A streptavidin-biotin system combined with magnetic actuators for remote neuronal guidance.

The ability to control neuronal mobility and organization is of great importance in developing neuronal interfaces and novel therapeutic approaches. An emerging promising method is the manipulation of neuronal cells from afar via magnetic forces. Nevertheless, using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as internal actuators may lead to biotoxicity, adverse influence on intracellular processes, and thus requires prerequisite considerations for therapeutic approaches.

Combining polarized low-frequency Raman with XRD to identify directional structural motifs in a pyrolysis precursor.

Long-range structures and dynamics are central to coordination chemistry, yet are hard to identify experimentally. By combining polarized low-frequency Raman spectroscopy with single crystal XRD to study barium nitrilotriacetate, a metal-organic coordination polymer and a useful pyrolysis precursor, we could assign Raman peaks experimentally to layer shear motions and perpendicular hydrogen bond vibrations. These directional long-range interactions further determined the preferred fracture directions during crystallization, establishing an important link between structural motifs in the precursor, and the porosity of the carbon it yields upon pyrolysis.

Synthesis through 3D printing: formation of 3D coordination polymers.

Coordination polymers (CPs) and coordination network solids such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained increasing interest during recent years due to their unique properties and potential applications. Preparing 3D printed structures using CP would provide many advantages towards utilization in fields such as catalysis and sensing. So far, functional 3D structures were printed mostly by dispersing pre-synthesized particles of CPs and MOFs within a polymerizable carrier.