are a class of atomically/molecularly thin crystalline organic 2D materials. They are intriguing candidates for the development of unprecedented organic–inorganic 2D van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) with exotic physicochemical properties. In this work, we demonstrate the on-water surface synthesis of large-area (cm2), monolayer 2D polyimide (2DPI) with 3.1-nm lattice. Such 2DPI comprises metal-free porphyrin and perylene units linked by imide bonds. We further achieve a scalable synthesis of 2DPI-graphene (2DPI-G) vdWHs via a face-to-face co-assembly of graphene and 2DPI on the water surface. Remarkably, femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy reveals an ultra-fast interlayer charge transfer (ca. 60 fs) in the resultant 2DPI-G vdWH upon protonation by acid, which is equivalent to that of the fastest reports among inorganic 2D vdWHs. Such large interlayer electronic coupling is ascribed to the interlayer cation–π interaction between 2DP and graphene. © 2021 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    Prospects of Coupled Organic-Inorganic Nanostructures for Charge and Energy Transfer Applications
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Steiner, Anja Maria; Lissel, Franziska; Fery, Andreas; Lauth, Jannika; Scheele, Marcus
    We review the field of organic–inorganic nanocomposites with a focus on materials that exhibit a significant degree of electronic coupling across the hybrid interface. These nanocomposites undergo a variety of charge and energy transfer processes, enabling optoelectronic applications in devices which exploit singlet fission, triplet energy harvesting, photon upconversion or hot charge carrier transfer. We discuss the physical chemistry of the most common organic and inorganic components. Based on those we derive synthesis and assembly strategies and design criteria on material and device level with a focus on photovoltaics, spin memories or optical upconverters. We conclude that future research in the field should be directed towards an improved understanding of the binding motif and molecular orientation at the hybrid interface. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    Poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazoline)-Heparin Hydrogels—Expanding the Physicochemical Parameter Space of Biohybrid Materials
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Hahn, Dominik; Sonntag, Jannick M.; Lück, Steffen; Maitz, Manfred F.; Freudenberg, Uwe; Jordan, Rainer; Werner, Carsten
    Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-glycosaminoglycan (GAG) hydrogel networks are established as very versatile biomaterials. Herein, the synthetic gel component of the biohybrid materials is systematically varied by combining different poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazolines) (POx) with heparin applying a Michael-type addition crosslinking scheme: POx of gradated hydrophilicity and temperature-responsiveness provides polymer networks of distinctly different stiffness and swelling. Adjusting the mechanical properties and the GAG concentration of the gels to similar values allows for modulating the release of GAG-binding growth factors (VEGF165 and PDGF-BB) by the choice of the POx and its temperature-dependent conformation. Adsorption of fibronectin, growth of fibroblasts, and bacterial adhesion scale with the hydrophobicity of the gel-incorporated POx. In vitro hemocompatibility tests with freshly drawn human whole blood show advantages of POx-based gels compared to the PEG-based reference materials. Biohybrid POx hydrogels can therefore enable biomedical technologies requiring GAG-based materials with customized and switchable physicochemical characteristics. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Healthcare Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
  • Item
    Long-Term Retarded Release for the Proteasome Inhibitor Bortezomib through Temperature-Sensitive Dendritic Glycopolymers as Drug Delivery System from Calcium Phosphate Bone Cement
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Lai, Thu Hang; Keperscha, Bettina; Qiu, Xianping; Voit, Brigitte; Appelhans, Dietmar
    For the local treatment of bone defects, highly adaptable macromolecular architectures are still required as drug delivery system (DDS) in solid bone substitute materials. Novel DDS fabricated by host–guest interactions between β-cyclodextrin-modified dendritic glycopolymers and adamantane-modified temperature-sensitive polymers for the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (BZM) is presented. These DDS induce a short- and long-term (up to two weeks) retarded release of BZM from calcium phosphate bone cement (CPC) in comparison to a burst release of the drug alone. Different release parameters of BZM/DDS/CPC are evaluated in phosphate buffer at 37 °C to further improve the long-term retarded release of BZM. This is achieved by increasing the amount of drug (50–100 µg) and/or DDS (100–400 µg) versus CPC (1 g), by adapting the complexes better to the porous bone cement environment, and by applying molar ratios of excess BZM toward DDS with 1:10, 1:25, and 1:100. The temperature-sensitive polymer shells of BZM/DDS complexes in CPC, which allow drug loading at room temperature but are collapsed at body temperature, support the retarding long-term release of BZM from DDS/CPC. Thus, the concept of temperature-sensitive DDS for BZM/DDS complexes in CPC works and matches key points for a local therapy of osteolytic bone lesions.
  • Item
    A Tunable Polymer–Metal Based Anti-Reflective Metasurface
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2020) Brasse, Yannic; Ng, Charlene; Magnozzi, Michele; Zhang, Heyou; Mulvaney, Paul; Fery, Andreas; Gómez, Daniel E.
