The Influence of Regiochemistry on the Performance of Organic Mixed Ionic and Electronic Conductors.

Thiophenes functionalised in the 3-position are ubiquitous building blocks for the design and synthesis of organic semiconductors. Their non-centrosymmetric nature has long been used as a powerful synthetic design tool exemplified by the vastly different properties of regiorandom and regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) owing to the repulsive head-to-head interactions between neighbouring side chains in the regiorandom polymer. The renewed interest in highly electron-rich 3-alkoxythiophene based polymers for bioelectronic applications opens up new considerations around the regiochemistry of these systems as both the head-to-tail and head-to-head couplings adopt near-planar conformations due to attractive intramolecular S-O interactions.

Evaluation of the Char Formation During the Hydrothermal Treatment of Wooden Balls.

With wooden balls, a visualization of the hydrothermal carbonization to show the progress of the conversion to char is presented. In the present study, the balls represent the particles of biomass to investigate the differences in conversion outside and inside of biomass particles, during hydrothermal carbonization. A special focus is on hydrochar and pyrochar formation.

Highly porous phosphate-based glasses for controlled delivery of antibacterial Cu ions prepared sol-gel chemistry.

Mesoporous glasses are a promising class of bioresorbable biomaterials characterized by high surface area and extended porosity in the range of 2 to 50 nm. These peculiar properties make them ideal materials for the controlled release of therapeutic ions and molecules. Whilst mesoporous silicate-based glasses (MSG) have been widely investigated, much less work has been done on mesoporous phosphate-based glasses (MPG).

How genomics can help biodiversity conservation.

The availability of public genomic resources can greatly assist biodiversity assessment, conservation, and restoration efforts by providing evidence for scientifically informed management decisions. Here we survey the main approaches and applications in biodiversity and conservation genomics, considering practical factors, such as cost, time, prerequisite skills, and current shortcomings of applications. Most approaches perform best in combination with reference genomes from the target species or closely related species.

Engineered Spider Silk Proteins for Biomimetic Spinning of Fibers with Toughness Equal to Dragline Silks.

Spider silk is the toughest fiber found in nature, and bulk production of artificial spider silk that matches its mechanical properties remains elusive. Development of miniature spider silk proteins (mini-spidroins) has made large-scale fiber production economically feasible, but the fibers' mechanical properties are inferior to native silk. The spider silk fiber's tensile strength is conferred by poly-alanine stretches that are zipped together by tight side chain packing in β-sheet crystals.

Ghost Instabilities in Self-Interacting Vector Fields: The Problem with Proca Fields.

Massive vector fields feature in several areas of particle physics, e.g., as carriers of weak interactions, dark matter candidates, or an effective description of photons in a plasma.

Formation and growth characteristics of nanostructured carbon films on nascent Ag clusters during room-temperature electrochemical CO reduction.

Synthesis of carbon nanostructures at room temperature and under atmospheric pressure is challenging but it can provide significant impact on the development of many future advanced technologies. Here, the formation and growth characteristics of nanostructured carbon films on nascent Ag clusters during room-temperature electrochemical CO reduction reactions (CORR) are demonstrated. Under a ternary electrolyte system containing [BMIm][BF], propylene carbonate, and water, a mixture of sp/sp carbon allotropes were grown on the facets of Ag nanocrystals as building blocks.

Systematic investigation of CO : NH ice mixtures using mid-IR and VUV spectroscopy - part 2: electron irradiation and thermal processing.

Many experimental parameters determine the chemical and physical properties of interstellar ice analogues, each of which may influence the molecular synthesis that occurs in such ices. In part 1, James , , 2020, , 37517, we demonstrated the effects that the stoichiometric mixing ratio had on the chemical and physical properties of CO : NH mixtures and the impact on molecular synthesis induced by thermal processing. Here, in part 2, we extend this to include 1 keV electron irradiation at 20 K of several stoichiometric mixing ratios of CO : NH ices followed by thermal processing.

