In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, vol. 59, no. 32, p. 13597-13601
Using a one-step synthetic route for block copolymers avoids the repeated addition of monomers to the polymerization mixture, which can easily lead to contamination and, therefore, to the unwanted termination of chain growth. For this purpose, monomers (M1–M5) with different steric hindrances and different propagation rates are explored. Copolymerization of M1 (propagating rapidly) with M2...
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In: Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, 2020, vol. 2020, p. 1–11
In this work, a method is established to calibrate a model that describes the basic dynamics of DNA damage and repair. The model can be used to extend planning for radiotherapy and hyperthermia in order to include the biological effects. In contrast to “syntactic” models (e.g., describing molecular kinetics), the model used here describes radiobiological semantics, resulting in a more...
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In: Materials, 2020, vol. 13, no. 9, p. 2018
Magnetosomes are near-perfect intracellular magnetite nanocrystals found in magnetotactic bacteria. Their synthetic imitation, known as superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), have found applications in a variety of (nano)medicinal fields such as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents, multimodal imaging and drug carriers. In order to perform these functions in medicine,...
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In: CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry, 2019, vol. 73, no. 1, p. 7–11
While coupling mechanical and chemical processes is widespread in living organisms, the idea to harness the mechanically induced dissociation of weak covalent and non- covalent bonds to create artificial materials that respond to mechanical stimulation has only recently gained attention. Here we summarize our activities that mainly revolve around the exploitation of non-covalent interactions...
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In: Macromolecules, 2016, vol. 49, no. 5, p. 1630–1636
The ultrasound-induced cleavage of macromolecules has become a routine experiment in the emerging field of polymer mechanochemistry. To date, it has not been conclusively proven whether the molecular weight of a polymer or its contour length is the determining factor for chain scission upon ultrasonication. Here we report comparative experiments that confirm unequivocally that the contour length...
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In: Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2017, vol. 134, no. 35, p. -
The mechanical reinforcement of nanocomposites containing nanorods-like fillers such as cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) isoften interpreted by adapting the classical parallel–series model, assuming a simple hyperbolic dependence between the percolationthreshold and aspect ratio. However, such assumptions are valid only for nanorods with high aspect ratio and often are misinterpretingthe...
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In: Small, 2018, vol. 14, no. 46, p. 1802854
In this work, amyloid fibrils are used as a template for the preparation of long silica fibers, with a variety of aspect ratios and surface roughness. Starting with β‐ lactoglobulin fibrils with typical diameters of about 20 nm and a length of several micrometers, two different strategies are followed to grow silica: either in water at acidic pH values, or in ethanol–water mixtures under...
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In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, vol. 60, no. 2, p. 904-909
Some marine plankton called dinoflagellates emit light in response to the movement of surrounding water, resulting in a phenomenon called milky seas or sea sparkle. The underlying concept, a shear-stress induced permeabilisation of biocatalytic reaction compartments, is transferred to polymer-based nanoreactors. Amphiphilic block copolymers that carry nucleobases in their hydrophobic block...
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In: Chemical Society Reviews, 2015, vol. 44, no. 17, p. 6287–6305
Nanomaterials are finding increasing use for biomedical applications such as imaging, diagnostics, and drug delivery. While it is well understood that nanoparticle (NP) physico-chemical properties can dictate biological responses and interactions, it has been difficult to outline a unifying framework to directly link NP properties to expected in vitro and in vivo outcomes. When introduced to...
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In: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2017, vol. 9, no. 22, p. 18501–18511
A major hurdle in the development of biomedical nanoparticles (NP) is understanding how they interact with complex biological systems and navigate biological barriers to arrive at pathological targets. It is becoming increasingly evident that merely controlling particle physicochemical properties may not be sufficient to mediate particle biodistribution in dynamic environments. Thus,...
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