TY - JOUR A1 - Zhou, Qihui A1 - Wuennemann, Patrick A1 - Kuhn, Philipp Till A1 - de Vries, Joop A1 - Helmin, Marta A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - van Kooten, Theo G. A1 - van Rijn, Patrick T1 - Mechanical Properties of Aligned Nanotopologies for Directing Cellular Behavior JF - Advanced materials interfaces N2 - Tailoring cell–surface interactions is important for the of design medical implants as well as regenerative medicine and tissue engineering materials. Here the single parameter system is transcended via translating hard nanotopology into soft polymeric hydrogel structures via hydrogel imprinting lithography. The response of these cells to the nanotopology of the same dimensions but with different mechanical properties displays unexpected behavior between “hard” tissue cells and “soft” tissue cells. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201600275 SN - 2196-7350 VL - 3 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wuennemann, Patrick A1 - Noyong, Michael A1 - Kreuels, Klaus A1 - Bruex, Roland A1 - Gordiichuk, Pavlo A1 - van Rijn, Patrick A1 - Plamper, Felix A. A1 - Simon, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Microstructured Hydrogel Templates for the Formation of Conductive Gold Nanowire Arrays JF - Macromolecular rapid communications N2 - Microstructured hydrogel allows for a new template-guided method to obtain conductive nanowire arrays on a large scale. To generate the template, an imprinting process is used in order to synthesize the hydrogel directly into the grooves of wrinkled polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The resulting poly(N-vinylimidazole)-based hydrogel is defined by the PDMS stamp in pattern and size. Subsequently, tetrachloroaurate(III) ions from aqueous solution are coordinated within the humps of the N-vinylimidazole-containing polymer template and reduced by air plasma. After reduction and development of the gold, to achieve conductive wires, the extension perpendicular to the long axis (width) of the gold strings is considerably reduced compared to the dimension of the parental hydrogel wrinkles (from approximate to 1 mu m down to 200-300 nm). At the same time, the wire-to-wire distance and the overall length of the wires is preserved. The PDMS templates and hydrogel structures are analyzed with scanning force microscopy (SFM) and the gold structures via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The conductivity measurements of the gold nanowires are performed in situ in the SEM, showing highly conductive gold leads. Hence, this method can be regarded as a facile nonlithographic top-down approach from micrometer-sized structures to nanometer-sized features. KW - 1D structures KW - Au nanoarrays KW - microgel KW - nanoimprint KW - lithography KW - thin films Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.201600287 SN - 1022-1336 SN - 1521-3927 VL - 37 SP - 1446 EP - 1452 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wu, Lei A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Synthesis of Hybrid Silica Nanoparticles Densely Grafted with Thermo and pH Dual-Responsive Brushes via Surface-Initiated ATRP JF - Macromolecules : a publication of the American Chemical Society Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.6b01792 SN - 0024-9297 SN - 1520-5835 VL - 49 SP - 9586 EP - 9596 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wagner, Tom A1 - Lazar, Jaroslav A1 - Schnakenberg, Uwe A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - In situ Electrothemical Impedance Spectroscopy of Electrostatically Driven Selective Gold Nanoparticle Adsorption on Block Copolymer Lamellae JF - Trials N2 - Electrostatic attraction between charged nano particles and oppositely charged nanopatterned polymeric films enables tailored structuring of functional nanoscopic surfaces. The bottom-up fabrication of organic/inorganic composites for example bears promising potential toward cheap fabrication of catalysts, optical sensors, and the manufacture of miniaturized electric circuitry. However, only little is known about the time-dependent adsorption behavior and the electronic or ionic charge transfer in the film bulk and at interfaces during nanoparticle assembly via electrostatic interactions. In situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in combination with a microfluidic system for fast and reproducible liquid delivery was thus applied to monitor the selective deposition of negatively charged gold nanoparticles on top of positively charged poly(2-vinylpyridinium) (qP2VP) domains of phase separated lamellar poly(styrene)-block-poly(2-vinylpyridinium) (PS-b-qP2VP) diblock copolymer thin films. The acquired impedance data delivered information with