    Anti-reflective surfaces are of great interest for optical devices, sensing, photovoltaics, and photocatalysis. However, most of the anti-reflective surfaces lack in situ tunability of the extinction with respect to wavelength. This communication demonstrates a tunable anti-reflective surface based on colloidal particles comprising a metal core with an electrochromic polymer shell. Random deposition of these particles on a reflective surface results in a decrease in the reflectance of up to 99.8% at the localized surface plasmon resonance frequency. This narrow band feature can be tuned by varying the pH or by application of an electric potential, resulting in wavelength shifts of up to 30 nm. Electrophoretic particle deposition is shown to be an efficient method for controlling the interparticle distance and thereby further optimizing the overall efficiency of the anti-reflective metasurface. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
  • Item
    A High-Voltage, Dendrite-Free, and Durable Zn–Graphite Battery
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Wang, Gang; Kohn, Benjamin; Scheler, Ulrich; Wang, Faxing; Oswald, Steffen; Löffler, Markus; Tan, Deming; Zhang, Panpan; Zhang, Jian; Feng, Xinliang
    The intrinsic advantages of metallic Zn, like high theoretical capacity (820 mAh g−1), high abundance, low toxicity, and high safety have driven the recent booming development of rechargeable Zn batteries. However, the lack of high-voltage electrolyte and cathode materials restricts the cell voltage mostly to below 2 V. Moreover, dendrite formation and the poor rechargeability of the Zn anode hinder the long-term operation of Zn batteries. Here a high-voltage and durable Zn–graphite battery, which is enabled by a LiPF6-containing hybrid electrolyte, is reported. The presence of LiPF6 efficiently suppresses the anodic oxidation of Zn electrolyte and leads to a super-wide electrochemical stability window of 4 V (vs Zn/Zn2+). Both dendrite-free Zn plating/stripping and reversible dual-anion intercalation into the graphite cathode are realized in the hybrid electrolyte. The resultant Zn–graphite battery performs stably at a high voltage of 2.8 V with a record midpoint discharge voltage of 2.2 V. After 2000 cycles at a high charge–discharge rate, high capacity retention of 97.5% is achieved with ≈100% Coulombic efficiency. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
  • Item
    Complex Metal Nanostructures with Programmable Shapes from Simple DNA Building Blocks
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Ye, Jingjing; Aftenieva, Olha; Bayrak, Türkan; Jain, Archa; König, Tobias A.F.; Erbe, Artur; Seidel, Ralf
    Advances in DNA nanotechnology allow the design and fabrication of highly complex DNA structures, uisng specific programmable interactions between smaller nucleic acid building blocks. To convey this concept to the fabrication of metallic nanoparticles, an assembly platform is developed based on a few basic DNA structures that can serve as molds. Programming specific interactions between these elements allows the assembly of mold superstructures with a range of different geometries. Subsequent seeded growth of gold within the mold cavities enables the synthesis of complex metal structures including tightly DNA-caged particles, rolling-pin- and dumbbell-shaped particles, as well as T-shaped and loop particles with high continuity. The method further supports the formation of higher-order assemblies of the obtained metal geometries. Based on electrical and optical characterizations, it is expected that the developed platform is a valuable tool for a self-assembly-based fabrication of nanoelectronic and nanooptic devices. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    Amphiphilic Copolymers for Versatile, Facile, and In Situ Tunable Surface Biofunctionalization
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Ruland, André; Schenker, Saskia; Schirmer, Lucas; Friedrichs, Jens; Meinhardt, Andrea; Schwartz, Véronique B.; Kaiser, Nadine; Konradi, Rupert; MacDonald, William; Helmecke, Tina; Sikosana, Melissa K.L.N.; Valtin, Juliane; Hahn, Dominik; Renner, Lars D.; Werner, Carsten; Freudenberg, Uwe
    Precision surface engineering is key to advanced biomaterials. A new platform of PEGylated styrene-maleic acid copolymers for adsorptive surface biofunctionalization is reported. Balanced amphiphilicity renders the copolymers water-soluble but strongly affine for surfaces. Fine-tuning of their molecular architecture provides control over adsorptive anchorage onto specific materials-which is why they are referred to as "anchor polymers" (APs)-and over structural characteristics of the adsorbed layers. Conjugatable with an array of bioactives-including cytokine-complexing glycosaminoglycans, cell-adhesion-mediating peptides and antimicrobials-APs can be applied to customize materials for demanding biotechnologies in uniquely versatile, simple, and robust ways. Moreover, homo- and heterodisplacement of adsorbed APs provide unprecedented means of in situ alteration and renewal of the functionalized surfaces. The related options are exemplified with proof-of-concept experiments of controlled bacterial adhesion, human umbilical vein endothelial cell, and induced pluripotent cell growth on AP-functionalized surfaces.