Cattle production strategies to deliver protein with less land and lower environmental impact.

Global land resources are over-exploited and natural habitats are declining, often driven by expanding livestock production. In Ireland, pastureland for grazing cattle and sheep account for circa 60% of terrestrial land use. The agriculture, forestry and other land use sector (AFOLU) is responsible for 44% of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Breaking translational symmetry via polymer chain overcrowding in molecular bottlebrush crystallization.

One of the fundamental laws in crystallization is translational symmetry, which accounts for the profound shapes observed in natural mineral crystals and snowflakes. Herein, we report on the spontaneous formation of spherical hollow crystals with broken translational symmetry in crystalline molecular bottlebrush (mBB) polymers. The unique structure is named as mBB crystalsome (mBBC), highlighting its similarity to the classical molecular vesicles.

Worm-to-Sphere Shape Transition of Thermoresponsive Linear Molecular Bottlebrushes in Moderately Concentrated Aqueous Solution.

Molecular bottlebrushes have been shown to exhibit intriguing worm-to-sphere shape transitions in response to external stimuli. However, such shape changing has been restricted to dilute solutions, typically <1.0 mg/g, or at interfaces.

Thermally Reversible Physically Cross-Linked Hybrid Network Hydrogels Formed by Thermosensitive Hairy Nanoparticles.

This Article reports on thermally induced reversible formation of physically cross-linked, three-dimensional network hydrogels from aqueous dispersions of thermosensitive diblock copolymer brush-grafted silica nanoparticles (hairy NPs). The hairy NPs consisted of a silica core, a water-soluble polyelectrolyte inner block of poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethylammonium iodide), and a thermosensitive poly(methoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) (PDEGMMA) outer block synthesized by sequential surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerizations and postpolymerization quaternization of tertiary amine moieties. Moderately concentrated dispersions of these hairy nanoparticles in water underwent thermally induced reversible transitions between flowing liquids to self-supporting gels upon heating.

Reversible sol-gel transitions of aqueous dispersions of silica nanoparticles grafted with diblock copolymer brushes composed of a thermosensitive inner block and a charged outer block.

We report in this article that aqueous dispersions of thermosensitive diblock copolymer brush-grafted 17 nm silica nanoparticles (hairy NPs) can undergo in situ, reversible sol-gel transitions in response to temperature changes. The brushes consisted of a thermosensitive poly(methoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) (PDEGMMA) inner block and a charge-carrying, poly(DEGMMA-co-2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethylammonium iodide) outer block, which were prepared by a one-pot, surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization and subsequent quaternization of tertiary amine moieties in the second block with iodomethane. Above a critical concentration, the aqueous dispersion of hairy NPs with an appropriate block copolymer composition exhibited a reversible transition from a free flowing liquid to a free standing hydrogel upon cooling from elevated temperatures, which was driven by the lower critical solution temperature transition of the thermosensitive inner block of hairy NPs as confirmed by dynamic light scattering study.

Hybrid micellar hydrogels of a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer and hairy nanoparticles: effect of spatial location of hairy nanoparticles on gel properties.

This article reports a method for control of spatial location of nanoparticles (NPs) in hybrid micellar hydrogels of a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer and polymer brush-grafted NPs (hairy NPs), either inside or outside the core of micelles, and the study of the effect of different locations of NPs on gel properties. Two batches of thermosensitive polymer brush-grafted, 17 nm silica NPs with different lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) and a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer composed of a poly(ethylene oxide) central block and thermosensitive outer blocks (ABA-D) were synthesized. The different locations of NPs were achieved by controlling the LCST of hairy NPs (LCST(NP)) relative to that of the thermosensitive outer blocks of ABA-D (LCST(ABA)).

Tertiary-amine-containing thermo- and pH-sensitive hydrophilic ABA triblock copolymers: effect of different tertiary amines on thermally induced sol-gel transitions.

This Article reports on the synthesis of a series of well-defined, tertiary-amine-containing ABA triblock copolymers, composed of a poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) central block and thermo- and pH-sensitive outer blocks, and the study of the effect of different tertiary amines on thermally induced sol-gel transition temperatures (T(sol-gel)) of their 10 wt % aqueous solutions. The doubly responsive ABA triblock copolymers were prepared from a difunctional PEO macroinitiator by atom transfer radical polymerization of methoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate and ethoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate at a feed molar ratio of 30:70 with ∼5 mol % of either N,N-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DEAEMA), N,N-diisopropylaminoethyl methacrylate, or N,N-di(n-butyl)aminoethyl methacrylate. The chain lengths of thermosensitive outer blocks and the molar contents of tertiary amines were very similar for all copolymers.

Agarose hydrogels embedded with pH-responsive diblock copolymer micelles for triggered release of substances.

Hybrid agarose hydrogels embedded with pH-responsive diblock copolymers micelles were developed to achieve functional hydrogels capable of stimulus-triggered drug release. Specifically, a well-defined poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based diblock copolymer, PEO-b-poly(2-(N,N-diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PEO(113)-b-PDPAEMA(31), where the subscripts represent the degrees of polymerization of two blocks), was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. PDPAEMA is a pH-responsive polymer with a pKa value of 6.