Université de Fribourg

A guide to investigating colloidal nanoparticles by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy: pitfalls and benefits

Monnier, Christophe A. ; Thévenaz, David C. ; Balog, Sandor ; Fiore, Gina L. ; Vanhecke, Dimitri ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: AIMS Biophysics, 2015, vol. 2, no. 3, p. 245–258

Synthetic colloidal nanoparticles are nowadays omnipresent. Nonetheless, adequately characterizing them and interpreting the data is challenging, as their surrounding environment, e.g. the medium they are dispersed in, is often an active contributor to their size, morphology and structural integrity. In this regard, cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) is an ideal methodology. This...

Université de Fribourg

Healable Supramolecular Polymer Solids

Montero de Espinosa, Lucas ; Fiore, Gina L. ; Weder, Christoph ; Foster, E. Johan ; Simon, Yoan C.

In: Progress in Polymer Science, 2015, vol. 49-50, p. 60-78

The reversible nature of non-covalent interactions between constituting building blocks permits one to temporarily disassemble supramolecular polymers through the application of an appropriate external stimulus “on command”. This framework has recently emerged as a general design strategy for the development of healable polymer systems. The approach exploits that the temporary disassembly...

Université de Fribourg

Light-Activated Healing of Metallosupramolecular Polymers

Fiore, Gina L. ; Rowan, Stuart J. ; Weder, Christoph

In: CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry, 2011, vol. 65, no. 9, p. 745

Université de Fribourg

Mechanochemistry with Metallosupramolecular Polymers

Balkenende, Diederik W. R. ; Coulibaly, Souleymane ; Balog, Sandor ; Simon, Yoan C. ; Fiore, Gina L. ; Weder, Christoph

In: Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2014, vol. 136, no. 29, p. 10493-10498

The transduction of mechanical force into useful chemical reactions is an emerging design approach to impart soft materials with new functions. Here, we report that mechanochemical transductions can be achieved in metallo-supramolecular polymers. We show that both reversible and irreversible reactions are possible and useful to create me-chanically responsive materials that display new...

Université de Fribourg

Optically healable supramolecular polymers

Burnworth, Mark ; Tang, Liming ; Kumpfer, Justin R. ; Duncan, Andrew J. ; Beyer, Frederick L. ; Fiore, Gina L. ; Rowan, Stuart J. ; Weder, Christoph

In: Nature, 2011, vol. 472, p. 334–337

Polymers with the ability to repair themselves after sustaining damage could extend the lifetimes of materials used in many applications. Most approaches to healable materials require heating the damaged area. Here we present metallosupramolecular polymers that can be mended through exposure to light. They consist of telechelic, rubbery, low-molecular-mass polymers with ligand end groups that are...