Electroinduced Surfactant Self-Assembly Driven to Vertical Growth of Oriented Mesoporous Films

Author(s):  
Alain Walcarius
2004 ◽  
Vol 847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric Boissière ◽  
David Grosso ◽  
Bernt Smarsly ◽  
Torsten Brezesinski ◽  
Sophie Lepoutre ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHigh quality and reproducible thin silica and non-silica mesoporous films were obtained with mono-oriented organised mesoporosity, fitting various symmetry groups (i.e. p6m, Pm3n, Im3m, …). The Evaporation Induced Self Assembly (EISA) mechanism of structuration was studied through in-situ time-resolved SAXS, interferometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry investigations during dip-coating. A Modulable Steady State (MSS) was found during which the system is in quasi-equilibrium with its environment and during which the final structure is formed. The corresponding Self-Assembly mechanism was found to be governed by a competition between evaporation, micellization and condensation that depend on various critical chemical and processing parameters the influence of which have been summarized into directly usable phase diagrams. Calcined SiO2 and TiO2 mesoporous films structure (pore size and anisotropy, porous volume and surface) and mechanical properties (young modulus) were investigated by UV-Visible spectroscopic ellipsometry. Finally, thanks to a specially designed block copolymer, one further step was accomplished by achieving the dip coating and controlled nano-crystallisation of various metallic and multi-metal-oxides films (M3NF) of composition CoxTi(1-x)O(2-x) with ilmenite or doped Anatase structure, and SrTiO3 and MgTa2O6 with perovskite structure. Attending the well known magnetic, dielectric and catalytic properties of these structures, M3NF are highly compatible with high technology applications in microelectronic, energy transfer devices, spintronic, nano-mechanical adjustments, data storage, oxide fuel cells …


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2501-2509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Plinio Innocenzi ◽  
Luca Malfatti ◽  
Galo J. A. A. Soler-Illia

2006 ◽  
Vol 510-511 ◽  
pp. 58-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Hong Pan ◽  
Seung Yong Chai ◽  
Wan In Lee

Hexagonal and cubic mesoporous TiO2 films were prepared by using triblock copolymer-templated sol-gel method via evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) process. The mesophase of TiO2 film was controlled by spin-speed during the spin-coating process. The hexagonal mesoporous structure was formed at a high spin-speed around 2000 rpm, whereas the cubic mesostructure was formed at a low spin-speed around 600 rpm. XRD and TEM results indicate that those mesostructures are highly organized with a pore diameter of 7 nm. The prepared cubic and hexagonal mesoporous films were tested as photocatalysts for the decomposition of 2-propanol in gas phase. Both films presented considerably higher photocatalytic activity than a nonporous TiO2 films prepared by a typical sol-gel process without addition of triblock copolymer. Notably, we found that the cubic mesoporous films showed a relatively higher photocatalytic activity than the hexagonal mesostructured film. We believe this is due to the orientation of pore channels open on the surface of mesoporous films.


2013 ◽  
Vol 669 ◽  
pp. 95-98
Author(s):  
Dan Li ◽  
Bin Du ◽  
Zhi Heng Zhao ◽  
Wen Heng Jing ◽  
Wei Hong Xing

Hexagonal and cubic mesoporous TiO2 materials were synthesized via a sol-gel route modified by evaporation–induced self–assembly process with different templates. XRD and TEM results confirmed that the mesoporous films were highly organized. Furthermore, the hexagonal mesoporous TiO2 films were formed in the P123-templated films, whereas the cubic structure ones were found in the F127-templated films. Both the hexagonal and cubic mesoporous films showed photocatalytic activity in decomposing methyl orange solution under UV region, among which the cubic mesostructure presented superior potocatalytic activity because of larger surface area, more open framework and less obstructed diffusion paths of guest molecules.


Author(s):  
D. Reis ◽  
B. Vian ◽  
J. C. Roland

Wall morphogenesis in higher plants is a problem still open to controversy. Until now the possibility of a transmembrane control and the involvement of microtubules were mostly envisaged. Self-assembly processes have been observed in the case of walls of Chlamydomonas and bacteria. Spontaneous gelling interactions between xanthan and galactomannan from Ceratonia have been analyzed very recently. The present work provides indications that some processes of spontaneous aggregation could occur in higher plants during the formation and expansion of cell wall.Observations were performed on hypocotyl of mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) for which growth characteristics and wall composition have been previously defined.In situ, the walls of actively growing cells (primary walls) show an ordered three-dimensional organization (fig. 1). The wall is typically polylamellate with multifibrillar layers alternately transverse and longitudinal. Between these layers intermediate strata exist in which the orientation of microfibrils progressively rotates. Thus a progressive change in the morphogenetic activity occurs.


