Experimental modelling of single-particle dynamic processes in crystallization by controlled colloidal assembly

Zhang, Tian Hui; Liu, Xiang Yang

doi:10.1039/c3cs60398a

Cited by 52 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 135 publications

(190 reference statements)

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“…This process needs to surmount a Gibbs free energy barrier—the so‐called nucleation barrier between the new stable phase and the ambient phase . It is noticed that in a normal homogenous nucleation process, the nucleation probability of the substance is uniform throughout the system . However, homogeneous nucleation is difficult to occur because of its high nucleation barrier Δ G 1 * (Curve 1 in Figure d).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Programing Performance of Silk Fibroin Materials by Controlled Nucleation

Chen

Zhang

Lin

et al. 2016

Adv Funct Materials

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121

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To examine the mechanism of the network formation of silk fibroin (SF), monodispersed colloidal particles (MDCPs) are used as well defined foreign substrates to quantify their effect on the primary nucleation of β‐crystallites in molecular networks (silk nanofibrils) and the hierarchical network formation of SF. It follows that MDCPs are capable of accelerating the SF gelation by reducing the multistep nucleation barrier, which gives rise to a high density of silk fibril domain networks due to the increase of primary nucleation sites. Consequently, through governing the change in the hierarchical mesoscopic structure, the macroscopic performance of silk materials (e.g., the rheological properties of SF hydrogels and the tensile stress of fibers) can be controlled directly. As SF hydrogels represent a typical example of weak fibril domain–domain network interactions, the increase of fibril domain density leads to weaker gels. On the other hand, SF fibers correspond to strong fibril domain–domain network interactions, the increase of fibril domain density ends up with much tougher fibers. The knowledge obtained provides a facile strategy in controlling the complex hierarchical structure and macroscopic performance of SF materials, and offers useful routes for general design and functionalization of soft materials.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Programing Performance of Silk Fibroin Materials by Controlled Nucleation

Chen

Zhang

Lin

et al. 2016

Adv Funct Materials

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121

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“…According to the typical nucleation theory, [ 24–26 ] nucleation is divided into homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, and the nucleation rate J in the SF nanofibril network formation is given by Equation () and (). [ 27 ]

J = A exp [- Δ G^{*} f / k T] \times N^{0}

…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…with

Δ G^{*} = B / {(Δ μ)}^{2}

where A and B are the kinetic constants,

Δ G^{*}

is the nucleation barrier, f is the interfacial correlation factor between the nucleating phase and templates (0 < f ≤ 1; for homogeneous nucleation, f = 1), [ 9,26,27 ] k is Boltzmann's constant, T is the ambient temperature, N 0 is the density of nucleating templates, and

Δ μ

is the chemical potential difference between the ambient mother and crystalline phases.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silk Nanococoons: Bio‐Nanoreactors for Enzymatic Catalytic Reactions and Applications to Alcohol Intoxication

Chen

Lin

et al. 2021

Small Science

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Enzymatic reactions are often terminated by severe aqueous environments. Inspired by bio‐protection of silk cocoons, a system of silk fibroin (SF) nanococoons is developed, which is capable of providing a bio‐protective environment for enzymatic activities on one hand, and facilitating the process of cascade enzymatic reactions on the other hand. This gives rise to the significant enhancement in enzymatic stability and efficacy. For instance, the protected glucose oxidase and horseradish peroxidase enzymes exhibit a 17.5‐ and 7.0‐fold increase when stored at 60 °C (>50% activity; ≈28 h) and 25 °C (>67.5% activity; ≈14 days), respectively, compared with free enzymes. It follows that this protective effect is subject to the mutual templated crystallization between enzymes and SF molecules, which prevents enzyme molecules from unfolding. In animal experiments, it shows that alcohol oxidase and catalase protected by silk nanococoons are able to reduce the alcohol levels of intoxicated mice with >5.0‐time efficacy at the alcohol decomposition level of >80% in 4.0 h compared with the unprotected. By bio‐inspiration of silk cocoons, the silk bio‐nanoreactors demonstrate the significant potential applications in biomedicine.

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“…So far, a variety of strategies have been developed to control the behavior of colloidal particles [32,40,41]. So far, a variety of strategies have been developed to control the behavior of colloidal particles [32,40,41].…”

Section: Colloidal Assembly Under Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%