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Cao Y, Chao Y, Shum HC. Affinity-Controlled Partitioning of Biomolecules at Aqueous Interfaces and Their Bioanalytic Applications. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024:e2409362. [PMID: 39171488 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202409362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2024] [Indexed: 08/23/2024]
Abstract
All-aqueous phase separation systems play essential roles in bioanalytical and biochemical applications. Compared to conventional oil and organic solvent-based systems, these systems are characterized by their rich bulk and interfacial properties, offering superior biocompatibility. In particular, phase separation in all-aqueous systems facilitates the creation of compartments with specific physicochemical properties, and therefore largely enhances the accessibility of the systems. In addition, the all-aqueous compartments have diverse affinities, with an important property known as partitioning, which can concentrate (bio)molecules toward distinct immiscible phases. This partitioning affinity imparts all-aqueous interfaces with selective permeability, enabling the controlled enrichment of target (bio)molecules. This review introduces the basic principles and applications of partitioning-induced interfacial phenomena in a typical all-aqueous system, namely aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs); these applications include interfacial chemical reactions, bioprinting, and assembly, as well as bio-sensing and detection. The primary challenges associated with designing all-aqueous phase separation systems and several future directions are also discussed, such as the stabilization of aqueous interfaces, the handling of low-volume samples, and exploration of suitable ATPSs compositions with the efficient protocol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Cao
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China
- Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China
| | - Youchuang Chao
- School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Ho Cheung Shum
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China
- Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China
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Park SM, Yoon DK. Evaporation-induced self-assembly of liquid crystal biopolymers. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2024; 11:1843-1866. [PMID: 38375871 DOI: 10.1039/d3mh01585h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
Evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) is a process that has gained significant attention in recent years due to its fundamental science and potential applications in materials science and nanotechnology. This technique involves controlled drying of a solution or dispersion of materials, forming structures with specific shapes and sizes. In particular, liquid crystal (LC) biopolymers have emerged as promising candidates for EISA due to their highly ordered structures and biocompatible properties after deposition. This review provides an overview of recent progress in the EISA of LC biopolymers, including DNA, nanocellulose, viruses, and other biopolymers. The underlying self-assembly mechanisms, the effects of different processing conditions, and the potential applications of the resulting structures are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soon Mo Park
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Dong Ki Yoon
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
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Cazorla A, Martín-Martín S, Delgado ÁV, Jiménez ML. Electro-optics of confined systems. J Colloid Interface Sci 2024; 658:52-60. [PMID: 38096679 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Confinement in microenvironments occurs in many natural systems and technological applications. However, little is known about the behaviour of the immersed nanoparticles. In this work we show that their diffusion, electro-orientation and electric field induced polarization can be determined through electric birefringence experiments. We analyze aqueous dispersions of silver nanowires and clay particles confined inside microdroplets. We have observed that confinement reduces the amount of particles that can be oriented by the external electric field. However, the polarizability of the oriented particles is not affected by the presence of the oil/water boundary, and it is the same as in unbounded media, which agrees with the fact that the electric polarization and related phenomena are short-ranged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Cazorla
- Department of Applied Physics, University of Granada, Avda. de Fuente Nueva sn, 18071, Granada, Spain.
| | - Sergio Martín-Martín
- Department of Applied Physics, University of Granada, Avda. de Fuente Nueva sn, 18071, Granada, Spain.
| | - Ángel V Delgado
- Department of Applied Physics, University of Granada, Avda. de Fuente Nueva sn, 18071, Granada, Spain.
| | - María L Jiménez
- Department of Applied Physics, University of Granada, Avda. de Fuente Nueva sn, 18071, Granada, Spain.
