Vesicles as reactors of nanoparticles: an anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering study of the domains rich in copper ions

Abstract

The formation of copper hydroxide and copper oxide particles in the gaps among the stacks of multilamellar vesicles is described, illustrating a new pathway in the preparation of nanometre‐scale particles. The in situ structural characterization of both the solid particles and the vesicles as a reaction medium was performed in the initial and final states of the process by using anomalous small‐angle X‐ray scattering (ASAXS) and freeze‐fracture methods. The ASAXS method provides a description of the particle‐size distribution of the copper nanoparticles, in spite of the fact that they are present in low concentration. This method allows the particle formation and growth to be monitored throughout the whole time range of the synthesis.

Hydrophobic Gold Nanoparticle Self-Assembly with Phosphatidylcholine Lipid: Membrane-Loaded and Janus Vesicles

“…Vesicle−nanoparticle hybrids can be created using several strategies . For example, nanoparticles can be precipitated in-place within vesicles − or they can be synthesized and then associated with vesicles, either by electrostatic adsorption − or encapsulation , of hydrophilic nanoparticles or by insertion of hydrophobic nanoparticles into the nonpolar interior of the lipid bilayer. ,− Precipitation within the vesicles limits the nanoparticle chemistry to a relatively narrow range of materials because the synthesis must be carried out near room temperature in aqueous media. − ,, The reliance on hydrophilic nanoparticles is also limiting, as a much wider range of nanoparticle materials with the highest quality properties are obtained with hydrophobic capping ligands from synthetic reactions carried out in organic high boiling point solvents. , Therefore, the ability to load hydrophobic nanoparticles into the lipid bilayer of vesicles provides a quite general route to vesicle−nanoparticle hybrids, making available a wide range of nanoparticle chemistry, including the prospect of loading different combinations of nanoparticles within each vesicle.…”

“…9,10 Vesicle-nanoparticle hybrids can be created using several strategies. 1 For example, nanoparticles can be precipitated in-place within vesicles [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] or they can be synthesized and then associated with vesicles, either by electrostatic adsorption [27][28][29][30][31][32][33] or encapsulation 34,35 of hydrophilic nanoparticles or by insertion of hydrophobic nanoparticles into the nonpolar interior of the lipid bilayer. 3,[36][37][38][39] Precipitation within the vesicles limits the nanoparticle chemistry to a relatively narrow range of materials because the synthesis must be carried out near room temperature in aqueous media.…”

The ultrastructure and flexibility of thylakoid membranes in different photosynthetic organisms as revealed by small-angle neutron scattering

“…In the SANS measurements, the scattering curve is influenced by several factor, e.g. wavelength distribution, the alteration of membrane parameters and fluctuation of each layer in the stacks [156]. These factors have smearing and broaden-Fig.…”

CREDO: a new general-purpose laboratory instrument for small-angle X-ray scattering

“…They not only are good model systems for biological (cell) membranes (Pabst et al, 2010), but serve as important drug delivery vehicles (Chang & Yeh, 2011), and can be used as reaction volume confinements in nanoparticle synthesis (Bó ta et al, 2007a). Spherical phospholipid vesicles (liposomes), especially their unilamellar forms, are frequently studied by our research group (Bó ta et al, 2007b;Varga et al, 2008Varga et al, , 2010. Fig.…”