Mechanistic Pathways for the Molecular Step Growth of Calcium Oxalate Monohydrate Crystal Revealed by In Situ Liquid-Phase Atomic Force Microscopy.

Calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystal is the most common crystalline component of human kidney stones. The molecular-scale inhibitory mechanisms of COM crystal growth by urinary biomolecules such as citrate and osteopontin adsorbed onto the crystal surface are now well understood. However, the pathways by which dissolved calcium and oxalate ions are incorporated into the molecular step of the COM crystal surface, leading to COM crystal growth-a prerequisite to be elucidated for developing effective therapeutics to inhibit COM stones-remain unknown.

Direct observation of mineral-organic composite formation reveals occlusion mechanism.

Manipulation of inorganic materials with organic macromolecules enables organisms to create biominerals such as bones and seashells, where occlusion of biomacromolecules within individual crystals generates superior mechanical properties. Current understanding of this process largely comes from studying the entrapment of micron-size particles in cooling melts. Here, by investigating micelle incorporation in calcite with atomic force microscopy and micromechanical simulations, we show that different mechanisms govern nanoscale occlusion.

Harnessing entropic and enthalpic contributions to create a negative tone chemically amplified molecular resist for high-resolution lithography.

Here we present a new resist design concept. By adding dilute cross-linkers to a chemically amplified molecular resist, we synergize entropic and enthalpic contributions to dissolution by harnessing both changes to molecular weight and changes in intermolecular bonding to create a system that outperforms resists that emphasize one contribution over the other. We study patterning performance, resist modulus, solubility kinetics and material redistribution as a function of cross-linker concentration.