respect to interfacial charge alteration, ionic diffusion, and the charge dependent nanoparticle adsorption kinetics, considering this yet unexplored system. We demonstrate that the selective adsorption of negatively charged gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on positively charged qP2VP domains of lamellar PS-b-qP2VP thin films can indeed be tracked by EIS. Moreover, we show that the nanoparticle adsorption kinetics and the nanoparticle packing density are functions of the charge density in the qP2VP domains. KW - impedance spectroscopy KW - block copolymers KW - nanoparticles KW - electrostatics KW - adsorption kinetics Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b07708 SN - 1944-8244 VL - 8 SP - 27282 EP - 27290 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sechi, Antonio A1 - Freitas, Joana M. G. A1 - Wünnemann, Patrick A1 - Töpel, Alexander A1 - Paschoalin, Rafaella Takehara A1 - Ullmann, Sabrina A1 - Schröder, Ricarda A1 - Aydin, Gülcan A1 - Rütten, Stephan A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - Zenke, Martin A1 - Pich, Andrij T1 - Surface-Grafted Nanogel Arrays Direct Cell Adhesion and Motility JF - Advanced materials interfaces N2 - It has long been appreciated that material chemistry and topology profoundly affect cell adhesion and migration. Here, aqueous poly(N- isopropyl acrylamide) nanogels are designed, synthesized and printed in form of colloidal arrays on glass substrates using wrinkled polydimethylsiloxane templates. Using low-temperature plasma treatment, nanogels are chemically grafted onto glass supports thus leading to highly stable nanogel layers in cell culture media. Liquid cell atomic force microscopy investigations show that surface-grafted nanogels retain their swelling behavior in aqueous media and that extracellular matrix protein coating do not alter their stability and topography. It is demonstrated that surface-grafted nanogels could serve as novel substrates for the analysis of cell adhesion and migration. Nanogels influence size, speed, and dynamics of focal adhesions and cell motility forcing cells to move along highly directional trajectories. Moreover, modulation of nanogel state or spacing serves as an effective tool for regulation of cell motility. It is suggested that nanogel arrays deposited on solid surfaces could be used to provide a precise and tunable system to understand and control cell migration. Additionally, such nanogel arrays will contribute to the development of implantable systems aimed at supporting and enhancing cell migration during, for instance, wound healing and tissue regeneration. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201600455 SN - 2196-7350 VL - 3 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schürings, Marco-Philipp A1 - Nevskyi, Oleksii A1 - Eliasch, Kamill A1 - Michel, Ann-Katrin A1 - Liu, Bing A1 - Pich, Andrij A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - von Plessen, Gero A1 - Wöll, Dominik T1 - Diffusive Motion of Linear Microgel Assemblies in Solution JF - Polymers N2 - Due to the ability of microgels to rapidly contract and expand in response to external stimuli, assemblies of interconnected microgels are promising for actuation applications, e.g., as contracting fibers for artificial muscles. Among the properties determining the suitability of microgel assemblies for actuation are mechanical parameters such as bending stiffness and mobility. Here, we study the properties of linear, one-dimensional chains of poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) microgels dispersed in water. They were fabricated by utilizing wrinkled surfaces as templates and UV-cross-linking the microgels. We image the shapes of the chains on surfaces and in solution using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and fluorescence microscopy, respectively. In solution, the chains are observed to execute translational and rotational diffusive motions. Evaluation of the motions yields translational and rotational diffusion coefficients and, from the translational diffusion coefficient, the chain mobility. The microgel chains show no perceptible bending, which yields a lower limit on their bending stiffness. KW - microgels KW - linear assemblies KW - in situ fluorescence microscopy KW - shape analysis KW - rotational diffusion KW - translational diffusion KW - bending stiffness KW - actuation Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym8120413 SN - 2073-4360 VL - 8 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rosencrantz, Ruben R. A1 - Vu Hoa Nguyen, A1 - Park, Hyunji A1 - Schulte, Christine A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - Schnakenberg, Uwe A1 - Elling, Lothar T1 - Lectin binding studies on a