Properties of the Silica Layer during the Formation of MCM-41 Studied by EPR of a Silica-Bound Spin Probe

Dynamics of Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide Head Groups in Bulk by Solid-State Deuterium NMR Spectroscopy

Variable temperature, solid-state deuterium (²H) NMR spectroscopy has been used to probe the rather complex head group dynamics of the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide- d₉ (CTAB- d₉) in bulk. Heating and cooling runs were made as the surfactant underwent supercooling. ²H NMR line shape simulations were used to identify the hierarchy of the molecular motions of CTAB as a function of temperature. Fast continuous methyl rotations about the N-C_methyl axes and 3-fold jumps about the main chain C-N axis were present at all of the temperatures from -40 to 120 °C. With heating, the spectra were consistent with CTAB molecules starting 180° flips about the hydrocarbon chain molecular axis around 0 °C, which continued to flip with increasing flip rates up to 80 °C. At 90 °C, the flips changed to rotation of the CTAB molecules about the hydrocarbon chain axis and that rotation continued to 120 °C. Comparison of spectra of bulk CTAB at different temperatures from heating and cooling runs revealed that the rotation about the long axis of the hydrocarbon chains started at around 90 °C on heating, however, it does not freeze out until between 70 and 80 °C because of supercooling.

Revealing structural changes of prion protein during conversion from α-helical monomer to β-oligomers by means of ESR and nanochannel encapsulation

Under nondenaturing neutral pH conditions, full-length mouse recombinant prion protein lacking the only disulfide bridge can spontaneously convert from an α-helical-dominant conformer (α-state) to a β-sheet-rich conformer (β-state), which then associates into β-oligomers, and the kinetics of this spontaneous conversion depends on the properties of the buffer used. The molecular details of this structural conversion have not been reported due to the difficulty of exploring big protein aggregates. We introduced spin probes into different structural segments (three helices and the loop between strand 1 and helix 1), and employed a combined approach of ESR spectroscopy and protein encapsulation in nanochannels to reveal local structural changes during the α-to-β transition. Nanochannels provide an environment in which prion protein molecules are isolated from each other, but the α-to-β transition can still occur. By measuring dipolar interactions between spin probes during the transition, we showed that helix 1 and helix 3 retained their helicity, while helix 2 unfolded to form an extended structure. Moreover, our pulsed ESR results allowed clear discrimination between the intra- and intermolecular distances between spin labeled residues in helix 2 in the β-oligomers, making it possible to demonstrate that the unfolded helix 2 segment lies at the association interface of the β-oligomers to form cross-β structure.

Modeling self-assembly of silica/surfactant mesostructures in the templated synthesis of nanoporous solids

A novel coarse-grained (CG) model to study the self-assembly of silica/surfactant mesostructures during the synthesis of periodic mesoporous silica is reported. Molecular dynamics simulations of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (also called cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, or CTAB) surfactants in water and in aqueous silicate solutions have been performed to understand micelle formation, micelle growth, and their size evolution during the synthesis of surfactant-templated mesoporous materials. Direct comparison of density profiles obtained for preassembled micelles employing an all-atom description, AA, with those calculated with the CG model has been carried out for checking the validity of the latter model. Good agreement between AA and CG approaches was found, demonstrating the potential of the CG approximation for modeling these highly complex systems. The micelle formation and micelle fusion/fission processes were analyzed after performing long CG simulations for surfactant and ionized silica-surfactant aqueous solutions. We observed the formation of rodlike micelles in the case of silica-surfactant solutions, while spherical micelles were stable under the same conditions for the CTAB+H(2)O system. This demonstrates that the interaction of anionic silicates with cationic surfactants promotes a sphere-to-rod transition in surfactant solutions, a key step in the synthesis of nanoporous silica materials.

Simulating the formation of surfactant-templated mesoporous silica materials: a model with both surfactant self-assembly and silica polymerization

We have used Monte Carlo simulations to study the formation of the MCM-41 mesoporous silica material, with a new lattice model featuring explicit representations of both silicic acid condensation and surfactant self-assembly. Inspired by experimental syntheses, we have adopted the following two-step "synthesis" during our simulations: (i) high pH and low temperature allowing the initial onset of mesostructures with long-range order; (ii) lower pH and higher temperature promoting irreversible silica condensation. During step (i), the precursor solution was found to spontaneously separate into a surfactant-silicate-rich phase in equilibrium with a solvent-rich phase. Lamellar and hexagonal ordering emerged for the surfactant-silicate-rich mesosphases under different synthesis conditions, consistent with experimental observations. Under conditions where silica polymerization can be neglected, our simulations were found to transform reversibly between hexagonal and lamellar phases by changing temperature. During step (ii), silica polymerization was simulated at lower pH using reaction ensemble Monte Carlo to treat the pH dependence of silica deprotonation equilibria. Monte Carlo simulations produced silica-surfactant mesostructures with hexagonal arrays of pores and amorphous silica walls, exhibiting Q(n) distributions in reasonable agreement with (29)Si NMR experiments on MCM-41. Compared with bulk amorphous silica, the wall domains of these simulated MCM-41 materials are characterized by even less order, larger fractions of 3- and 4-membered rings, and wider ring-size distributions.

Silica-surfactant-polyelectrolyte film formation: evolution in the subphase

We have previously reported that robust mesostructured films will grow at the surface of alkaline solutions containing cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), polyethylenimine (PEI), and silica precursors. Here we have used time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering to investigate the structural evolution of the micellar solution from which the films form, at several different CTAB-PEI concentrations. Simple models have been employed to quantify the size and shape of the micelles in the solution. There are no mesostructured particles occurring in the CTAB-PEI solution prior to silica addition; however, after the addition of silicate species the hydrolysis and condensation of these species causes the formation of mesophase particles in a very short time, much faster than ordering observed in the film at the interface. The mesophase within the CTAB-PEI-silica particles finally rearranges into a 2D hexagonal ordered structure. With the aid of the previous neutron reflectivity data on films formed at the air/water interface from similar solutions, a formation mechanism for CTAB-PEI-silica films at the air/water interface has been developed. We suggest that although the route of mesostructure evolution of the film is the same as that of the particles in the solution, the liquid crystalline phase at the interface is not directly formed by the particles that developed below the interface.

Synthesis of Micelle Templated Silico−Aluminas with Different Alumina Contents

The computer aided analysis of the EPR spectra of radical surfactant probes inserted in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide micelles provided information on the kinetics of formation of micelle templated silico-aluminas (MTSA) at 343 K, obtained by means of silica and alumina alkaline solutions at different Si/Al ratios (from infinity to 4). Mainly two spectral components were analyzed and relatively quantified in the EPR spectra: (1) the micellar component, due to probes inserted in the surfactant aggregates, whose mobility decreases over the synthesis time, thus reporting on the progressive modification of the micelle structure and the solid condensation; (2) the interacting component, mainly arising from the electrostatic interactions between the surfactant heads and the charged surface sites. This last component increases its relative intensity over the synthesis time, informing about condensation and structuration of the silico-alumina at the micelle surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen sorption isotherms at 77 K, thermogravimetric analysis, TEM and chemical analysis were performed to characterize both as-synthesized and calcined MTSA materials. Nitrogen sorption isotherms allowed us to evaluate the pore diameter, the specific surface area and the pore volume. At Si/Al<15 a decrease in pore volume and specific surface area was interpreted as due to the contemporaneous presence of a hexagonal MTSA and an amorphous material, which was ascertained by means of XRD as the only present at Si/Al=4. The amorphous structure at Si/Al<15 used Na+ as contraions, whereas the surfactants are no more needed to neutralize the negatively charged groups at the solid surface. The hypothesis of a "break" at Si/Al=15 was supported by EPR: the interactions between the surfactant probe heads and the negatively charged surface groups are drastically reduced at Si/Al<15. On the contrary, at Si/Al>15, increasing amounts of alumina slow the kinetics of the synthesis but enhance electrostatic interactions between the surfactant heads and the negatively charged surface groups. Dilution of the synthesis mixture decreased the extent of the interactions, due to partial protonation of the silanol groups, and slowed the synthesis process.

Morphological transitions during the formation of templated mesoporous materials: theoretical modeling

We put forward a theoretical model for the morphological transitions of templated mesoporous materials. These materials consist of a mixture of surfactant molecules and inorganic compounds which evolve dynamically upon mixing to form different morphologies depending on the composition and conditions at which mixing occurs. Our theoretical analysis is based on the assumption that adsorption of the inorganic compounds onto mesoscopic assemblies of surfactant molecules changes the effective interactions between the surfactant molecules, consequently lowering the spontaneous curvature of the surfactant layer and inducing morphological changes in the system. On the basis of a mean field phase diagram, we are able to follow the trajectories of the system starting with different initial conditions, and predict the final morphology of the product. In a typical scenario, the reduction in the spontaneous curvature leads first to a smooth transition from compact spherical micelles to elongated worm-like micelles. In the second stage, the layer of inorganic material coating the micelles gives rise to attractive inter-micellar interactions that eventually induce a collapse of the system into a closely packed hexagonal array of coated cylinders. Other pathways may lead to different structures including disordered bicontinuous and ordered cubic phases. The model is in good qualitative agreement with experimental observations.

Current Understanding of Formation Mechanisms in Surfactant-Templated Materials

Surfactant-templated materials are created through self-assembly in solutions containing both surfactant micelles and an inorganic species. The resulting materials are composites containing an organized surfactant micelle array encapsulated in the inorganic material. Removal of the surfactants generates nanoscale pores which replicate the highly organized micelle phase, producing high surface area materials with uniform pores that have applications in catalysis, molecular separation, encapsulation for sensors and slow release, and thin films for optoelectronics and photoelectrochemical devices. This review looks at recent work aimed at understanding how these materials self-assemble from dilute surfactant solutions to form intricate nanoscale configurations, which also often show complex and highly ordered structures on longer length scales.