Protein adsorption plays a key role in the biological response to implants. We report how nanoscale topography, chemistry, crystallinity, and molecular chain anisotropy of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) surfaces affect the protein assembly and induce lateral orientational order. We applied ultraflat, melt drawn UHMWPE films to show that highly oriented nanocrystalline lamellae influence the conformation and aggregation into network structures of human plasma fibrinogen by atomic force microscopy with unprecedented clarity and molecular resolution. We observed a transition from random protein orientation at low concentrations to an assembly guided by the UHMWPE surface nanotopography at a close to full surface coverage on hydrophobic melt drawn UHMWPE. This assembly differs from the arrangement at a hydrophobic, on the nanoscale smooth UHMWPE reference. On plasma-modified, hydrophilic melt drawn UHMWPE surfaces that retained their original nanotopography, the influence of the nanoscale surface pattern on the protein adsorption is lost. A model based on protein-surface and protein-protein interactions is proposed. We suggest these nanostructured polymer films to be versatile model surfaces to provide unique information on protein interactions with nanoscale building blocks of implants, such as nanocrystalline UHMWPE lamellae. The current study contributes to the understanding of molecular processes at polymer biointerfaces and may support their future design and molecular scale tailoring.

Abstract:The DESY NanoLab is a facility providing access to nano-characterization, nano-structuring and nano-synthesis techniques which are complementary to the advanced X-ray techniques available at DESY's light sources. It comprises state-of-the art scanning probe microscopy and focused ion beam manufacturing, as well as surface sensitive spectroscopy techniques for chemical analysis. Specialized laboratory X-ray di raction setups are available for a successful sample pre-characterization before the precious synchrotron beamtimes. Future upgrades will include as well instrumentation to characterize magnetic properties. IntroductionToday's third generation and future di raction limited synchrotron radiation facilities allow experiments with nano-focused X-ray beams such as single object nano di raction and imaging (Hoppe et al., 2013;Pfeifer et al., 2006). These demanding experiments require involved pre-and post-experimental sample preparation and characterization with complementary techniques. The DESY Nanolaboratory (DESY NanoLab) is a facility providing photon science user access to advanced nano-characterization, nano-structuring and nano-synthesis techniques which are complementary to the advanced X-ray techniques available at DESY's light sources. A special focus is on the reproducible transfer of individual nano objects from the DESY NanoLab microscopes to the beamlines and vice versa. The scienti c instrumentation of the DESY NanoLab is being continuously extended. Currently, an ultrahigh * Cite article as: Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY). (2016). DESY NanoLab. Journal of large-scale research facilities, 2, A76. http://dx

Abstract. Ferrihydrite is a widespread poorly crystalline Fe oxide which becomes easily coated by natural organic matter in the environment. This mineral-bound organic matter entirely changes the mineral surface properties and therefore the reactivity of the original mineral. Here, we investigated 2-line ferrihydrite, ferrihydrite with adsorbed organic matter, and ferrihydrite coprecipitated with organic matter for microbial and abiotic reduction of Fe(III). Ferrihydrite-organic matter associations with different organic matter loadings were reduced either by Geobacter bremensis or abiotically by Na-dithionite. Both types of experiments showed decreasing initial Fe-reduction rates and decreasing degrees of reduction with increasing amounts of mineral-bound organic matter. At similar organic matter loadings, coprecipitated ferrihydrites were more reactive than ferrihydrites with adsorbed organic matter. The difference can be explained by the smaller crystal size and poor crystallinity of such coprecipitates. At small organic matter loadings the poor crystallinity of coprecipitates led to even faster Fe-reduction rates than found for pure ferrihydrite. The amount of mineral-bound organic matter also affected the formation of secondary minerals: goethite was only found after reduction of organic matter-free ferrihydrite and siderite was only detected when ferrihydrites with relatively low amounts of mineral-bound organic matter were reduced. We conclude that direct contact of G. bremensis to the Fe oxide mineral surface was inhibited by attached organic matter. Consequently, mineral-bound organic matter shall be taken into account as a factor in slowing down reductive dissolution.

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The aims of the current study were to synthesize new responsive polymeric microgels with embedded silver nanoparticles and then to employ these particles as catalyst for reduction reactions. To these ends, stimuli‐responsive microgels from PNIPAAm and the chitosan derivative were firstly synthesized by free radical precipitation polymerization. Then, silver nanoparticles were synthesized inside these microgel networks by in situ reduction of AgNO3. These microgels were temperature/pH sensitive with a phase transition temperature of 32–35 °C in water at pH = 3 and 8, respectively. The catalytic activity of the Ag nanoparticles for the reduction of 4‐nitrophenol can be tuned through the swelling or collapse of the responsive microgel network hosting the active nanoparticles.

The absence of piezoelectricity in silicon makes direct electromechanical applications of this mainstream semiconductor impossible. Integrated electrical control of the silicon mechanics, however, would open up new perspectives for on-chip actuorics. Here, we combine wafer-scale nanoporosity in single-crystalline silicon with polymerization of an artificial muscle material inside pore space to synthesize a composite that shows macroscopic electrostrain in aqueous electrolyte. The voltage-strain coupling is three orders of magnitude larger than the best-performing ceramics in terms of piezoelectric actuation. We trace this huge electroactuation to the concerted action of 100 billions of nanopores per square centimeter cross section and to potential-dependent pressures of up to 150 atmospheres at the single-pore scale. The exceptionally small operation voltages (0.4 to 0.9 volts), along with the sustainable and biocompatible base materials, make this hybrid promising for bioactuator applications.

Using fibrinogen (Fg) protein as a probe molecule, mapping using accumulated probe trajectories (MAPT) is performed on nanostructured melt‐drawn high‐density poly(ethylene) (HDPE) films composed of well‐oriented crystalline patches separated by amorphous regions. The spatially grouped molecular trajectories allow for identification of regions with distinct surface properties (i.e., crystalline vs. amorphous) while simultaneously determining the characteristic dynamic protein behavior within those regions. In the presence of solution with a sufficiently high Fg concentration, discrete patches of a dense, ordered protein layer form (presumably on crystalline HDPE regions), leading to a dramatic rise in the surface residence time (by more than two orders of magnitude) of molecules incorporated into the film. Within this ordered Fg layer, individual molecules exhibit slow anisotropic lateral diffusion; the mobility is restricted by the nanostructure boundaries of the underlying HDPE. On HDPE films at low Fg surface coverage, or on films that have been rendered hydrophilic with Ar plasma, short surface residence times and fast, isotropic diffusion are observed. These results demonstrate the ability of spatially resolved single‐molecule tracking to provide mechanistic information about biomolecule‐surface interactions in a highly heterogeneous environment.

X-ray-based analytics are routinely applied in many fields, including physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. The full potential of such techniques in the life sciences and medicine, however, has not yet been fully exploited. We highlight current and upcoming advances in this direction. We describe different X-ray-based methodologies (including those performed at synchrotron light sources and X‑ray free-electron lasers) and their potentials for application to investigate the nano–bio interface. The discussion is predominantly guided by asking how such methods could better help to understand and to improve nanoparticle-based drug delivery, though the concepts also apply to nano–bio interactions in general. We discuss current limitations and how they might be overcome, particularly for future use in vivo.