Induction of liquid crystallinity by self-assembled molecular boxes.
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Biomedical subjects
Marcel Giesbers
Publications and source records attributed to Marcel Giesbers.
Covalently attached monolayers on crystalline hydrogen-terminated silicon: extremely mild attachment by visible light.
A very mild method was developed for the attachment of high-quality organic monolayers on crystalline silicon surfaces. By using visible light sources, from 447 to 658 nm, a variety of 1-alkenes and 1-alkynes were attached to hydrogen-terminated Si(100) and Si(111) surfaces at room temperature. The presence and the quality of the monolayers were evaluated by static water contact angles, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and IR spectroscopy. Monolayers prepared by thermal, UV light, or visible light initiation were compared. Additionally, the ability of infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy to study organic monolayers on silicon was explored. A reaction mechanism is discussed on the basis of investigations of the reaction behavior of 1-alkenes with silicon wafers with varying types and levels of doping. Finally, a series of mixed monolayers derived from the mixed solutions of a 1-alkene and an omega-fluoro-1-alkene were investigated to reveal that the composition of the mixed monolayers was directly proportional to the molar ratio of the two compounds in the solutions.
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Bilayer vesicles of amphiphilic cyclodextrins: host membranes that recognize guest molecules.
A family of amphiphilic cyclodextrins (6, 7) has been prepared through 6-S-alkylation (alkyl=n-dodecyl and n-hexadecyl) of the primary side and 2-O-PEGylation of the secondary side of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins (PEG=poly(ethylene glycol)). These cyclodextrins form nonionic bilayer vesicles in aqueous solution. The bilayer vesicles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, dye encapsulation, and capillary electrophoresis. The molecular packing of the amphiphilic cyclodextrins was investigated by using small-angle X-ray diffraction of bilayers deposited on glass and pressure-area isotherms obtained from Langmuir monolayers on the air-water interface. The bilayer thickness is dependent on the chain length, whereas the average molecular surface area scales with the cyclodextrin ring size. The alkyl chains of the cyclodextrins in the bilayer are deeply interdigitated. Molecular recognition of a hydrophobic anion (adamantane carboxylate) by the cyclodextrin vesicles was investigated by using capillary electrophoresis, thereby exploiting the increase in electrophoretic mobility that occurs when the hydrophobic anions bind to the nonionic cyclodextrin vesicles. It was found that in spite of the presence of oligo(ethylene glycol) substituents, the beta-cyclodextrin vesicles retain their characteristic affinity for adamantane carboxylate (association constant K(a)=7.1 x 10(3) M(-1)), whereas gamma-cyclodextrin vesicles have less affinity (K(a)=3.2 x 10(3) M(-1)), and alpha-cyclodextrin or non-cyclodextrin, nonionic vesicles have very little affinity (K(a) approximately 100 M(-1)). Specific binding of the adamantane carboxylate to beta-cyclodextrin vesicles was also evident in competition experiments with beta-cyclodextrin in solution. Hence, the cyclodextrin vesicles can function as host bilayer membranes that recognize small guest molecules by specific noncovalent interaction.
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Interactions between acid- and base-functionalized surfaces.
In this paper we present an AFM force study on interactions between chemically modified surfaces. Surfaces with terminal groups of either NH(2) or COOH were obtained by chemisorption of a silane-based compound (3-amino-propyltriethoxysilane) on silica or a thiol compound (11-mercapto undecanoic acid) on gold. The surfaces were characterized by streaming potential and contact angle measurements. For the NH(2) surfaces the density of functional groups strongly depends on the pretreatment of the silica. Both the NH(2) and COOH surfaces show a steady and ongoing loss of functional groups, but on the time scale of our force measurements they can be considered to be stable. Interaction curves for the various combinations of surfaces in aqueous solutions show a strong correlation with the ionization state of the surface groups. The approach curves can be explained on the basis of electrostatic interactions. On retraction a pH-dependent adhesion is found, the strongest being between NH(2) and COOH surfaces as a result of acid-base interactions. Between NH(2) layers and between COOH layers there is also adhesion, due to the formation of H bonds. The corresponding work of adhesion W was calculated using the DMT (Derjaguin, Muller, Toporov) equation. The values of W obtained are small compared to literature data and suggest that only a fraction of the functional groups in the contact area is involved in acid-base or H-bond interactions. This is attributed mainly to the roughness of the surfaces, which substantially reduces adhesion. A rough estimate is made for the rupture force of the NH(2)-COOH acid-base bond in water.
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The electrical double layer on gold probed by electrokinetic and surface force measurements.
Gold surfaces, obtained by vacuum deposition of 15-nm gold films on glass and silica wafers, were studied in aqueous solutions by streaming potential measurements and colloidal-probe AFM force measurements. In the force measurements both a bare and a gold-coated silica particle (6 microm in diameter) have been used as colloidal probes. From the streaming potential measurements we determined the zeta-potential of the gold surface, while from the force measurements the diffuse double-layer potential psi(d) was obtained by fitting the data to the DLVO theory or to the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation. Measured interactions were found to be entirely due to overlap of electric double layers with no indication of attractive Van der Waals forces. Results of both types of measurements are in good agreement. The double layer potential strongly depends on the pH, probably as a result of the presence of oxide species on the gold surface. Insight in the double layer potential of polarizable interfaces such as the gold/electrolyte solution interface is the first step for understanding the effect of externally applied potentials on the adsorption behavior of charged species.
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