Hybrid renewable energy/hybrid desalination potentials for remote areas: selected cases studied in Egypt.

For many socio-economic and demographic issues, majority of the Egyptian population live near the Nile River for thousands of years. Shortage of freshwater resources at remote and rural areas is limiting population settlement and development. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternative solutions including saline water desalination processes to assist obtaining fresh water for domestic and industrial purposes in these remote areas.

Porous nanographene formation on γ-alumina nanoparticles transition-metal-free methane activation.

γ-AlO nanoparticles promote pyrolytic carbon deposition of CH at temperatures higher than 800 °C to give single-walled nanoporous graphene (NPG) materials without the need for transition metals as reaction centers. To accelerate the development of efficient reactions for NPG synthesis, we have investigated early-stage CH activation for NPG formation on γ-AlO nanoparticles reaction kinetics and surface analysis. The formation of NPG was promoted at oxygen vacancies on (100) surfaces of γ-AlO nanoparticles following surface activation by CH.

peptide-directed ligand design complements experimental peptide-directed binding for protein-protein interaction modulator discovery.

Using the protein-protein interaction of Mcl-1/Noxa, two methods for efficient modulator discovery are directly compared. peptide-directed ligand design is evaluated against experimental peptide-directed binding, allowing for the discovery of two new inhibitors of Mcl-1/Noxa with cellular activity. peptide-directed ligand design demonstrates an hit rate of 80% (IC < 100 μM).

3D-visualization of amyloid-β oligomer interactions with lipid membranes by cryo-electron tomography.

Amyloid-β (Aβ) assemblies have been shown to bind to lipid bilayers. This can disrupt membrane integrity and cause a loss of cellular homeostasis, that triggers a cascade of events leading to Alzheimer's disease. However, molecular mechanisms of Aβ cytotoxicity and how the different assembly forms interact with the membrane remain enigmatic.

Subcellular localised small molecule fluorescent probes to image mobile Zn.

Zn, as the second most abundant d-block metal in the human body, plays an important role in a wide range of biological processes, and the dysfunction of its homeostasis is related to many diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and prostate and breast cancers. Small molecule fluorescent probes, as effective tools for real-time imaging, have been widely used to study Zn related processes. However, the failure to control their localisation in cells has limited their utility somewhat, as they are generally incapable of studying individual processes in a specific cellular location.

Enhanced microwave absorption performance of light weight N-doped carbon nanoparticles.

Microwave absorbents with specific morphology and structure have fundamental significance for tuning microwave absorption (MA). Herein, N-doped carbon sphere nanoparticles and hollow capsules were successfully fabricated oxidative polymerization of dopamine in different mixed solutions, without any template preparation or etching process. Compared to solid particles, the microwave absorbents consisting of N-doped carbon with a hollow structure showed enormously enhanced MA performance, exhibiting a broad effective absorption bandwidth (from 12.

Dye-catalyst dyads for photoelectrochemical water oxidation based on metal-free sensitizers.

Dye-Sensitized Photoelectrochemical Cells (DS-PECs) have been emerging as promising devices for efficient solar-induced water splitting. In DS-PECs, dyes and catalysts for water oxidation and/or reduction are typically two separate components, thus limiting charge transfer efficiency. A small number of organometallic dyes have been integrated with a catalyst to form an integrated dye-catalyst dyad for photoanodes, but until now no dyads based on metal-free organic dyes have been reported for photoanodes.

A molecular dynamics study on the mechanical properties of Fe-Ni alloy nanowires and their temperature dependence.

Fe-Ni alloy nanowires are widely used in high-density magnetic memories and catalysts due to their unique magnetic and electrochemical properties. Understanding the deformation mechanism and mechanical property of Fe-Ni alloy nanowires is of great importance for the development of devices. However, the detailed deformation mechanism of the alloy nanowires at different temperatures is unclear.