Author(s):  
M. Kessel ◽  
R. MacColl

The major protein of the blue-green algae is the biliprotein, C-phycocyanin (Amax = 620 nm), which is presumed to exist in the cell in the form of distinct aggregates called phycobilisomes. The self-assembly of C-phycocyanin from monomer to hexamer has been extensively studied, but the proposed next step in the assembly of a phycobilisome, the formation of 19s subunits, is completely unknown. We have used electron microscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation in combination with a method for rapid and gentle extraction of phycocyanin to study its subunit structure and assembly.To establish the existence of phycobilisomes, cells of P. boryanum in the log phase of growth, growing at a light intensity of 200 foot candles, were fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer, pH 7.0, for 3 hours at 4°C. The cells were post-fixed in 1% OsO4 in the same buffer overnight. Material was stained for 1 hour in uranyl acetate (1%), dehydrated and embedded in araldite and examined in thin sections.


Author(s):  
Alan S. Rudolph ◽  
Ronald R. Price

We have employed cryoelectron microscopy to visualize events that occur during the freeze-drying of artificial membranes by employing real time video capture techniques. Artificial membranes or liposomes which are spherical structures within internal aqueous space are stabilized by water which provides the driving force for spontaneous self-assembly of these structures. Previous assays of damage to these structures which are induced by freeze drying reveal that the two principal deleterious events that occur are 1) fusion of liposomes and 2) leakage of contents trapped within the liposome [1]. In the past the only way to access these events was to examine the liposomes following the dehydration event. This technique allows the event to be monitored in real time as the liposomes destabilize and as water is sublimed at cryo temperatures in the vacuum of the microscope. The method by which liposomes are compromised by freeze-drying are largely unknown. This technique has shown that cryo-protectants such as glycerol and carbohydrates are able to maintain liposomal structure throughout the drying process.


Author(s):  
M. Sarikaya ◽  
J. T. Staley ◽  
I. A. Aksay

Biomimetics is an area of research in which the analysis of structures and functions of natural materials provide a source of inspiration for design and processing concepts for novel synthetic materials. Through biomimetics, it may be possible to establish structural control on a continuous length scale, resulting in superior structures able to withstand the requirements placed upon advanced materials. It is well recognized that biological systems efficiently produce complex and hierarchical structures on the molecular, micrometer, and macro scales with unique properties, and with greater structural control than is possible with synthetic materials. The dynamism of these systems allows the collection and transport of constituents; the nucleation, configuration, and growth of new structures by self-assembly; and the repair and replacement of old and damaged components. These materials include all-organic components such as spider webs and insect cuticles (Fig. 1); inorganic-organic composites, such as seashells (Fig. 2) and bones; all-ceramic composites, such as sea urchin teeth, spines, and other skeletal units (Fig. 3); and inorganic ultrafine magnetic and semiconducting particles produced by bacteria and algae, respectively (Fig. 4).


Author(s):  
Xiaorong Zhu ◽  
Richard McVeigh ◽  
Bijan K. Ghosh

A mutant of Bacillus licheniformis 749/C, NM 105 exhibits some notable properties, e.g., arrest of alkaline phosphatase secretion and overexpression and hypersecretion of RS protein. Although RS is known to be widely distributed in many microbes, it is rarely found, with a few exceptions, in laboratory cultures of microorganisms. RS protein is a structural protein and has the unusual properties to form aggregate. This characteristic may have been responsible for the self assembly of RS into regular tetragonal structures. Another uncommon characteristic of RS is that enhanced synthesis and secretion which occurs when the cells cease to grow. Assembled RS protein with a tetragonal structure is not seen inside cells at any stage of cell growth including cells in the stationary phase of growth. Gel electrophoresis of the culture supernatant shows a very large amount of RS protein in the stationary culture of the B. licheniformis. It seems, Therefore, that the RS protein is cotranslationally secreted and self assembled on the envelope surface.


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