Epitaxial Crystallization of Insulin on an Ordered 2D Polymer Template

Two-dimensional polymers (2DP) are a new class of materials that consist of a monolayer of ordered molecular building blocks, which have been covalently linked. One of these monomers was self-assembled on a flat muscovite mica scaffold and subsequently the organic layer was polymerized. The resulting flat and stable 2DP layer was used as a template for protein crystallization. Crystals of insulin were epitaxially grown on the template, whereas insulin crystals grown on clean muscovite mica had a random orientation. The template was selective, considering that no epitaxially ordered crystals formed of hen egg white lysozyme, bovine serum albumin, or talin.     

Organothiol Monolayer Formation Directly on Muscovite Mica

Organothiol monolayers on metal substrates (Au, Ag, Cu) and their use in a wide variety of applications have been extensively studied. Here, the growth of layers of organothiols directly onto muscovite mica is demonstrated using a simple procedure. Atomic force microscopy, surface X‐ray diffraction, and vibrational sum‐frequency generation IR spectroscopy studies revealed that organothiols with various functional endgroups could be self‐assembled into (water) stable and adaptable ultra‐flat organothiol monolayers over homogenous areas as large as 1 cm². The strength of the mica–organothiol interactions could be tuned by exchanging the potassium surface ions for copper ions. Several of these organothiol monolayers were subsequently used as a template for calcite growth.     

Polymerization of anilinium–DBSA in the presence of clay particles: kinetics and formation of core‐shell structures

This paper is an extension of previous work on polymerization of anilinium–DBSA (dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid) in an aqueous dispersion in the presence of mica or talc silicate particles. The presence of mica or talc particles greatly accelerates the polymerization process of anilinium‐DBSA and an encapsulated structure is formed as well. The catalytic effect of various metallic cations which exist in the chemical compositions of mica or talc on the polymerization kinetics of anilinium‐DBSA was investigated. The conductivity results along with microscopy observations prove a well formed encapsulated structure for the polyaniline/mica composites, but less for the polyaniline/talc composites. The anilinium‐DBSA complex and mica aqueous dispersions pretreated at different temperatures prior to polymerization have shown a significant effect on the polymerization rate of anilinium‐DBSA. The higher the dispersion temperature, the higher is the polymerization rate found. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tailoring and investigation of surface chemical nature of virgin and ion beam modified muscovite mica

We report that the surface chemical properties of muscovite mica [KAl₂(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH)₂] like important multi-elemental layered substrate can be precisely tailored by ion bombardment. The detailed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies of a freshly cleaved as well as 12-keV Ar⁺ and N⁺ ion bombarded muscovite mica surfaces show immense changes of the surface composition due to preferential sputtering of different elements and the chemical reaction of implanted ions with the surface. We observe that the K atoms on the upper layer of mica surface are sputtered most during the N⁺ or Ar⁺ ions sputtering, and the negative aluminosilicate layer is exposed. Inactive Ar atoms are trapped, whereas chemically reactive N atoms form silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) and aluminum nitride (AlN) during implantation. On exposure to air after ion bombardment, the mica surface becomes more active to adsorb C than the virgin surface. The adsorbed C reacts with Si in the aluminosilicate layer and forms silicon carbide (SiC) for both Ar and N bombarded mica surfaces. Besides the surface chemical change, prolonged ion bombardment develops a periodic ripple like regular pattern on the surface.     

微波消解-电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定低品位锂云母中的铷和铯

建立了微波消解-电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定低品位锂云母中铷和铯含量的方法。通过试验确定了最佳的样品处理条件,以铑为内标校正基体干扰,确定方法对铷和铯的检出限(3s)分别为0.032,0.018μg·L^-1,标准曲线线性相关系数均大于0.999 7。对实际样品进行11次测定,相对标准偏差(n=11)为2.3%~4.6%;加标回收试验的回收率为96.5%~105%。经国家标准品验证,本方法的测定值与标准值相符。该方法快速准确,能满足低品位锂云母中铷和铯的分析要求。     

NANOBUBBLES AT THE LIQUID/SOLID INTERFACE STUDIED BY ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY

Bubbles on the nanometer scale were produced by a special method on solid surfaces. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to detect these bubbles. It shows that nanobubbles can be seen clearly in the interfaces of liquid/graphite and liquid/mica. In AFM images, the nanobubbles appeared like bright spheres. Some of the bubbles kept stable for hours during the experiments. The bubbles were disturbed under high load during AFM imaging. The conformation of the bubbles is influenced by the atomic steps on the graphite substrate. In addition, a shadow was found around the bubbles, which was due to the interactions between a bubble adhered to the tip and a bubble on the substrate.     

The effect of shear on mechanical properties and orientation of HDPE/mica composites obtained via dynamic packing injection molding (DPIM)

The interfacial interaction and orientation of filler play important roles in the enhancement of mechanical performances for polymer/inorganic filler composites. Shear has been found to be a very effective way for the enhancement of interfacial interaction and orientation. In this work, we will report our recent efforts on exploring the development of microstructure of high density polyethylene (HDPE)/mica composites in the injection‐molded bars obtained by so‐called dynamic packing injection molding (DPIM), which imposed oscillatory shear on the melt during the solidification stage. The mechanical properties were evaluated by tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and the crystal morphology, orientation, and the dispersion of mica were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and two‐dimensional wide‐angle X‐ray scattering. Compared with conventional injection molding, DPIM caused an obvious increase in orientation for both HDPE and mica. More importantly, better dispersion and epitaxial crystallization of HDPE was observed on the edge of the mica in the injection‐molded bar. As a result, increased tensile strength and modulus were obtained, accompanied with a decrease of elongation at break. The obtained data were treated by Halpin–Tsai model, and it turned out that this model could be also used to predict the stiffness of oriented polymer/filler composites. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface optical Raman modes in GaN nanoribbons

Raman scattering studies were performed in GaN nanoribbons grown along [1 0 0]. These samples were prepared inside Na‐4 mica nanochannels by the ion‐exchange technique and subsequent annealing in NH₃ ambient. Detailed morphological and structural studies including the crystalline orientation were performed by analyzing the vibrational properties in these GaN nanoribbons. Pressure in the embedded structure was calculated from the blue shift of the E₂(high) phonon mode of GaN. Possible red shift of optical phonon modes due to the quantum confinement is also discussed. In addition to the optical phonons allowed by symmetry, two additional Raman peaks were also observed at ∼633 and 678 cm⁻¹ for these nanoribbons. Calculations for the wavenumbers of the surface optical (SO) phonon modes in GaN in Na‐4 mica yielded values close to those of the new Raman modes. The SO phonon modes were calculated in the slab (applicable to belt‐like nanoribbon) mode, as the wavenumber and intensity of these modes depend on the size and the shape of the nanostructures. The effect of surface‐modulation‐assisted electron–SO phonon scattering is suggested to be responsible for the pronounced appearance of SO phonon modes. A scaling factor is also estimated for the interacting surface potential influencing the observed SO Raman scattering intensities. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.