We show that H-bonded host-guest systems associate in ionic liquids (ILs), pure salts with melting point below room temperature, in which dipole-dipole electrostatic interactions should be negligible in comparison with dipole-charge interactions. Binding constants (K-a) obtained from titrations of four H-bonded host-guest systems in two organic solvents and two ionic liquids yield smaller yet comparable K-a values in ionic liquids than in organic solvents. We also detect the association event using force spectroscopy, which confirms that the binding is not solely due to (de)solvation processes. Our results indicate that classic H-bonded host-guest supramolecular chemistry takes place in ILs. This implies that strong H-bonds are only moderately affected by surroundings composed entirely of charges, which can be interpreted as an indication that the balance of Coulombic to covalent forces in strong H-bonds is not tipped towards the former.

We measured the adsorption characteristics of two organic dyes; triphenylamine-cyanoacrylic acid (TPA-C) and phenoxazine (MP13), on TiO2, directly in a solution based on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Monitoring the adsorbed amount as a function of dye concentration and during rinsing allows determination of the equilibrium constant and distinction between chemisorbed and physisorbed dye. The measured equilibrium constants are 0.8 mM(-1) for TPA-C and 2.4 mM(-1) for MP13. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to compare dried chemisorbed layers of TPA-C prepared in solution with TPA-C layers prepared via vacuum sublimation; the two preparation methods render similar spectra except a small contribution of water residues (OH) on the solution prepared samples. Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping Atomic Force Microscopy (QNM-AFM) shows that physisorbed TPA-C layers are easily removed by scanning the tip across the surface. Although not obvious in height images, adhesion images clearly demonstrate removal of the dye.

Expansion of (GAA)(n) repeats in the first intron of the Frataxin gene is associated with reduced mRNA and protein levels and the development of Friedreich's ataxia. (GAA)(n) expansions form non-canonical structures, including intramolecular triplex (H-DNA), and Rloops and are associated with epigenetic modifications. With the aim of interfering with higher order H-DNA (like) DNA structures within pathological (GAA)(n) expansions, we examined sequence-specific interaction of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) with (GAA)(n) repeats of different lengths (short: n= 9, medium: n= 75 or long: n= 115) by chemical probing of triple helical and single stranded regions. We found that a triplex structure (H-DNA) forms at GAA repeats of different lengths; however, single stranded regions were not detected within the medium size pathological repeat, suggesting the presence of a more complex structure. Furthermore, (GAA) 4-PNA binding of the repeat abolished all detectable triplex DNA structures, whereas (CTT) 5-PNA did not. We present evidence that (GAA) 4-PNA can invade the DNA at the repeat region by binding the DNA CTT strand, thereby preventing non-canonical-DNA formation, and that triplex invasion complexes by (CTT) 5-PNA form at the GAA repeats. Locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotides also inhibited triplex formation at GAA repeat expansions, and atomic force microscopy analysis showed significant relaxation of plasmid morphology in the presence of GAA-LNA. Thus, by inhibiting disease related higher order DNA structures in the Frataxin gene, such PNA and LNA oligomers may have potential for discovery of drugs aiming at recovering Frataxin expression.

Herein, electrostatic swelling transitions of poly (ethyl acrylate-co-methacrylic acid) microgels covalently bound to silica surfaces are investigated. Confined at a solid surface, microgel swelling is anisotropically hindered and the structure is flattened to an extent dictated by pH and microgel composition. Microgel deformation under applied load is also shown to depend on microgel charge density, with the highest deformation observed at intermediate charge densities. Two modes of microgel deformation under load were observed, one elastic and one viscoelastic, related to polymer strand deformation and displacement of trapped water, respectively. Results on polymer strand dynamics reveal that the microgels are highly dynamic, as the number of strand-tip interaction points increases 4-fold during a 10 s contact time. Furthermore, finite element modeling captures these effects qualitatively and shows that stress propagation in the microgel network decays locally at the rim of contact with a solid interface or close to the tip probe. Taken together, the results demonstrate a delicate interplay between the surface and microgel which determines the structure and nanomechanical properties of the latter and needs to be controlled in applications of systems such as pH-responsive surface coatings in biomaterials.

Effects of electrostatics and peptide size on peptide interactions with surface-bound microgels were investigated with ellipsometry, confocal microscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results show that binding of cationic poly-L-lysine (pLys) to anionic, covalently immobilized, poly(ethyl acrylate-co-methacrylic acid) micro gels increased with increasing peptide net charge and microgel charge density. Furthermore, peptide release was facilitated by decreasing either microgel or peptide charge density. Analogously, increasing ionic strength facilitated peptide release for short peptides. As a result of peptide binding, the surface-bound microgels displayed pronounced deswelling and increased mechanical rigidity, the latter quantified by quantitative nanomechanical mapping. While short pLys was found to penetrate the entire microgel network and to result in almost complete charge neutralization, larger peptides were partially excluded from the microgel network, forming an outer peptide layer on the microgels. As a result of this difference, microgel flattening was more influenced by the lower Mw peptide than the higher. Peptide-induced deswelling was found to be lower for higher Mw pLys, the latter effect not observed for the corresponding microgels in the dispersed state. While the effects of electrostatics on peptide loading and release were similar to those observed for dispersed microgels, there were thus considerable effects of the underlying surface on peptide-induced microgel deswelling, which need to be considered in the design of surface-bound microgels as carriers of peptide loads, for example, in drug delivery or in functionalized biomaterials.

One-electron outer-sphere redox couples, such as cobalt metal-organic complexes, represent an interesting alternative as redox mediators in dye-sensitized solar cells since they show weak visible light absorption and available redox potentials may lead to higher open circuit voltage values. Here, we have studied the effect of using different substituents on bipyridyl and phenanthroline ligands in cobalt redox shuttles, giving the following complexes: Co[tris(4,4'-dimethoxy-2,2'-bipyridine)(PF6)(2)], Co[tris(4,4'-dichloro-2,2'-bipyridine)(PF6)(2)] and Co[tris(4,7-dichloro-1,10-phenanthroline)(CF3SO3)(2)], displaying a range of CoII/CoIII redox potentials from +0.37 to +0.79 V vs. NHE. The regeneration kinetics of the organic dye D35 was found to depend systematically on the redox mediator potential, which was explained using Marcus theory. The mass transport of cobalt mediators in dye-sensitized solar cells is highly dependent on the porosity, effective surface area and roughness of the mesoporous TiO2 films. Therefore, films with different TiO2 pore sizes were prepared and investigated to gain an insight into the topological effects of TiO2 film preparation in order to obtain optimum solar cell performance.

The mechanical resistance of the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of skin, to deformation has been evaluated at different length scales using Atomic Force Microscopy. Nanomechanical surface mapping was first conducted using a sharp silicon tip and revealed that Young’s modulus of the stratum corneum varied over the surface with a mean value of about 0.4 GPa. Force indentation measurements showed permanent deformation of the skin surface only at high applied loads (above 4 μN). The latter effect was further demonstrated using nanomechanical imaging in which the obtained depth profiles clearly illustrate the effects of increased normal force on the elastic/plastic surface deformation. Force measurements utilizing the single hair fiber probe supported the nanoindentation results of the stratum corneum being highly elastic at the nanoscale, but revealed that the lateral scale of the deformation determines the effective elastic modulus.This result resolves the fact that the reported values in the literature vary greatly and will help to understand the biophysics of the interaction of razor cut hairs that curl back during growth and interact with the skin.