The arrangement of the electronic levels in an interface between organic semiconductors is crucial for the operation of devices such as solar cells and light emitting diodes. With the addition of designed macromolecules, we show that it is possible to control the relative position of the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels, and consequently improve the performance. The designed macromolecules consist of two end segments, each compatible with one of the interface components, and a central segment which adds functionality to the interface. The tails control the position and the orientation of the functional units. When the central functional unit is an electric dipole, an electrostatic field is created due to the orientation of the dipoles, which shifts the electronic levels in a controlled way. We develop a theoretical framework, based on self-consistent field theory, to study the concentration and the orientation of the central functional units. We find that the levels can shift by as much as several tenths of an eV.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.257802 | DOI Listing |
Biomolecules
January 2025
Research Center for Macromolecules and Biomaterials, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan.
Synthetic cytosine-phosphate-guanine oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODNs) are promising candidates for vaccine adjuvants, because they activate immune responses through the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) pathway. However, unmodified CpG ODNs are quickly degraded by serum nucleases, and their negative charge hinders cellular uptake, limiting their clinical application. Our group previously reported that guanine-quadruplex (G4)-forming CpG ODNs exhibit enhanced stability and cellular uptake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Biol Macromol
January 2025
Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry (IOMC), Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Humboldtstr. 10, D-07743 Jena, Germany; Jena Center for Soft Matters (JCSM), Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Philosophenweg 7, D-07743 Jena, Germany. Electronic address:
Nanomedicine, particularly gene delivery, holds immense potential and offers promising therapeutic options. Non-viral systems gained attention due to their binding capacity, stability and scalability. Among these, natural polysaccharides, such as pullulan, are advantageous in terms of sustainability, biocompatibility and potential degradability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarbohydr Polym
March 2025
College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, PR China. Electronic address:
To strengthen starch gel quality and improve the deterioration from freeze-thaw cycles, corn starch/whey protein isolate (WPI)/caffeic acid (CA) composite gels were rationally constructed in this study. The results showed that the introduction of WPI and CA significantly optimized the microstructure of the gels, an observation verified by SEM and CLSM. In addition, FT-IR and XRD analyses further revealed that the interaction mechanism within the composite gel was mainly due to the reinforcement of hydrogen bonds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacromolecules
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States.
The environmental and economic challenges posed by the widespread use and disposal of plastics, particularly poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), require innovative solutions to mitigate their impact. Such mitigation begins with understanding physical properties of the polymer that could enable new recycling technologies. Although molecular simulations have provided valuable insights into PET interactions with various PET hydrolases, current nonpolarizable force fields neglect the electronic polarization effects inherent to PET interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacromolecules
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, 651 E High St, Oxford, Ohio 45056, United States.
Photochemical processes are often thought to be temperature-independent. However, photochemical polymerization involves photochemical processes such as light-driven radical generation coupled with thermal-driven reactions such as monomer propagation. The apparent activation energy of propagation, ( ), of a series of three monomers, methyl acrylate (MA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), and styrene (STY), are deduced from Arrhenius analysis of conventional and RAFT photopolymerization of these monomers across a range of corresponding temperatures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!