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Wang Y, Li H, Xie Y, Li X, Sun S, Jing X, Mi HY, Wang Y, Liu C, Shen C. Regulating microstructures of aerogels by controlling phase separation mechanism for improving specific surface area and energy harvesting. J Colloid Interface Sci 2024; 658:772-782. [PMID: 38154240 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.12.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Aerogels with 3D porous structures have been attracting increasing attention among functional materials due to their advantages of being lightweight and high specific surface area. Precise control of the porous structure of aerogel is essential to improve its performance. In this work, polylactic acid (PLA) aerogels with distinctly different microstructures were fabricated by precisely controlling the phase separation behavior of the ternary solution system. Rheological and theoretical analyses have revealed that the interactions between polymer molecules, solvents and non-solvents play a crucial role in determining the nucleation and growth of poor olymer and rich polymer phases. By adjusting the non-solvent type and the solution composition, aerogels with spider network structure, bead-like connected microsphere structure, and cluster petal structure were obtained. Ideal spinodal phase separation conditions were obtained to produce aerogels with a homogeneous fiber network structure. The optimum PLA aerogel achieved an extremely porosity of 96 % and a high specific surface area of 114 m2/g, which rendered it with excellent triboelectric generation performance. Thus, this work provides fundamental insights into the precise regulation of the phase separation behavior and the structure of the aerogel, which can help boost the performance and expand the applications of PLA aerogels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yameng Wang
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Hui Li
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Yibing Xie
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Xijue Li
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Shuangjie Sun
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Xin Jing
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Packaging Materials and Technology of Hunan Province, Hunan University of Technology, Zhuzhou, 412007, China
| | - Hao-Yang Mi
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China; Key Laboratory of Advanced Packaging Materials and Technology of Hunan Province, Hunan University of Technology, Zhuzhou, 412007, China.
| | - Yaming Wang
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
| | - Chuntai Liu
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Changyu Shen
- National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, The Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
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Jin T, Yuan Y, Bagnani M, Wu C, Liu B, Mezzenga R. Structural Colors from Amyloid-Based Liquid Crystals. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2308437. [PMID: 37804231 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202308437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/09/2023]
Abstract
The helical periodicity and layered structure in cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) may be tuned to generate structural color according to the Bragg's law of diffraction. A wide range of natural-based materials such as condensed DNA, collagen, chitin, cellulose, and chiral biopolymers exhibit cholesteric phases with left-handed helixes and ensued structural colors. Here, the possibility of using amyloid CLCs is reported to prepare films with iridescent color reflection and opposite handedness. Right-handed CLCs assembled by left-handed amyloid fibrils are dried into layered structures with variable pitch controlled by the addition of glucose. Circularly polarized light with the same handedness of amyloid CLCs helix is reflected in the Bragg regime. Varying the drying speed leads to the switching between films with a rainbow-like color gradient and large area uniform color. It is confirmed that the origin of the colors derives from the layered structures of the amyloid CLCs, given the negligeable birefringence of the films, calculated from optical rotatory dispersion. These findings provide a facile approach to constructing biosourced cholesteric materials and introduce an original class of proteinaceous materials for the generation of structural colors from right-handed circularly polarized light.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tonghui Jin
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
| | - Ye Yuan
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
| | - Massimo Bagnani
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
| | - Chao Wu
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian, 116034, China
| | - Bin Liu
- Department of Nutrition and Health, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100091, P. R. China
- Key Laboratory of Precision Nutrition and Food Quality, Research Center of Food Colloids and Delivery of Functionality, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, P. R. China
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
- Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, Zürich, 8093, Switzerland
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Dadwal A, Prasher M, Sengupta P, Kumar N. Quantifying nematic order in the evaporation-driven self-assembly of halloysite nanotubes: nematic islands and the critical aspect ratio. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:9050-9058. [PMID: 37975238 DOI: 10.1039/d3sm01224g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are naturally occurring clay minerals found in the Earth's crust that typically exist in the form of high aspect-ratio nanometer-long rods. Here, we investigate the evaporation-driven self-assembly process of HNTs and show that a highly polydisperse collection of HNTs self-sort into a spatially inhomogeneous structure, displaying a systematic variation in the resulting nematic order. Through detailed quantification using the nematic order parameter S and nematic correlation functions, we show the existence of well-defined isotropic-nematic transitions in the emerging structures. We also show that the onset of these transitions gives rise to the formation of nematic islands, a phase resembling ordered nematic domains surrounded by an isotropic phase, which grow in size with S. Detailed image analysis indicates a strong correlation between local S and the local aspect ratio, L/D, with nematic order possible only for rods with L/D ≥ 6.5 ± 1. Finally, we conclude that the observed phenomena directly result from aspect ratio-based sorting in our system. Altogether, our results provide a unique method of tuning the local microscopic structure in self-assembled HNTs using L/D as an external parameter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arun Dadwal
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Powai, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Meenu Prasher
- Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India.
| | - Pranesh Sengupta
- Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India.
- Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai 400094, India
| | - Nitin Kumar
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Powai, Mumbai 400076, India.
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