Systematic investigation of CO : NH ice mixtures using mid-IR and VUV spectroscopy - part 1: thermal processing.

The adjustment of experimental parameters in interstellar ice analogues can have profound effects on molecular synthesis within an ice system. We demonstrated this by systematically investigating the stoichiometric mixing ratios of CO : NH ices as a function of thermal processing using mid-IR and VUV spectroscopy. We observed that the type of CO bonding environment was dependent on the different stoichiometric mixing ratios and that this pre-determined the NH crystallite structure after phase change.

Glycolated Thiophene-Tetrafluorophenylene Copolymers for Bioelectronic Applications: Synthesis by Direct Heteroarylation Polymerisation.

A series of copolymers containing a glycolated 1,4-dithienyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenylene unit copolymerized with thiophene, bithiophene, thienothiophene and 1,2,4,5-tetrafluorobenzene comonomer units were designed and synthesised by direct heteroarylation polymerisation. The optical, electrochemical, electrochromic and solid-state structural properties of the copolymers were investigated. The copolymers exhibit stable redox properties in organic solvents and promising redox properties in thin film configuration with an aqueous electrolyte.

Copper Binding to α-Synuclein. Histidine50 Can Form a Ternary Complex with Cu at the N-Terminus but Not a Macrochelate.

α-Synuclein (αSyn) forms amyloid fibrils in the neurons of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients'. Despite a role for Cu in accelerating αSyn fibril formation, coupled with reports of copper dis-homeostasis in PD, there remain controversies surrounding the coordination geometry of Cu with αSyn. Here we compare visible circular dichroism (CD) spectra of Cu loaded on to full-length αSyn together with four peptides that model aspects of Cu binding to the N-terminus and histidine50 of αSyn.

Green and sustainable zero-waste conversion of water hyacinth () into superior magnetic carbon composite adsorbents and supercapacitor electrodes.

Troublesome aquatic weed, water hyacinth () was converted into solid and liquid fractions green and energy-saving hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). The solid product, hydrochar, was employed as a precursor to prepare magnetic carbon materials by simple activation and magnetization using KOH and Fe ions, respectively. The obtained magnetic adsorbent possessed good magnetic properties and presented outstanding capacities to adsorb methylene blue (524.

Defect structure in δ-BiPbYO.

A detailed study of the defect structure in a di-substituted δ-BiO type phase, δ-BiPbYO, is presented. Using a combination of conventional Rietveld analysis of neutron diffraction data, reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) analysis of total neutron scattering data and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, both average and local structures have been characterized. δ-BiPbYO represents a model system for the highly conducting δ-BiO type phases, in which there is a higher nominal vacancy concentration than in the unsubstituted parent compound.

Tuning the Coupling in Single-Molecule Heterostructures: DNA-Programmed and Reconfigurable Carbon Nanotube-Based Nanohybrids.

Herein a strategy is presented for the assembly of both static and stimuli-responsive single-molecule heterostructures, where the distance and electronic coupling between an individual functional nanomoiety and a carbon nanostructure are tuned via the use of DNA linkers. As proof of concept, the formation of 1:1 nanohybrids is controlled, where single quantum dots (QDs) are tethered to the ends of individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in solution with DNA interconnects of different lengths. Photoluminescence investigations-both in solution and at the single-hybrid level-demonstrate the electronic coupling between the two nanostructures; notably this is observed to progressively scale, with charge transfer becoming the dominant process as the linkers length is reduced.

Ice-regenerated flame retardant and robust film of silk fibroin and POSS nano-cages.

In this study, we present a simple method to prepare and control the structure of regenerated hybrid silkworm silk films through icing. A regenerated hybrid silk (RHS) film consisting of a micro-fibrillar structure was obtained by partially dissolving amino-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) and silk fibers in a CaCl-formic acid solution. After immersion in water and icing, the obtained films of RHS showed polymorphic and strain-stiffening behaviors with mechanical properties that were better than those observed in dry or wet-regenerated silk.