Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction elucidates structural correlations in fluid monolayers of lipids and surfactants.

Biological membranes predominantly consist of fluid lipid phases featuring lateral mobility and a considerable disorder of their hydrocarbon chains. Langmuir monolayers of lipids at the air/water interface are versatile model systems for fundamental physicochemical and biophysical membrane investigations. Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) is a powerful tool for the structural characterization of such monolayers but has so far been used almost exclusively for lipid phases of crystalline ordering giving rise to sharp diffraction peaks.

Surface modification of particles/nanoparticles to improve the stability of Pickering emulsions; a critical review.

Pickering emulsions (PEs) are dispersions stabilized by solid particles, which are derived from various materials, both organic (proteins, polysaccharides, lipids) and inorganic (metals, silica, metal oxides). These colloidal particles play a critical role in ensuring the stability and functionality of PEs, making them highly valued across multiple industries due to their enhanced stability and lower toxicity compared to conventional emulsions. The stabilization mechanisms in PEs differ from those in emulsions stabilized by surfactants or biopolymers.

Field-Induced Antiferromagnetic Correlations in a Nanopatterned Van der Waals Ferromagnet: A Potential Artificial Spin Ice.

Nano-patterned magnetic materials have opened new venues for the investigation of strongly correlated phenomena including artificial spin-ice systems, geometric frustration, and magnetic monopoles, for technologically important applications such as reconfigurable ferromagnetism. With the advent of atomically thin 2D van der Waals (vdW) magnets, a pertinent question is whether such compounds could make their way into this realm where interactions can be tailored so that unconventional states of matter can be assessed. Here, it is shown that square islands of CrGeTe vdW ferromagnets distributed in a grid manifest antiferromagnetic correlations, essential to enable frustration resulting in an artificial spin-ice.

Propagation gap for shear waves in binary liquids: Analytical and simulation study.

Transverse collective excitations in 50-50 and 80-20 Lennard-Jones binary liquid mixtures are studied for different mass ratio of components R at fixed numerical densities. Increasing the mass ratio results in a growing difference between frequencies of shear waves and transverse optic modes. We report an increase in the propagation gap width for shear waves with mass ratio of components and compare it to the gap width expression, known from the transverse dynamics of simple liquids.

Drying of Soft Colloidal Films.

Thin films made of deformable micro- and nano-units, such as biological membranes, polymer interfaces, and particle-laden liquid surfaces, exhibit a complex behavior during drying, with consequences for various applications like wound healing, coating technologies, and additive manufacturing. Studying the drying dynamics and structural changes of soft colloidal films thus holds the potential to yield valuable insights to achieve improvements for applications. In this study, interfacial monolayers of core-shell (CS) microgels with varying degrees of softness are employed as model systems and to investigate their drying behavior on differently modified solid substrates (hydrophobic vs hydrophilic).

Surface modification of bentonite and montmorillonite as novel nano-adsorbents for the removal of phenols, heavy metals and drug residues.

Montmorillonite (Mt) is one of the eco-friendly and low-cost nano-adsorbents for water and wastewater treatment. Interactions of Mt. with various modifiers such as surfactants and polymers make it an ideal adsorbent with good selectivity for the removal of phenols, heavy metals and drug residues from water and wastewater.

Variational benchmarks for quantum many-body problems.

The continued development of computational approaches to many-body ground-state problems in physics and chemistry calls for a consistent way to assess its overall progress. In this work, we introduce a metric of variational accuracy, the V-score, obtained from the variational energy and its variance. We provide an extensive curated dataset of variational calculations of many-body quantum systems, identifying cases where state-of-the-art numerical approaches show limited accuracy and future algorithms or computational platforms, such as quantum computing, could provide improved accuracy.

Synthesis, nanocrystalline morphology, lattice dynamics and nonlinear optics of mesoporous SiO&LiNbO nanocomposite.

We demonstrate a hybrid nanocomposite combining mesoporous silica, p , as a host medium and guest lithium niobate nanocrystals embedded into tubular silica nanochannels by calcination of the precursor mixed solution of lithium and niobium salts. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering techniques reveal trigonal nanocrystals within the p nanochannels, indicating their random texture morphology. Annealing at high temperatures ( 950 C) during calcination also leads to partial crystallization of the p matrix with the formation of trigonal - nanocrystals.

Role of EDTA protonation in chelation-based removal of mercury ions from water.

A robust method of hazardous metal ion removal from an aqueous environment involves the use of chelating agents, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Here, we focus on mercury (Hg) uptake by EDTA using both molecular dynamics and density functional theory simulations. Our results indicate that the deprotonation of the EDTA carboxylate groups improves the localization of negative charge on the deprotonated sites.

Quantitative Understanding of Liquid Dynamics at Interfaces from a Free-Energy Landscape Perspective.

On the basis of molecular dynamics simulations of water and ethanol in nanopores, we devise a methodology to determine the free-energy landscape (FEL) imposed by an interface on an adjoining liquid directly from the particle trajectories. The methodology merely uses the statistical mechanical relation between occupancy and energy and, hence, is particularly suitable in complex situations, e.g.

Real-time delivered dose assessment in carbon ion therapy of moving targets.

. Real-time adaptive particle therapy is being investigated as a means to maximize the treatment delivery accuracy. To react to dosimetric errors, a system for fast and reliable verification of the agreement between planned and delivered doses is essential.

Unusual low-temperature behavior in the half-filled band of the one-dimensional extended Hubbard model in atomic limit.

Recently, a kind of finite-temperature pseudotransition was observed in several quasi-one-dimensional models. In this work, we consider a genuine one-dimensional extended Hubbard model in the atomic limit, influenced by an external magnetic field and with the arbitrary number of particles controlled by the chemical potential. The one-dimensional extended Hubbard model in the atomic limit was initially studied in the seventies and has been investigated over the past decades, but it still surprises us today with its fascinating properties.

Response functions for electric field induced two-dimensional nonlinear spectroscopy in a Kitaev magnet.

We study the dynamical response functions relevant for electric field induced two-dimensional (2D) coherent nonlinear optical spectroscopy in a Kitaev magnet at finite temperature. We show that these response functions are susceptible to both types of fractional quasiparticles of this quantum spin-liquid, i.e.

A tunable transition metal dichalcogenide entangled photon-pair source.

Entangled photon-pair sources are at the core of quantum applications like quantum key distribution, sensing, and imaging. Operation in space-limited and adverse environments such as in satellite-based and mobile communication requires robust entanglement sources with minimal size and weight requirements. Here, we meet this challenge by realizing a cubic micrometer scale entangled photon-pair source in a 3R-stacked transition metal dichalcogenide crystal.

Opportunities and challenges of upright patient positioning in radiotherapy.

Upright positioning has seen a surge in interest as a means to reduce radiotherapy (RT) cost, improve patient comfort, and, in selected cases, benefit treatment quality. In particle therapy (PT) in particular, eliminating the need for a gantry can present massive cost and facility footprint reduction. This review discusses the opportunities of upright RT in perspective of the open challenges.

Correction: Structure formation of PNIPAM microgels in foams and foam films.

Correction for 'Structure formation of PNIPAM microgels in foams and foam films' by Matthias Kühnhammer , , 2022, , 9249-9262, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01021F.

Spin-Glass States Generated in a van der Waals Magnet by Alkali-Ion Intercalation.

Tuning magnetic properties in layered van der Waals (vdW) materials has captured significant attention due to the efficient control of ground states by heterostructuring and external stimuli. Electron doping by electrostatic gating, interfacial charge transfer, and intercalation is particularly effective in manipulating the exchange and spin-orbit properties, resulting in a control of Curie temperature (T) and magnetic anisotropy. Here, an uncharted role of intercalation is discovered to generate magnetic frustration.

Imaging nanomagnetism and magnetic phase transitions in atomically thin CrSBr.

Since their first observation in 2017, atomically thin van der Waals (vdW) magnets have attracted significant fundamental, and application-driven attention. However, their low ordering temperatures, T, sensitivity to atmospheric conditions and difficulties in preparing clean large-area samples still present major limitations to further progress, especially amongst van der Waals magnetic semiconductors. The remarkably stable, high-T vdW magnet CrSBr has the potential to overcome these key shortcomings, but its nanoscale properties and rich magnetic phase diagram remain poorly understood.

Direct observation of twisted stacking domains in the van der Waals magnet CrI.

Van der Waals (vdW) stacking is a powerful technique to achieve desired properties in condensed matter systems through layer-by-layer crystal engineering. A remarkable example is the control over the twist angle between artificially-stacked vdW crystals, enabling the realization of unconventional phenomena in moiré structures ranging from superconductivity to strongly correlated magnetism. Here, we report the appearance of unusual 120° twisted faults in vdW magnet CrI crystals.

Cancer Immunotherapies Ignited by a Thorough Machine Learning-Based Selection of Neoantigens.

Identification of neoantigens, derived from somatic DNA alterations, emerges as a promising strategy for cancer immunotherapies. However, not all somatic mutations result in immunogenicity, hence, efficient tools to predict the immunogenicity of neoepitopes are needed. A pipeline is presented that provides a comprehensive solution for the identification of neoepitopes based on genomic sequencing data.

Complex dynamics of partially freezable confined water revealed by combined experimental and computational studies.

We investigate water dynamics in mesoporous silica across partial crystallization by combining broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and molecular dynamics simulations (MDS). Exploiting the fact that not only BDS but also NMR field-cycling relaxometry and stimulated-echo experiments provide access to dynamical susceptibilities in broad frequency and temperature ranges, we study both the fully liquid state above the melting point Tm and the dynamics of coexisting water and ice phases below this temperature. It is found that partial crystallization leads to a change in the temperature dependence of rotational correlation times τ, which occurs in addition to previously reported dynamical crossovers of confined water and depends on the pore diameter.

Correction: Phase behavior of patchy colloids confined in patchy porous media.

Correction for 'Phase behavior of patchy colloids confined in patchy porous media' by Yurij V. Kalyuzhnyi , , 2024, , 4668-4677, https://doi.org/10.

Ising's Roots and the Transfer-Matrix Eigenvalues.

Today, the Ising model is an archetype describing collective ordering processes. As such, it is widely known in physics and far beyond. Less known is the fact that the thesis defended by Ernst Ising 100 years ago (in 1924) contained not only the solution of what we call now the 'classical 1D Ising model' but also other problems.