Template engineering through epitope recognition: a modular, biomimetic strategy for inorganic nanomaterial synthesis.

Natural systems often utilize a single protein to perform multiple functions. Control over functional specificity is achieved through interactions with other proteins at well-defined epitope binding sites to form a variety of functional coassemblies. Inspired by the biological use of epitope recognition to perform diverse yet specific functions, we present a Template Engineering Through Epitope Recognition (TEThER) strategy that takes advantage of noncovalent, molecular recognition to achieve functional versatility from a single protein template.

Probing nanodispersions of clays for reactive foaming.

Nanodispersions of clays in polyurethane components have been prepared. Nanoclays (both natural and organically modified) of various aspect ratios are used. The fillers are dispersed separately in polyurethane components, viz.

One-dimensional assembly of silica nanospheres mediated by block copolymer in liquid phase.

Colloidal silica spheres and their assembly processes are encountered in nature and numerous technological applications. We report here a novel and facile method to prepare highly anisotropic one-dimensional (1D) arrays of silica nanospheres (SNSs) in the liquid phase. Uniform-sized SNSs ca.

Path-dependent morphologies in oil/water/diblock copolymer mixtures.

Amphiphilic block copolymer surfactants have been studied primarily in binary or pseudobinary systems, where they form a variety of dispersions, including micelles and vesicles, characterized by extremely low critical micelle concentrations (CMCs). In this study, a poly(1,2-butadiene-b-ethylene oxide) (OB) diblock copolymer (M(n) = 33 kg/mol, and 72 wt % PEO) was combined with water (W) and 1,5-cyclooctadiene (C) in binary (OB/W and OB/C) and ternary (OB/W/C and OB/C/W) mixtures, where the order of components indicates the mixing sequence. The resulting morphologies were characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and cryogenic scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM).