Functionally Active Membrane Proteins Incorporated in Mesostructured Silica Films.

A versatile synthetic protocol is reported that allows high concentrations of functionally active membrane proteins to be incorporated in mesostructured silica materials. Judicious selections of solvent, surfactant, silica precursor species, and synthesis conditions enable membrane proteins to be stabilized in solution and during subsequent coassembly into silica-surfactant composites with nano- and mesoscale order. This was demonstrated by using a combination of nonionic ( n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside or Pluronic P123), lipid-like (1,2-diheptanoyl- s n-glycero-3-phosphocholine), and perfluoro-octanoate surfactants under mild acidic conditions to coassemble the light-responsive transmembrane protein proteorhodopsin at concentrations up to 15 wt % into the hydrophobic regions of worm-like mesostructured silica materials in films.

Chalcogenide Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Polymers: Ultrahigh Refractive Index Polymers for Infrared Imaging.

We report on the preparation of ultrahigh refractive index polymers via the inverse vulcanization of elemental sulfur, selenium, and 1,3-diisopropenylbenzene for use as novel transmissive materials for mid-infrared (IR) imaging applications. Poly(sulfur--selenium--(1,3-diisopropenylbenzene)) (poly(S--Se--DIB) terpolymer materials from this process exhibit the highest refractive index of any synthetic polymer ( > 2.0) and excellent IR transparency, which can be directly tuned by terpolymer composition.