glycopolymer brush flow-through biosensor by localized surface plasmon resonance JF - Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry : a merger of Fresenius' journal of analytical chemistry and Analusis N2 - A localized surface plasmon resonance biosensor in a flow-through configuration was applied for investigating kinetics of lectin binding to surface-grafted glycopolymer brushes. Polycarbonate filter membranes with pore sizes of 400 nm were coated with a 114-nm thick gold layer and used as substrate for surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization of a glycomonomer. These grafted from glycopolymer brushes were further modified with two subsequent enzymatic reactions on the surface to yield an immobilized trisaccharide presenting brush. Specific binding of lectins including Clostridium difficile toxin A receptor domain to the glycopolymer brush surface could be investigated in a microfluidic setup with flow-through of the analytes and transmission surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. KW - Localized surface plasmon resonance KW - Glycopolymer brush KW - Microfluidics KW - Bacterial toxin KW - Glycosyltransferase KW - Biosensors Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9667-9 SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 408 SP - 5633 EP - 5640 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Richter, Marina Juliane A1 - Schulz, Alexander A1 - Subkowski, Thomas A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Adsorption and rheological behavior of an amphiphilic protein at oil/water interfaces JF - Journal of colloid and interface science N2 - Hydrophobins are highly surface active proteins which self-assemble at hydrophilic-hydrophobic interfaces into amphipathic membranes. We investigate hydrophobin self-assembly at oil/water interfaces to deepen the understanding of protein behavior in order to improve our biomimetic synthesis. Therefore, we carried out pendant drop measurements of hydrophobin stabilized oil/water systems determining the time-dependent IFT and the dilatational rheology with additional adaptation to the Serrien protein model. We show that the class I hydrophobin H*Protein B adsorbs at an oil/water interface where it forms a densely-packed interfacial protein layer, which dissipates energy during droplet oscillation. Furthermore, the interfacial protein layer exhibits shear thinning behavior. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Hydrophobin KW - Self-assembly KW - Pendant drop tensiometry KW - IFT KW - Rheology Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2016.06.062 SN - 0021-9797 SN - 1095-7103 VL - 479 SP - 199 EP - 206 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Park, Sungjune A1 - Cheng, Xiao A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - Tsarkova, Larisa T1 - Hierarchical Manipulation of Block Copolymer Patterns on 3D Topographic Substrates: Beyond Graphoepitaxy JF - Advanced materials N2 - Templates of complex nanopatterns in a form of hierarchically sequenced dots and stripes can be generated in block copolymer films on lithography-free 3D topographic substrates. The approach exploits thickness- and swelling-responsive morphological behavior of block copolymers, and demonstrates novel possibilities of topography-guided registration of nanopatterns due to periodic confinement and spontaneous orthogonal flow-fields. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201601098 SN - 0935-9648 SN - 1521-4095 VL - 28 SP - 6900 EP - + PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Park, H. A1 - Walta, S. A1 - Rosencrantz, Ruben R. A1 - Koerner, A. A1 - Schulte, Christoph A1 - Elling, L. A1 - Richtering, Walter A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Micelles from self-assembled double-hydrophilic PHEMA-glycopolymer-diblock copolymers as multivalent scaffolds for lectin binding JF - Polymer Chemistry N2 - We introduce a novel double-hydrophilic hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) based diblock glycopolymer which self-assembles into homogeneous spherical micellar structures in water. The micellar structure renders surface-oriented N-acetylglucocosamine (GlcNAc) sugar moieties for strong multivalent glycan-mediated lectin binding. Structural analysis and lectin binding is performed by microscopy methods, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and two-focus fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (2fFCS), revealing a novel micellar type of multivalent sugar binding scaffold with high potential for biomedical applications. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c5py00797f SN - 1759-9954 SN - 1759-9962 VL - 7 SP - 878 EP - 886 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER -