4th February 2019
Negative-staining TEM image of ß–lg aggregates formed at pH 5.8. Reproduced with permission from J. M. Jung et al., Biomacromolecules 9, 2477 (2008). Copyright (2008) American Chemical Society.

Formation and Use of Globular Protein Aggregates

Globular protein aggregates are used to texture aqueous systems either as gelling agents, viscosifiers or stabilizers of emulsions, e.g. in the food and cosmetics industries. Globular proteins are characterized by a rather rigid... (Read more)
4th February 2019
Micrograph showing the microfluidic chip used to create designer emulsions. Insets: First flow focusing device (top left) creating contact between the inner and middle phase. Middle left: flow focused on generating double emulsion droplets. Bottom row: gradual growth of the inner droplet. Picture: Iacopo Mattich/ETH Zurich

Designer Emulsions

The soft materials and complex groups at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and researchers from the KU Leuven, Belgium, have developed a generic and versatile method to create designer liquid-liquid interfaces, using transient double... (Read more)
8th February 2018
Optical images of dissolution of capsules with compositions highlighted in the figure showing (A-C) instantaneous, (D-E) sustained, pulsed and diffuse release. (F) High magnification images of the surface cracks of the capsule and (G) the emanating micron-sized nanoparticle clusters. (H) The droplet radius of the composite (D) capsule was found to remain approximately constant over time, and release of micron-sized nanoparticle clusters occurs in bursts, over long timescales, tuneable with pH. Copyright: Authors, taken without changes from 10.1126/sciadv.aao3353 which has been published under Creative Commons Licence CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).

Nanocomposite Capsules with Directional, Pulsed Nanoparticle Release

The precise spatio-temporal delivery of nanoparticles from polymeric capsules is required for applications ranging from medicine to materials science. Researchers from the Imperial College London, UK, have demonstrated that microporosity and capsule morphology... (Read more)
8th February 2018
(a) Illustration of the different interaction mechanisms of the proteins, salt, and interface. (b) Sketch of protein adsorption on the attractive surface by increasing cs=cp. Copyright: Authors, reprinted with permission from DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.228001.

Multivalent Ion-Activated Protein Adsorption Reflecting Bulk Reentrant Behavior

Protein adsorption at the solid-liquid interface is an important phenomenon that often can be observed as a first step in biological processes. A team from Germany and Great Britain has demonstrated the control... (Read more)