Hygienic quality of faeces treated in urine diverting vermicomposting toilets.

On-site sanitation solutions have gained much interest in recent years. One such solution is the urine diverting vermicomposting toilet (UDVT). This study evaluated the hygienic quality of the composted material in six UDVTs in operation in France.

pH dependent molecular self-assembly of octaphosphonate porphyrin of nanoscale dimensions: nanosphere and nanorod aggregates.

Self-assembled nanostructures of zwitterionic octaphosphanatoporphyrin 1, of either nanoparticles or nanorods, depending on small changes in the pH, is demonstrated based on the J-aggregates. Porphyrin 1 self-assembled into nanosphere aggregates with a diameter of about 70-80 nm in the pH range 5-7, and nanorod aggregates were observed at pH 8.5.

Supramolecular construction of vesicles based on core-substituted naphthalene diimide appended with triethyleneglycol motifs.

The self-assembly of core-substituted naphthalene diimides bearing triethylene glycol motifs leads to the formation of stable vesicles in DMSO and CHCl(3)/MeOH (6 : 4, v/v) solvents. The vesicles were evaluated by means of UV/vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering.

DNA-directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles onto nanopatterned surfaces: controlled placement of individual nanoparticles into regular arrays.

A method for the templated DNA-directed self-assembly of individual gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into discrete nanostructures is described. The templating nanostructures consisted of a linear configuration of six metal dots with a center-to-center dot distance of 55 nm, fabricated by means of electron beam lithography. The 40 nm DNA-capped AuNPs were immobilized onto this templating nanostructure to produce a linear configuration of six adjacent AuNPs.

Nanoscale force induced size-selective separation and self-assembly of metal nanoparticles: sharp colloidal stability thresholds and hcp ordering.

A simple and versatile nanoscale force induced precipitation approach for the separation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was developed. The AuNPs show sharp size-dependent colloidal stability thresholds as a function of salt concentration. Upon separation, the AuNPs were electrostatically self-assembled onto silicon substrates by fine-tuning interparticle and particle-substrate forces, forming 2D AuNP networks with a high degree of hexagonal closest pack (hcp) superstructures.

Solvophobic control of core-substituted naphthalene diimide nanostructures.

The requirements for the self-assembly of 2,3-annulated core-substituted NDIs into discrete worm-like nanostructures are explored in MeOH-CHCl(3) solutions. AFM was used to visualize and characterize the structures formed at precise proportions of solvent mixes.