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The world energy consumption has constantly increased every year due to economic development and population growth. This inevitably caused vast amount of CO2 emission, and the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere keeps increasing with economic growth. To reduce CO2 emission, various methods have been developed but there are still many bottlenecks to be solved. Solvents easily absorbing CO2 such as monoethanol-amine (MEA) and diethanolamine, for example, have limitations of solvent loss, amine degradation, vulnerability to heat and toxicity, and the high cost of regeneration which is especially caused due to chemisorption process. Though some of these drawbacks can be compensated through physisorption with zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by displaying significant adsorption selectivity and capacity even in ambient conditions, limitations for these materials still exist. Zeolites demand relatively high regeneration energy and have limited adsorption kinetics due to the exceptionally narrow pore structure. MOFs have low stability against heat and moisture and high manufacturing cost.
Nanoporous carbons have recently received attention as an attractive functional porous material due to their unique properties. These materials are crucial in many applications of modern science and industry such as water and air purification, catalysis, gas separation, and energy storage/conversion due to their high chemical and thermal stability, and in particular electronic conductivity in combination with high specific surface areas. Nanoporous carbons can be used to adsorb environmental pollutants or small gas molecules such as CO2 and to power electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries and fuel cells. In all fields, their pore structure or electrical properties can be modified depending on their purposes.
This thesis provides an in-depth look at novel nanoporous carbons from the synthetic and the application point of view. The interplay between pore structure, atomic construction, and the adsorption properties of nanoporous carbon materials are investigated. Novel nanoporous carbon materials are synthesized by using simple precursor molecules containing heteroatoms through a facile
templating method. The affinity, and in turn the adsorption capacity, of carbon materials toward polar gas molecules (CO2 and H2O) is enhanced by the modification of their chemical construction. It is also shown that these properties are important in electrochemical energy storage, here especially for supercapacitors with aqueous electrolytes which are basically based on the physisorption of ions on carbon surfaces. This shows that nanoporous carbons can be a “functional” material with specific physical or chemical interactions with guest species just like zeolites and MOFs.
The synthesis of sp2-conjugated materials with high heteroatom content from a mixture of citrazinic acid and melamine in which heteroatoms are already bonded in specific motives is illustrated. By controlling the removal procedure of the salt-template and the condensation temperature, the role of salts in the formation of porosity and as coordination sites for the stabilization of heteroatoms is proven. A high amount of nitrogen of up to 20 wt. %, oxygen contents of up to 19 wt.%, and a high CO2/N2 selectivity with maximum CO2 uptake at 273 K of 5.31 mmol g–1 are achieved. Besides, the further controlled thermal condensation of precursor molecules and advanced functional properties on applications of the synthesized porous carbons are described. The materials have different porosity and atomic construction exhibiting a high nitrogen content up to 25 wt. % as well as a high porosity with a specific surface area of more than 1800 m2 g−1, and a high performance in selective CO2 gas adsorption of 62.7. These pore structure as well as properties of surface affect to water adsorption with a remarkably high Qst of over 100 kJ mol−1 even higher than that of zeolites or CaCl2 well known as adsorbents. In addition to that, the pore structure of HAT-CN-derived carbon materials during condensation in vacuum is fundamentally understood which is essential to maximize the utilization of porous system in materials showing significant difference in their pore volume of 0.5 cm3 g−1 and 0.25 cm3 g−1 without and with vacuum, respectively.
The molecular designs of heteroatom containing porous carbon derived from abundant and simple molecules are introduced in the presented thesis. Abundant precursors that already containing high amount of nitrogen or oxygen are beneficial to achieve enhanced interaction with adsorptives. The physical and chemical properties of these heteroatom-doped porous carbons are affected by mainly two parameters, that is, the porosity from the pore structure and the polarity from the atomic composition on the surface. In other words, controlling the porosity as well as the polarity of the carbon materials is studied to understand interactions with different guest species which is a fundamental knowledge for the utilization on various applications.
Innerhalb dieser Arbeit erfolgte die erstmalige systematische Untersuchung von Vinylsulfonsäureethylester (1a), Phenylvinylsulfon (1b), N-Benzyl-N-methylethensulfonamid (1c) in der FUJIWARA-MORITANI Reaktion (alternativ als DHR bezeichnet). Bei dieser übergangsmetallkatalysierten Reaktion erfolgt der Aufbau einer neuen C-C-Bindung unter der doppelten Aktivierung einer C-H-Bindung. Somit kann ein atomökonomischer Aufbau von Molekülen realisiert werden, da keine Beiprodukte in Form von Salzen entstehen. Als aromatischer Reaktant wurden Acetanilide (2) verwendet, damit eine regiospezifische Kupplung durch die katalysatordirigierende Acetamid-Gruppe (CDG) erfolgt. Für die Pd-katalysierte DHR wurde eine umfangreiche Optimierung durchgeführt und anschließend konnten neun verschieden, substituierte 2 mit 1a und sieben verschieden, substituierte 2 mit 1b funktionalisiert werden. Da eine Reaktion mit 1c ausblieb, erfolgte ein Wechsel auf eine Ru-katalysierte Methode für die DHR. Mit dieser Methode konnte 1c mit Acetaniliden funktionalisiert werden und das Spektrum der verwendeten 2, in Form von deaktivierenden Substituenten erweitert werden.
Im Anschluss wurden die sulfalkenylierten Acetanilide in weiterführenden Reaktionen untersucht. Hierfür wurde eine Reaktionssequenz bestehend aus einer DeacetylierungDiazotierung-Kupplungsreaktion verwendet, um die Acetamid-Gruppe in eine Abgangsgruppe zu überführen und danach in einer MATSUDA-HECK Reaktion zu kuppeln. Mit dieser Methode konnten mehrere 1,2-Dialkenylbenzole erhalten werden und die CDG ein weiteres Mal genutzt werden. Neben der Überführung der CDG in eine Abgangsgruppe konnte diese auch in die Synthese verschiedener Heterozyklen integriert werden. Dafür erfolgte zunächst eine 1,3-Zykloaddition durch deprotonierten Tosylmethylisocanid an der elektronenarmen Sulfalkenylgruppe zur Synthese von Pyrrolen. Anschließend erfolgte eine Kupplung der PyrrolFunktion und der CDG durch Zyklokondensation, wodurch Quinoline dargestellt wurden. Durch diese Synthesen konnten Schwefelanaloga des Naturstoffes Marinoquionolin A erhalten werden.
Ein weitere übergangsmetallkatalysierte C-H-Aktivierungsreaktion, die MATSUDA-HECK Reaktion, wurde genutzt, um 1b zu mit verschieden, subtituierten Diazoniumsalzen zu arylieren. Hier konnten zahlreichen Styrenylsulfone erhalten werden. Der erfolgreiche Einsatz der Vinylsulfonylverbindungen in der Kreuzmetathese konnte innerhalb dieser Arbeit nicht erreicht werden. Daher erfolgte die Synthese verschiedener dialkenylierter Sulfonamide. Hierfür wurde die Kettenlänge der Alkenyl-Gruppe am Schwefel zwischen 2-3 und am Stickstoff zwischen 3-4 variiert. Der Einsatz der dialkenylierten Sulfonamide erfolgte in den zuvor untersuchten C-H-Aktivierungsmethoden.
N-Allyl-N-phenylethensulfonamid (3) konnte erfolgreich in der DHR und HECK Reaktion funktionalisiert werden. Hierbei erfolgte eine methodenspezifische Kupplung in Abhängigkeit von der Elektronendichte der entsprechenden Alkenyl-Gruppe. Die DHR führte zur selektiven Arylierung der Vinyl-Gruppe und die HECK Reaktion zur Arylierung an der Allyl-Gruppe. Gemischte Produkte wurden nicht erhalten. Für die weiteren Diolefine wurde komplexe Produktgemische erhalten. Des Weiteren wurden die Diolefine in der Ringschlussmetathese untersucht und die entsprechenden Sultame in sehr guten Ausbeuten erhalten. Die Verwendung der Sultame in der C-H-Aktivierung war erfolglos. Es wird vermutet, dass für diese zweifachsubstituierten Sulfonamide die vorhandenen Reaktionsbedingungen optimiert werden müssen.
Abschließend wurden verschiedene, enantiomerenreine Olefine ausgehend von Levoglucosenon dargestellt. Hierfür wurde Levoglucosenon zunächst mit einem Allyl- und 3-Butenylgrignard Reagenz umgesetzt. Die entsprechenden Produkte wurden in moderaten Ausbeuten erhalten. Eine weitere Methode begann mit der Reduktion von Levoglucosenon zum Levoglucosenol. Dieser Alkohol wurde mit Allylbromid erfolgreich verethert. Neben der Untersuchungen zur Ethersynthese, erfolgte die Veresterung von Levoglucosenol mit verschiedenen Sulfonylchloriden zu den entsprechenden Sulfonsäureestern. Diese Olefine wurden in einer Dominometathesereaktion untersucht. Ausgehend vom Allyllevoglucosenylether erfolgte die Darstellung eines Dihydrofurans.
The development and optimization of carbonaceous materials is of great interest for several applications including gas sorption, electrochemical storage and conversion, or heterogeneous catalysis. In this thesis, the exploration and optimization of nitrogen containing carbonaceous materials by direct condensation of smart chosen, molecular precursors will be presented. As suggested with the concept of noble carbons, the choice of a stable, nitrogen-containing precursor will lead to an even more stable, nitrogen doped carbonaceous material with a controlled structure and electronic properties. Molecules fulfilling this requirement are for example nucleobases. The direct condensation of nucleobases leads to highly nitrogen containing carbonaceous materials without any further post or pretreatment. By using salt melt templating, pore structure adjustment is possible without the use of hazardous or toxic reagents and the template can be reused.
Using these simple tools, the synergetic effect of the pore structure and nitrogen content of the materials can be explored. Within this thesis, the influence of the condensation parameters will be correlated to the structure and performance of the materials. First, the influence of the condensation temperature to the porosity and nitrogen content of guanine will be discussed and the exploration of highly CO2 selective structural pores in C1N1 materials will be shown. Further tuning the pore structure of the materials by salt melt templating will be then explored, the potential of the prepared materials as heterogeneous catalysts and their basic catalytic strength will be correlated to their nitrogen content and pore morphology. A similar approach is used to explore the water sorption behavior of uric acid derived carbonaceous materials as potential sorbents for heat transformation applications. Changes in maximum water uptake and hydrophilicity of the prepared materials will be correlated to the nitrogen content and pore architecture. Due to the high thermal stability, porosity, and nitrogen content of ionic liquid derived nitrogen doped carbonaceous materials, a simple impregnation and calcination route can be conducted to obtain copper nano cluster decorated nitrogen-doped carbonaceous materials. The activity as catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction of the obtained materials will be shown and structure performance relations are discussed.
In conclusion, the versatility of nitrogen doped carbonaceous materials with a nitrogen to carbon ratio of up to one will be shown. The possibility to tune the pore structure as well as the nitrogen content by using a simple procedure including salt melt templating as well as the use of molecular precursors and their effect on the performance will be discussed.
The negative impact of crude oil on the environment has led to a necessary transition toward alternative, renewable, and sustainable resources. In this regard, lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is a promising renewable and sustainable alternative to crude oil for the production of fine chemicals and fuels in a so-called biorefinery process. LCB is composed of polysaccharides (cellulose and hemicellulose), as well as aromatics (lignin). The development of a sustainable and economically advantageous biorefinery depends on the complete and efficient valorization of all components. Therefore, in the new generation of biorefinery, the so-called biorefinery of type III, the LCB feedstocks are selectively deconstructed and catalytically transformed into platform chemicals. For this purpose, the development of highly stable and efficient catalysts is crucial for progress toward viability in biorefinery. Furthermore, a modern and integrated biorefinery relies on process and reactor design, toward more efficient and cost-effective methodologies that minimize waste. In this context, the usage of continuous flow systems has the potential to provide safe, sustainable, and innovative transformations with simple process integration and scalability for biorefinery schemes.
This thesis addresses three main challenges for future biorefinery: catalyst synthesis, waste feedstock valorization, and usage of continuous flow technology. Firstly, a cheap, scalable, and sustainable approach is presented for the synthesis of an efficient and stable 35 wt.-% Ni catalyst on highly porous nitrogen-doped carbon support (35Ni/NDC) in pellet shape. Initially, the performance of this catalyst was evaluated for the aqueous phase hydrogenation of LCB-derived compounds such as glucose, xylose, and vanillin in continuous flow systems. The 35Ni/NDC catalyst exhibited high catalytic performances in three tested hydrogenation reactions, i.e., sorbitol, xylitol, and 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol with yields of 82 mol%, 62 mol%, and 100 mol% respectively. In addition, the 35Ni/NDC catalyst exhibited remarkable stability over a long time on stream in continuous flow (40 h). Furthermore, the 35Ni/NDC catalyst was combined with commercially available Beta zeolite in a dual–column integrated process for isosorbide production from glucose (yield 83 mol%).
Finally, 35Ni/NDC was applied for the valorization of industrial waste products, namely sodium lignosulfonate (LS) and beech wood sawdust (BWS) in continuous flow systems. The LS depolymerization was conducted combining solvothermal fragmentation of water/alcohol mixtures (i.e.,methanol/water and ethanol/water) with catalytic hydrogenolysis/hydrogenation (SHF). The depolymerization was found to occur thermally in absence of catalyst with a tunable molecular weight according to temperature. Furthermore, the SHF generated an optimized cumulative yield of lignin-derived phenolic monomers of 42 mg gLS-1. Similarly, a solvothermal and reductive catalytic fragmentation (SF-RCF) of BWS was conducted using MeOH and MeTHF as a solvent. In this case, the optimized total lignin-derived phenolic monomers yield was found of 247 mg gKL-1.
The optical properties of chromophores, especially organic dyes and optically active inorganic molecules, are determined by their chemical structures, surrounding media, and excited state behaviors. The classical optical go-to techniques for spectroscopic investigations are absorption and luminescence spectroscopy. While both techniques are powerful and easy to apply spectroscopic methods, the limited time resolution of luminescence spectroscopy and its reliance on luminescent properties can make its application, in certain cases, complex, or even impossible. This can be the case when the investigated molecules do not luminesce anymore due to quenching effects, or when they were never luminescent in the first place. In those cases, transient absorption spectroscopy is an excellent and much more sophisticated technique to investigate such systems. This pump-probe laser-spectroscopic method is excellent for mechanistic investigations of luminescence quenching phenomena and photoreactions. This is due to its extremely high time resolution in the femto- and picosecond ranges, where many intermediate or transient species of a reaction can be identified and their kinetic evolution can be observed. Furthermore, it does not rely on the samples being luminescent, due to the active sample probing after excitation. In this work it is shown, that with transient absorption spectroscopy it was possible to identify the luminescence quenching mechanisms and thus luminescence quantum yield losses of the organic dye classes O4-DBD, S4-DBD, and pyridylanthracenes. Hence, the population of their triplet states could be identified as the competitive mechanism to their luminescence. While the good luminophores O4-DBD showed minor losses, the S4-DBD dye luminescence was almost entirely quenched by this process. However, for pyridylanthracenes, this phenomenon is present in both the protonated and unprotonated forms and moderately effects the luminescence quantum yield. Also, the majority of the quenching losses in the protonated forms are caused by additional non-radiative processes introduced by the protonation of the pyridyl rings. Furthermore, transient absorption spectroscopy can be applied to investigate the quenching mechanisms of uranyl(VI) luminescence by chloride and bromide. The reduction of the halides by excited uranyl(VI) leads to the formation of dihalide radicals X^(·−2). This excited state redox process is thus identified as the quenching mechanism for both halides, and this process, being diffusion-limited, can be suppressed by cryogenically freezing the samples or by observing these interactions in media with a lower dielectric constant, such as ACN and acetone.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Herstellung und Charakterisierung von Mixed-Matrix-Membranen (MMM) für die Gastrennung thematisiert. Dazu wurden verschiedene Füllstoffe genutzt, um in Verbindung mit dem Membranmaterial Polysulfon MMMs herzustellen. Als Füllstoffe wurden 3 aktive und 2 passive Füllstoffe verwendet. Die aktiven Füllstoffe besaßen Porenöffnungen, die in der Lage sind Gase in Abhängigkeit der Molekülgröße zu trennen. Daraus folgt ein höherer idealer Trennfaktor für bestimmte Gaspaare als in Polysulfon selbst. Aufgrund der durch die Poren gebildeten permanenten Kanäle in den aktiven Füllstoffen ergibt sich ein schnellerer Gastransport (Permeabilität) als in Polysulfon. Es handelte sich bei den aktiven Füllstoffen um den Zeolith SAPO-34 und 2 Chargen eines Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIF) ZIF-8. Die beiden Chargen ZIF-8 unterschieden sich in ihrer spezifischen Oberfläche, was diesen Einfluss speziell in die Untersuchungen zum Gastransport einbeziehen sollte. Bei den passiven Füllstoffen handelte es sich um ein aminofunktionalisiertes Kieselgel und unporöse (dichte) Glaskügelchen. Das Kieselgel besaß Poren, die zu groß waren, um Gase effektiv zu trennen. Die Glaskügelchen konnten keine Gastrennung ermöglichen, da sie keine Poren besaßen.
Aus der Literatur ist bekannt, dass die Einbettung von Füllstoffen oft zu Defekten in MMMs führt. Ein Ziel dieser Arbeit war es daher die Einbettung zu optimieren. Weiterhin sollte der Gastransport in MMMs dieser Arbeit mit dem in einer unbeladenen Polysulfonmembran verglichen werden. Aufgrund des selektiveren Trennverhaltens der aktiven Füllstoffe im Vergleich zum Membranmaterial, sollte mit der Einbettung aktiver Füllstoffe die Trennleistung der MMMs mit steigender Füllstoffbeladung immer weiter verbessert werden.
Um die Eigenschaften der MMMs zu untersuchen, wurden diese mittels Rasterelektronenmikroskop (REM), Gaspermeationsmessungen (GP) und Thermogravimetrischer Analyse gekoppelt mit Massenspektrometrie (TGA-MS) charakterisiert.
Untersuchungen am REM konnten eine Verbesserung der Einbettung zeigen, wenn ein polymerer Haftvermittler verwendet wurde. Verglichen wurde die optimierte Einbettung mit der Einbettung ohne Haftvermittler und Ergebnissen aus der Literatur, in der die Verwendung verschiedener Silane als Haftvermittler beschrieben wurde. Trotz der verbesserten Einbettung konnte lediglich bei geringen Beladungen an Füllstoff (10 und 20 Ma-% bezogen auf das Membranmaterial) eine geringe Steigerung des idealen Trennfaktors in den MMMs gegenüber der unbeladenen Polysulfonmembranen beobachtet werden. Bei höheren Füllstoffbeladungen (30, 40 und 50 Ma-%) war ein deutlicher Anstieg der Permeabilität bei stark sinkendem idealen Trennfaktor zu beobachten. Mit Hilfe von TGA-MS Messungen konnte darüber hinaus festgestellt werden, dass der verwendete Zeolith SAPO-34 durch Wassermoleküle blockierte Porenöffnungen besaß. Das verhinderte den Gastransport im Füllstoff, wodurch die Trennleistung des Füllstoffes nicht ausgenutzt werden konnte. Die Füllstoffe ZIF-8 (chargenunabhängig) und aminofunktionalisiertes Kieselgel wiesen keine blockierten Poren auf. Dennoch zeigte sich in diesen MMMs keine Verbesserung der Gastrenn- oder Gastransporteigenschaften. MMMs mit dichten Glaskügelchen als Füllstoff zeigten dasselbe Gastrenn- und Gastransportverhalten, wie alle MMMs mit den zuvor genannten Füllstoffen.
In dieser Arbeit konnte, trotz optimierter Einbettung anorganischer Füllstoffe, für MMMs keine Verbesserung der Gastrenn- oder Gastransporteigenschaften nachgewiesen werden. Vielmehr wurde ein Einfluss der Füllstoffmenge auf die Gastransporteigenschaften in MMMs festgestellt. Die Änderungen der MMMs gegenüber Polysulfon stammen von den Folgen der Einbettung von Füllstoffen in das Matrixpolymer. Durch die Einbettung werden die Eigenschaften des Matrixpolymers ändern, sodass auch der Gastransport beeinflusst wird. Des Weiteren wurde dokumentiert, dass in Abhängigkeit der Füllstoffbeladung die entstehende Membranstruktur beeinflusst wird. Die Beeinflussung war dabei unabhängig von der Füllstoffart. Es wurde eine Korrelation zwischen Füllstoffmenge und veränderter Membranstruktur gefunden.
Eukaryotic cells can be regarded as complex microreactors capable of performing various biochemical reactions in parallel which are necessary to sustain life. An essential prerequisite for these complex metabolic reactions to occur is the evolution of lipid membrane-bound organelles enabling compartmental- ization of reactions and biomolecules. This allows for a spatiotemporal control over the metabolic reactions within the cellular system. Intracellular organi- zation arising due to compartmentalization is a key feature of all living cells and has inspired synthetic biologists to engineer such systems with bottom-up approaches.
Artificial cells provide an ideal platform to isolate and study specific re- actions without the interference from the complex network of biomolecules present in biological cells. To mimic the hierarchical architecture of eukaryotic cells, multi-compartment assemblies with nested liposomal structures also re- ferred to as multi-vesicular vesicles (MVVs) have been widely adopted. Most of the previously reported multi-compartment systems adopt bulk method- ologies which suffer from low yield and poor control over size. Microfluidic strategies help circumvent these issues and facilitate a high-throughput and robust technique to assemble MVVs of uniform size distribution.
In this thesis, firstly, the bulk methodologies are explored to build MVVs and implement a synthetic signalling cascade. Next, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic platform is introduced to build MVVs and the significance of PEGylated lipids for the successful encapsulation of inner com- partments to generate stable multi-compartment systems is highlighted.
Next, a novel two-inlet channel PDMS-based microfluidic device to create MVVs encompassing a three-step enzymatic reaction cascade is presented. A directed reaction pathway comprising of the enzymes α-glucosidase (α-Glc), glucose oxidase (GOx), and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) spanning across three compartments via reconstitution of size-selective membrane proteins is described. Furthermore, owing to the monodispersity of our MVVs due to microfluidic strategies, this platform is employed to study the effect of com- partmentalization on reaction kinetics.
Further integration of cell-free expression module into the MVVs would allow for gene-mediated signal transduction within artificial eukaryotic cells. Therefore, the chemically inducible cell-free expression of a membrane protein alpha-hemolysin and its further reconstitution into liposomes is carried out.
In conclusion, the present thesis aims to build artificial eukaryotic cells to achieve size-selective chemical communication that also show potential for applications as micro reactors and as vehicles for drug delivery.
Zentrales Element dieser Arbeit ist die Synthese und Charakterisierung praktisch nutzbarer Ionogele. Die Basis der Polymerionogele bildet das Modellpolymer Polymethylmethacrylat. Als Additive kommen ionische Flüssigkeiten zum Einsatz, deren Grundlage Derivate des vielfach verwendeten Imidazoliumkations sind. Die Eigenschaften der eingebetteten ionischen Flüssigkeiten sind für die Ionogele funktionsgebend. Die Funktionalität der jeweiligen Gele und damit der Transfer der Eigenschaften von ionischen Flüssigkeiten auf die Ionogele wurde in der vorliegenden Arbeit mittels zahlreicher Charakterisierungstechniken überprüft und bestätigt. In dieser Arbeit wurden durch Ionogelbildung makroskopische Ionogelobjekte in Form von Folien und Vliesen erzeugt. Dabei kamen das Filmgießen und das Elektrospinnen als Methoden zur Erzeugung dieser Folien und Vliese zum Einsatz, woraus jeweils ein Modellsystem resultiert. Dadurch wird die vorliegende Arbeit in die Themenkomplexe „elektrisch halbleitende Ionogelfolien“ und „antimikrobiell aktive Ionogelvliese“ gegliedert. Der Einsatz von triiodidhaltigen ionischen Flüssigkeiten und einer Polymermatrix in einem diskontinuierlichen Gießprozess resultiert in elektrisch halbleitenden Ionogelfolien. Die flexiblen und transparenten Folien können Mittelpunkt zahlreicher neuer Anwendungsfelder im Bereich flexibler Elektronik sein. Das Elektrospinnen von Polymethylmethacrylat mit einer ionischen Flüssigkeit führte zu einem homogen Ionogelvlies, welches ein Modell für die Übertragung antimikrobiell aktiver Eigenschaften ionischer Flüssigkeiten auf poröse Strukturen zur Filtration darstellt. Gleichzeitig ist es das erste Beispiel für ein kupferchloridhaltiges Ionogel. Ionogele sind attraktive Materialien mit zahlreichen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten. Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit wird das Spektrum der Ionogele um ein elektrisch halbleitendes und ein antimikrobiell aktives Ionogel erweitert. Gleichzeitig wurden durch diese Arbeit der Gruppe der ionischen Flüssigkeiten drei Beispiele für elektrisch halbleitende ionische Flüssigkeiten sowie zahlreiche kupfer(II)chloridbasierte ionische Flüssigkeiten hinzugefügt.
The controlled dosage of substances from a device to its environment, such as a tissue or an organ in medical applications or a reactor, room, machinery or ecosystem in technical, should ideally match the requirements of the applications, e.g. in terms of the time point at which the cargo is released. On-demand dosage systems may enable such a desired release pattern, if the device contain suitable features that can translate external signals into a release function. This study is motivated by the opportunities arising from microsystems capable of an on-demand release and the contributions that geometrical design may have in realizing such features. The goals of this work included the design, fabrication, characterization and experimental proof-of-concept of geometry-assisted triggerable dosing effect (a) with a sequential dosing release and (b) in a self-sufficient dosage system. Structure-function relationships were addressed on the molecular, morphological and, with a particular attention, the device design level, which is on the micrometer scale. Models and/or computational tools were used to screen the parameter space and provide guidance for experiments.
Membrane contact sites are of particular interest in the field of synthetic biology and biophysics. They are involved in a great variety of cellular functions. They form in between two cellular organelles or an organelle and the plasma membrane in order to establish a communication path for molecule transport or signal transmission.
The development of an artificial membrane system which can mimic membrane contact sites using bottom up synthetic biology was the goal of this research study. For this, a multi - compartmentalised giant unilamellar vesicle (GUV) system was created with the membrane of the outer vesicle mimicking the plasma membrane and the inner GUVs posing as cellular organelles.
In the following steps, three different strategies were used to achieve an internal membrane - membrane adhesion.
The article describes a systematic investigation of the effects of an aqueous NaOH treatment of 3D printed poly(lactic acid) (PLA) scaffolds for surface activation. The PLA surface undergoes several morphology changes and after an initial surface roughening, the surface becomes smoother again before the material dissolves. Erosion rates and surface morphologies can be controlled by the treatment. At the same time, the bulk mechanical properties of the treated materials remain unaltered. This indicates that NaOH treatment of 3D printed PLA scaffolds is a simple, yet viable strategy for surface activation without compromising the mechanical stability of PLA scaffolds.
Ihre außergewöhnlich hohen Konversionseffizienzen von über 20 % und die einfache Zellherstellung machen Hybridperowskite zu heißen Kandidaten für alternative Solarzellenmaterialien. CH3NH3PbI3 als Archetyp dieser Materialklasse besitzt außergewöhnliche Eigenschaften wie eine sehr effiziente Umwandlung von Solarenergie, wobei besonders Ferroelektrizität als mögliche Erklärung in den Fokus gerückt ist. Diese erfordert allerdings eine nicht-zentrosymmetrische Kristallstruktur als notwendige Voraussetzung. Wir stellen hier eine Erklärung des Symmetriebruchs in diesem Material auf kristallographischem, d. h. fernordnungs-basiertem, Wege vor. Während das Molekülkation CH3NH3+ intrinsisch polar ist, ist es extrem fehlgeordnet und kann deshalb nicht die einzige Erklärung darstellen. Es verzerrt allerdings das umgebende Kristallgitter und ruft dadurch eine Verschiebung der Iod-Atome von den zentrosymmetrischen Positionen hervor.
Excellent conversion efficiencies of over 20% and facile cell production have placed hybrid perovskites at the forefront of novel solar cell materials, with CH3NH3PbI3 being an archetypal compound. The question why CH3NH3PbI3 has such extraordinary characteristics, particularly a very efficient power conversion from absorbed light to electrical power, is hotly debated, with ferroelectricity being a promising candidate. This does, however, require the crystal structure to be non-centrosymmetric and we herein present crystallographic evidence as to how the symmetry breaking occurs on a crystallographic and, therefore, long-range level. Although the molecular cation CH3NH3+ is intrinsically polar, it is heavily disordered and this cannot be the sole reason for the ferroelectricity. We show that it, nonetheless, plays an important role, as it distorts the neighboring iodide positions from their centrosymmetric positions.
Die herausragenden mechanischen Eigenschaften natürlicher anorganisch-organischer Kompositmaterialien wie Knochen oder Muschelschalen entspringen ihrer hierarchischen Struktur, die von der nano- bis hinauf zur makroskopischen Ebene reicht, und einer kontrollierten Verbindung entlang der Grenzflächen der anorganischen und organischen Komponenten.
Ausgehend von diesen Schlüsselprinzipien des biologischen Materialdesigns wurden in dieser Arbeit zwei Konzepte für die bioinspirierte Strukturbildung von Kompositen untersucht, die auf dem Verkleben von Nano- oder Mesokristallen mit funktionalisierten Poly(2-oxazolin)-Blockcopolymeren beruhen sowie deren Potenzial zur Herstellung bioinspirierter selbstorganisierter hierarchischer anorganisch-organischer Verbundstrukturen ohne äußere Kräfte beleuchtet. Die Konzepte unterschieden sich in den verwendeten anorganischen Partikeln und in der Art der Strukturbildung.
Über einen modularen Ansatz aus Polymersynthese und polymeranaloger Thiol-En-Funktionalisierung wurde erfolgreich eine Bibliothek von Poly(2-oxazolin)en mit unterschiedlichen Funktionalitäten erstellt. Die Blockcopolymere bestehen aus einem kurzen partikelaffinen "Klebeblock", der aus Thiol-En-funktionalisiertem Poly(2-(3-butenyl)-2-oxazolin) besteht, und einem langen wasserlöslichen, strukturbildenden Block, der aus thermoresponsivem und kristallisierbarem Poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazolin) besteht und hierarchische Morphologien ausbildet. Verschiedene analytische Untersuchungen wie Turbidimetrie, DLS, DSC, SEM oder XRD machten das thermoresponsive bzw. das Kristallisationsverhalten der Blockcopolymere in Abhängigkeit vom eingeführten Klebeblock zugänglich. Es zeigte sich, dass diese Polymere ein komplexes temperatur- und pH-abhängiges Trübungsverhalten aufweisen. Hinsichtlich der Kristallisation änderte der Klebeblock nicht die nanoskopische Kristallstruktur; er beeinflusste jedoch die Kristallisationszeit, den Kristallisationsgrad und die hierarchische Morphologie. Dieses Ergebnis wurde auf das unterschiedliche Aggregationsverhalten der Polymere in Wasser zurückgeführt.
Für die Herstellung von Kompositen nutzte Konzept 1 mikrometergroße Kupferoxalat-Mesokristalle, die eine innere Nanostruktur aufweisen. Die Strukturbildung über den anorganischen Teil wurde durch das Verkleben und Anordnen dieser Partikel erstrebt. Konzept 1 ermöglichte homogene freistehende stabile Kompositfilme mit einem hohen anorganischen Anteil. Die Partikel-Polymer-Kombination vereinte jedoch ungünstige Eigenschaften in sich, d. h. ihre Längenskalen waren zu unterschiedlich, was die Selbstassemblierung der Partikel verhinderte. Aufgrund des geringen Aspektverhältnisses von Kupferoxalat blieb auch die gegenseitige Ausrichtung durch äußere Kräfte erfolglos. Im Ergebnis eignet sich das Kupferoxalat-Poly(2-oxazolin)-Modellsystem nicht für die Herstellung hierarchischer Kompositstrukturen.
Im Gegensatz dazu verwendet Konzept 2 scheibenförmige Laponit®-Nanopartikel und kristallisierbare Blockcopolymere zur Strukturbildung über die organische Komponente durch polymervermittelte Selbstassemblierung. Komplementäre Analysemethoden (Zeta-Potenzial, DLS, SEM, XRD, DSC, TEM) zeigten sowohl eine kontrollierte Wechselwirkung zwischen den Komponenten in wässriger Umgebung als auch eine kontrollierte Strukturbildung, die in selbstassemblierten Nanokompositen resultiert, deren Struktur sich über mehrere Längenskalen erstreckt. Es wurde gezeigt, dass die negativ geladenen Klebeblöcke spezifisch und selektiv an den positiv geladenen Rändern der Laponit®-Partikel binden und so Polymer-Laponit®-Nanohybridpartikel entstehen, die als Grundbausteine für die Kompositbildung dienen. Die Hybridpartikel sind bei Raumtemperatur elektrosterisch stabilisiert - sterisch durch ihre langen, mit Wasser wechselwirkenden Poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazolin)-Blöcke und elektrostatisch über die negativ geladenen Laponit®-Flächen. Im Ergebnis ließ sich Konzept 2 und damit die Strukturbildung über die organische Komponente erfolgreich umsetzten. Das Laponit®-Poly(2-oxazolin)-Modellsystem eröffnete den Weg zu selbstassemblierten geschichteten quasi-hierarchischen Nanokompositstrukturen mit hohem anorganischen Anteil. Abhängig von der frei verfügbaren Polymerkonzentration bei der Kompositbildung entstanden zwei unterschiedliche Komposit-Typen. Darüber hinaus entwarf die Arbeit einen Erklärungsansatz für den polymervermittelten Bildungsprozess der Komposit-Strukturen.
Insgesamt legt diese Arbeit Struktur-Prozess-Eigenschafts-Beziehungen offen, um selbstassemblierte bioinspirierte Kompositstrukturen zu bilden und liefert neue Einsichten zu einer geeigneten Kombination an Komponenten und Herstellungsbedingungen, die eine kontrollierte selbstassemblierte Strukturbildung mithilfe funktionalisierter Poly(2-oxazolin)-Blockcopolymere erlauben.
Nanoporous carbon materials (NCMs) provide the "function" of high specific surface area and thus have large interface area for interactions with surrounding species, which is of particular importance in applications related to adsorption processes. The strength and mechanism of adsorption depend on the pore architecture of the NCMs. In addition, chemical functionalization can be used to induce changes of electron density and/or electron density distribution in the pore walls, thus further modifying the interactions between carbons and guest species. Typical approaches for functionalization of nanoporous materials with regular atomic construction like porous silica, metal-organic frameworks, or zeolites, cannot be applied to NCMs due to their less defined local atomic construction and abundant defects. Therefore, synthetic strategies that offer a higher degree of control over the process of functionalization are needed. Synthetic approaches for covalent functionalization of NCMs, that is, for the incorporation of heteroatoms into the carbon backbone, are critically reviewed with a special focus on strategies following the concept "from molecules to materials." Approaches for coordinative functionalization with metallic species, and the functionalization by nanocomposite formation between pristine carbon materials and heteroatom-containing carbons, are introduced as well. Particular focus is given to the influences of these functionalizations in adsorption-related applications.
The impact of the orientation of zwitterionic groups, with respect to the polymer backbone, on the antifouling performance of thin hydrogel films made of polyzwitterions is explored. In an extension of the recent discussion about differences in the behavior of polymeric phosphatidylcholines and choline phosphates, a quasi-isomeric set of three poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate)s is designed for this purpose. The design is based on the established monomer 3-[N-2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl-N,N-dimethyl]ammonio-propane-1-sulfonate and two novel sulfobetaine methacrylates, in which the positions of the cationic and the ionic groups relative to the polymerizable group, and thus also to the polymer backbone, are altered. The effect of the varied segmental dipole orientation on their water solubility, wetting behavior by water, and fouling resistance is compared. As model systems, the adsorption of the model proteins bovine serum albumin (BSA), fibrinogen, and lysozyme onto films of the various polyzwitterion surfaces is studied, as well as the settlement of a diatom (Navicula perminuta) and barnacle cyprids (Balanus improvisus) as representatives of typical marine fouling communities. The results demonstrate the important role of the zwitterionic group's orientation on the polymer behavior and fouling resistance
A thermodynamic study of the adsorption of Human Serum Albumin (HSA) onto spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPBs) by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is presented. The SPBs are composed of a solid polystyrene core bearing long chains of poly(acrylic acid). ITC measurements done at different temperatures and ionic strengths lead to a full set of thermodynamicbinding constants together with the enthalpies and entropies of binding. The adsorption of HSA onto SPBs is described with a two-step model. The free energy of binding Delta Gb depends only weakly on temperature because of a marked compensation of enthalpy by entropy. Studies of the adsorbed HSA by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) demonstrate no significant disturbance in the secondary structure of the protein. The quantitative analysis demonstrates that counterion release is the major driving force for adsorption in a process where proteins become multivalent counterions of the polyelectrolyte chains upon adsorption. A comparison with the analysis of other sets of data related to the binding of HSA to polyelectrolytes demonstrates that the cancellation of enthalpy and entropy is a general phenomenon that always accompanies the binding of proteins to polyelectrolytes dominated by counterion release.
Effects of manganese on genomic integrity in the multicellular model organism Caenorhabditis elegans
(2021)
Although manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element, overexposure is associated with Mn-induced toxicity and neurological dysfunction. Even though Mn-induced oxidative stress is discussed extensively, neither the underlying mechanisms of the potential consequences of Mn-induced oxidative stress on DNA damage and DNA repair, nor the possibly resulting toxicity are characterized yet. In this study, we use the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the mode of action of Mn toxicity, focusing on genomic integrity by means of DNA damage and DNA damage response. Experiments were conducted to analyze Mn bioavailability, lethality, and induction of DNA damage. Different deletion mutant strains were then used to investigate the role of base excision repair (BER) and dePARylation (DNA damage response) proteins in Mn-induced toxicity. The results indicate a dose- and time-dependent uptake of Mn, resulting in increased lethality. Excessive exposure to Mn decreases genomic integrity and activates BER. Altogether, this study characterizes the consequences of Mn exposure on genomic integrity and therefore broadens the molecular understanding of pathways underlying Mn-induced toxicity. Additionally, studying the basal poly(ADP-ribosylation) (PARylation) of worms lacking poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) parg-1 or parg-2 (two orthologue of PARG), indicates that parg-1 accounts for most of the glycohydrolase activity in worms.
In this contribution the dissociative electron attachment to metabolites found in aerobic organisms, namely oxaloacetic and citric acids, was studied both experimentally by means of a crossed-beam setup and theoretically through density functional theory calculations. Prominent negative ion resonances from both compounds are observed peaking below 0.5 eV resulting in intense formation of fragment anions associated with a decomposition of the carboxyl groups. In addition, resonances at higher energies (3–9 eV) are observed exclusively from the decomposition of the oxaloacetic acid. These fragments are generated with considerably smaller intensities. The striking findings of our calculations indicate the different mechanism by which the near 0 eV electron is trapped by the precursor molecule to form the transitory negative ion prior to dissociation. For the oxaloacetic acid, the transitory anion arises from the capture of the electron directly into some valence states, while, for the citric acid, dipole- or multipole-bound states mediate the transition into the valence states. What is also of high importance is that both compounds while undergoing DEA reactions generate highly reactive neutral species that can lead to severe cell damage in a biological environment.
Carbon Adsorbents from Spent Coffee for Removal of
Methylene Blue and Methyl Orange from Water
(2021)
Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared from dried spent coffee (SCD), a biological waste product, to produce adsorbents for methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solution. Pre-pyrolysis activation of SCD was achieved via treatment of the SCD with aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions at 90 °C. Pyrolysis of the pretreated SCD at 500 °C for 1 h produced powders with typical characteristics of AC suitable and effective for dye adsorption. As an alternative to the rather harsh base treatment, calcium carbonate powder, a very common and abundant resource, was also studied as an activator. Mixtures of SCD and CaCO3 (1:1 w/w) yielded effective ACs for MO and MB removal upon pyrolysis needing only small amounts of AC to clear the solutions. A selectivity of the adsorption process toward anionic (MO) or cationic (MB) dyes was not observed.
The present work focuses on minimising the usage of toxic chemicals by integration of the biobased monomers, derived from fatty acid esters, to photopolymerization processes, which are known to be nature friendly. Internal double bond present in the oleic acid was converted to more reactive (meth)acrylate or epoxy group. Biobased starting materials, functionalized by different pendant groups, were used for photopolymerizing formulations to design of new polymeric structures by using ultraviolet light emitting diode (UV-LED) (395 nm) via free radical polymerization or cationic polymerization.
New (meth)acrylates (2,3 and 4) consisting of two isomers, methyl 9-((meth)acryloyloxy)-10-hydroxyoctadecanoate / methyl 9-hydroxy-10-((meth)acryloyloxy)octadecanoate (2 and 3) and methyl 9-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-10-(methacryloyloxy)octadecanoate / methyl 9-(methacryloyloxy)-10-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)octadecanoate (4), modified from oleic acid mix, and ionic liquid monomers (1a and 1b) bearing long alkyl chain were polymerized photochemically. New (meth)acrylates are based on vegetable oil, and ionic liquids (ILs) have nonvolatile behaviour. Therefore, both monomer types have green approach. Photoinitiated polymerization of new (meth)acrylates and ionic liquids was investigated in the presence of ethyl (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phenylphosphinate (Irgacure® TPO−L) or di(4-methoxybenzoyl)diethylgermane (Ivocerin®) as photoinitiator (PI). Additionally, the results were discussed in comparison with those obtained from commercial 1,6-hexanediol di(meth)acrylate (5 and 6) for deeper investigation of biobased monomer’s potential to substitute petroleum derived materials with renewable resources for possible coating applications. Kinetic study shows that methyl 9-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-10-(methacryloyloxy)octadecanoate / methyl 9-(methacryloyloxy)-10-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)octadecanoate (4) and ionic liquids (1a and 1b) have quantitative conversion after irradiation process which is important for practical applications. On the other hand, heat generation occurs in a longer time during the polymerization of biobased systems or ILs.
The poly(meth)acrylates modified from (meth)acrylated fatty acid methyl ester monomers generally show a low glass transition temperature because of the presence of long aliphatic chain in the polymer structure. However, poly(meth)acrylates containing aromatic group have higher glass transition temperature. Therefore, new 4-(4-methacryloyloxyphenyl)-butan-2-one (7) was synthesized which can be a promising candidate for the green techniques, such as light induced polymerization. Photokinetic investigation of the new monomer, 4-(4-methacryloyloxyphenyl)-butan-2-one (7), was discussed using Irgacure® TPO−L or Ivocerin® as photoinitiator. The reactivity of that monomer was compared to commercial 2-phenoxyethyl methacrylate (8) and phenyl methacrylate (9) basis of the differences on monomer structures. The photopolymer of 4-(4-methacryloyloxyphenyl)-butan-2-one (7) might be an interesting candidate for the coating application with the properties of quantitative conversion and high molecular weight. It also shows higher glass transition temperature.
In addition to the linear systems based on renewable materials, new crosslinked polymers were also designed in this thesis. Therefore, isomer mixture consisting of ethane-1,2-diyl bis(9-methacryloyloxy-10-hydroxy octadecanoate), ethane-1,2-diyl 9-hydroxy-10-methacryloyloxy-9’-methacryloyloxy10’-hydroxy octadecanoate and ethane-1,2-diyl bis(9-hydroxy-10-methacryloyloxy octadecanoate) (10) was synthesized by derivation of the oleic acid which has not been previously described in the literature. Crosslinked material based on this biobased monomer was produced by photoinitiated free radical polymerization using Irgacure® TPO−L or Ivocerin® as photoinitiator. Furthermore, material properties were diversified by copolymerization of 10 with 4-(4-methacryloyloxyphenyl)-butan-2-one (7) or methyl 9-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-10-(methacryloyloxy)octadecanoate / methyl 9-(methacryloyloxy)-10-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)octadecanoate (4). In addition to this, influence of comonomer with different chemical structure on the network system was investigated by analysis of thermo-mechanical properties, crosslink density and molecular weight between two crosslink junctions. An increase in the glass transition temperature caused by copolymerization of biobased monomer 10 with the excess amount of 4-(4-methacryloyloxyphenyl)-butan-2-one (7) was confirmed by both techniques, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). On the other hand, crosslink density decreased as a result of copolymerization reactions due to the reduction in the mean functionality of the system. Furthermore, surface characterization has been tested by contact angle measurements using solvents with different polarity.
This work also contributes to the limited data reported about cationic photopolymerization of the epoxidized vegetable oils in the literature in contrast to the widely investigation of thermal curing of the biorenewable epoxy monomers. In addition to the 9,10-epoxystearic acid methyl ester (11), a new monomer of bis-(9,10-epoxystearic acid) 1,2-ethanediyl ester (12) has been synthesized from oleic acid. These two biobased epoxies have been polymerized via cationic photoinitiated polymerization in the presence of bis(t-butyl)-iodonium-tetrakis(perfluoro-t-butoxy)aluminate ([Al(O-t-C4F9)4]-) and isopropylthioxanthone (ITX) as photinitiating system. Polymerization kinetic of 9,10-epoxystearic acid methyl ester (11) and bis-(9,10-epoxystearic acid) 1,2-ethanediyl ester (12) was investigated and compared with the kinetic of commercial monomers being 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3’,4’-epoxycyclohexane carboxylate (13), 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (14), and diglycidylether of bisphenol-A (15). Both biobased epoxies (11 and 12) showed higher conversion than cycloaliphatic epoxy (13), and lower reactivity than 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (14). Additional network systems were designed by copolymerization of bis-(9,10-epoxystearic acid) 1,2-ethanediyl ester (12) and diglycidylether of bisphenol-A (15) in different molar ratios (1:1; 1:5; 1:9). It addresses that, final conversion is dependent on polymerization rate as well as physical processes such as vitrification during polymerization. Moreover, low glass transition temperature of homopolymer derived from bis-(9,10-epoxystearic acid) 1,2-ethanediyl ester (12) was successfully increased by copolymerization with diglycidylether bisphenol-A (15). On the other hand, the surface produced from bis-(9,10-epoxystearic acid) 1,2-ethanediyl ester (12) shows hydrophobic character. Higher concentration of biobased diepoxy (12) in the copolymerizing mixture decreases surface free energy. Network systems were also investigated according to the rubber elasticity theory. Crosslinked polymer derived from the mixture of bis-(9,10-epoxystearic acid) 1,2-ethanediyl ester (12) and diglycidylether of bisphenol-A (15) (molar ratio=1:5) exhibits almost ideal polymer network.
Soft actuators have drawn significant attention due to their relevance for applications, such as artificial muscles in devices developed for medicine and robotics. Tuning their performance and expanding their functionality are frequently done by means of chemical modification. The introduction of structural elements rendering non-synthetic modification of the performance possible, as well as control over physical appearance and facilitating their recycling is a subject of a great interest in the field of smart materials. The primary aim of this thesis was to create a shape-memory polymeric actuator, where the capability for non-synthetic tuning of the actuation performance is combined with reprocessability. Physically cross-linked polymeric matrices provide a solid material platform, where the in situ processing methods can be employed for modification of the composition and morphology, resulting in the fine tuning of the related mechanical properties and shape-memory actuation capability.
The morphological features, required for shape-memory polymeric actuators, namely two crystallisable domains and anchoring points for physical cross-links, were embedded into a multiblock copolymer with poly(ε-caprolactone) and poly(L-lactide) segments (PLLA-PCL). Here, the melting transition of PCL was bisected into the actuating and skeleton-forming units, while the cross-linking was introduced via PLA stereocomplexation in blends with oligomeric poly(D-lactide) (ODLA). PLLA segment number average length of 12-15 repeating units was experimentally defined to be capable of the PLA stereocomplexes formation, but not sufficient for the isotactic crystallisation. Multiblock structure and phase dilution broaden the PCL melting transition, facilitating its separation into two conditionally independent crystalline domains. Low molar mass of the PLA stereocomplex components and a multiblock structure enables processing and reprocessing of the PLLA-PCL / ODLA blends with common non-destructive techniques. The modularity of the PLLA-PCL structure and synthetic approach allows for independent tuning of the properties of its components. The designed material establishes a solid platform for non-synthetic tuning of thermomechanical and structural properties of thermoplastic elastomers.
To evaluate the thermomechanical stability of the formed physical network, three criteria were appraised. As physical cross-links, PLA stereocomplexes have to be evenly distributed within the material matrix, their melting temperature shall not overlap with the thermal transitions of the PCL domains and they have to maintain the structural integrity within the strain ε ranges further applied in the shape-memory actuation experiments. Assigning PCL the function of the skeleton-forming and actuating units, and PLA stereocomplexes the role of physical netpoints, shape-memory actuation was realised in the PLLA-PCL / ODLA blends. Reversible strain of shape-memory actuation was found to be a function of PLA stereocomplex crystallinity, i.e. physical cross-linking density, with a maximum of 13.4 ± 1.5% at PLA stereocomplex content of 3.1 ± 0.3 wt%. In this way, shape-memory actuation can be tuned via adjusting the composition of the PLLA-PCL / ODLA blend. This makes the developed material a valuable asset in the production of cost-effective tunable soft polymeric actuators for the applications in medicine and soft robotics.
DNA origami nanostructures allow for the arrangement of different functionalities such as proteins, specific DNA structures, nanoparticles, and various chemical modifications with unprecedented precision. The arranged functional entities can be visualized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) which enables the study of molecular processes at a single-molecular level. Examples comprise the investigation of chemical reactions, electron-induced bond breaking, enzymatic binding and cleavage events, and conformational transitions in DNA. In this paper, we provide an overview of the advances achieved in the field of single-molecule investigations by applying atomic force microscopy to functionalized DNA origami substrates.
Zusammenfassung zur Dissertation „Neuartige DBD-Fluoreszenzfarbstoffe: Synthese, Untersuchungen und Anwendungen“ von Leonard John
In dieser Arbeit konnten auf Basis der etablierten [1,3]-Dioxolo[4,5-f][1,3]benzodioxol (DBD) Fluoreszenzfarbstoffe zwei neue Konzepte zur Darstellung unsymmetrisch funktionalisierter DBD-Fluorophore entwickelt werden. Die Variation der elektronenziehenden Reste führte zu einer Erweiterung des Farbspektrums an DBD-Fluorophoren, wobei alle weiteren spektroskopischen Parameter (Fluoreszenzlebenszeit, -quantenausbeute und STOKES-Verschiebung) unverändert hohe Werte aufweisen. Neben der Variation der elektronenziehenden Reste wurde das "pi"-System des DBD-Farbstoffs mit der Einführung von Stilben-, und Tolan-Derivaten vergrößert. Stilben-Derivate zeigten ähnlich gute spektroskopische Eigenschaften wie die bereits etablierten DBD-Farbstoffe.
Fluorophore mit langwelliger Emission sind auf Grund der großen Gewebe-Eindringtiefe besonders interessant für biologische Anwendungen. Da der langwelligste Vertreter der O4-DBD-Farbstoffe in polaren Medien nur schwer löslich ist, wurde ein Weg zur Einführung löslichkeitsvermittelnder Gruppen gesucht. Hierbei fiel die Wahl auf eine Carbonsäure-Gruppe zur Steigerung der Hydrophilie. Eine von vier untersuchten Methoden erwies sich als zielführend, sodass das gewünschte Molekül isoliert werden konnte. Eine erhöhte Wasserlöslichkeit wurde allerdings nicht beobachtet.
Zur Erforschung von Fettstoffwechselkrankheiten wie der ALZHEIMER-Krankheit werden fluoreszenzmarkierte Lipide benötigt. Um unterschiedliche Bereiche einer Membran zu untersuchen, war das Ziel, den Fluorophor an unterschiedlichen Stellen innerhalb der Fettsäure zu lokalisieren. Hierbei sollte die Gesamtkettenlänge des DBD-Lipids einer C18-Kette, analog der Stearinsäure, entsprechen. Durch die stufenweise Einführung der Reste gelang es, drei DBD-Lipide herzustellen, wobei sich der Fluorophor an unterschiedlichen Positionen innerhalb der Kette befindet. Die photophysikalischen Eigenschaften der Lipide weichen nur marginal von denen der reinen Fluorophore ab. Eine Einlagerung in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) konnte für zwei Derivate beobachtet werden, wobei keine domänenspezifisch war.
Ein weiteres Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, die vier Sauerstoffatome im DBD-Grundkörper stufenweise durch Schwefelatome zu ersetzen und die Ringgrößen des DBD-Fluorophors zu variieren. Für die Ringgröße zeigte der 1,2-S2-DBD mit jeweils zwei Fünfringen die besten spektroskopischen Eigenschaften. Durch die Synthese von zwei weiteren schwefelhaltigen DBD-Grundkörpern (S1- und 1,4-S2-DBD) konnten insgesamt drei neue Farbstoffklassen zugänglich gemacht werden. Für alle neuen Chromophore wurden elektronenziehende Reste (Aldehyd, Acyl, Ester, Carboxy) eingeführt und die jeweiligen Derivate spektroskopisch untersucht. Mit steigender Anzahl an Schwefel-Atomen im Grundkörper zeigt sich eine bathochrome Verschiebung der Emission,
wobei die Werte für die Fluoreszenzlebenszeit- und -quantenausbeute abnehmen. Die optimalen spektroskopischen Eigenschaften aus langwelliger Emission, hoher Fluoreszenzlebenszeit und -quantenausbeute zeigt das 1,4-S2-Dialdehyd-Derivat. Für die S1- und 1,2-S2-Dialdehyd-
Derivate wurden Konzepte entwickelt, um bioreaktive Reste (Alkin, HOSu, Maleimid) einzuführen und die Fluorophore in biologischen Systemen anwenden zu können.
Die vorliegende Arbeit thematisiert die Synthese und Charakterisierung von neuen funktionalisierten ionischen Flüssigkeiten und deren Polymerisation. Die ionischen Flüssigkeiten wurden dabei sowohl mit polymerisierbaren Kationen als auch Anionen hergestellt. Zum einen wurden bei thermisch initiierten Polymerisationen Azobis(isobutyronitril) (AIBN) verwendet und zum anderen dienten bei photochemisch initiierten Polymerisationen Bis-4-(methoxybenzoyl)diethylgermanium (Ivocerin®) als Radikalstarter.
Mittels Gelpermeationschromatographie konnte das Homopolymer Polydimethylaminoethylmethacrylat untersucht werden, welches erst im Anschluss an die GPC-Messungen polymeranalog modifiziert wurde. Dabei wurden nach einer Quaternisierung und anschließender Anionenmetathese bei diesen Polymeren die Grenzviskositäten bestimmt und mit den Grenzviskositäten der direkt polymerisierten ionischen Flüssigkeiten verglichen. Bei der direkten Polymerisation von Poly(N-[2-(Methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-N-butyl-N,N-dimethyl-ammoniumbis(trifluormethylsulfonyl)imid) lag [η_Huggins] bei 100 mL/g und bei dem polymeranalog hergestellten Polymer betrug [η_Huggins] = 40 mL/g.
Die ionischen Flüssigkeiten mit polymerisierbaren funktionellen Gruppen wurden mittels Photo-DSC hinsichtlich der maximalen Polymerisationsgeschwindigkeit (Rpmax), der Zeit, in der dieses Maximum erreicht wurde, tmax, ihrer Glasüberganstemperatur (Tg) und des Umsatzes an Vinylprotonen untersucht. Bei diesen Messungen wurde zum einen der Einfluss der unterschiedlichen Alkylkettenlänge am Ammoniumion und der Einfluss von verschiedenen Anionen bei gleichbleibender Kationenstruktur analysiert. So polymerisierte das ethylsubstituierte Kation mit einer tmax von 21 Sekunden am langsamsten. Die maximale Polymerisationsgeschwindigkeit (Rpmax) betrug 3.3∙10-2 s-1. Die tmax Werte der übrigen alkylsubstituierten ionischen Flüssigkeiten mit einer polymerisierbaren funktionellen Gruppe hingegen lagen zwischen 10 und 15 Sekunden. Die Glasübergangstemperaturen der mittels photoinduzierter Polymerisation hergestellten Polymere lagen mit 44 bis 55 °C nahe beieinander. Alle Monomere zeigten einen hohen Umsatz der Vinylprotonen; er betrug zwischen 93 und 100%.
Mithilfe einer Bandanlage, ausgerüstet mit einer LED (λ = 395 nm), konnten Polymerfilme hergestellt werden. Der Umsatz an Doppelbindungsäquivalenten dieser Filme wurde anhand der 1H-NMR Spektroskopie bestimmt. Bei der dynamisch-mechanischen Analyse wurden die Polymerfilme mit einer konstanten Heizrate und Frequenz periodisch wechselnden Beanspruchungen ausgesetzt, um die Glasübergangstemperaturen zu bestimmen. Die niedrigste Tg mit 26 °C besaß das butylsubstituierte N-[2-(Methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-N-butyl-N,N-dimethyl-ammoniumbis(trifluormethylsulfonyl)imid, welches als Polymerfilm mit Ivocerin® als Initiator hergestellt wurde, wohingegen die höchste Tg bei dem gleichen Polymer, welches direkt durch freie radikalische Polymerisation der ionischen Flüssigkeit in Masse mit AIBN hergestellt wurde, 51 °C betrug. Zusätzlich wurden die Filme unter dem Aspekt der Topographie mit einem Rasterkraftmikroskop untersucht, welches eine Domänenstruktur des Polymers N-[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-N-butyl-N,N-dimethyl-ammonium tris(pentafluorethyl)trifluorphosphat offenbarte.
Die vorliegende Dissertation behandelt drei thematische Schwerpunkte. Im Ergebnisteil steht die chemische Synthese von sogenannten (1,7)-Naphthalenophanen im Vordergrund, die zur Substanzklasse von Cyclophanen gehören. Während zahlreiche Synthesemethoden Strategien zum Aufbau von Ringsystemen (wie z. B. von Naphthalenophanen) verfolgen, die Teil einer bereits existierenden aromatischen Struktur der Ausgangsverbindung sind, nutzen nur wenige Ansätze Reaktionen, die einen Ringschluss zum gewünschten Produkt erst im Zuge der Synthese etablieren. Eine Benzanellierung, die eine besondere Aufmerksamkeit im Arbeitskreis erfahren hat, ist die Dehydro-DIELS-ALDER-Reaktion (DDA-Reaktion). Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit konnte gezeigt werden, dass zwölf ausgewählte (1,7)-Naphthalenophane, die teilweise ringgespannt und makrozyklisch aufgebaut waren, mithilfe einer photochemischen Variante der DDA-Reaktion (PDDA-Reaktion) zugänglich gemacht werden können. Die Versuche, auf thermischem Wege (TDDA-Reaktion) (1,7)-Naphthalenophane herzustellen, misslangen. Die außergewöhnliche Reaktivität der Photoreaktanten konnte mithilfe quantenchemischer Berechnungen durch eine gefaltete Grundzustandsgeometrie erklärt werden. Darüber hinaus wurden Ringspannungen und strukturelle Spannungsindikatoren der relevanten Photoprodukte ermittelt und Trends in Abhängigkeit der Linkerlänge in den NMR-Spektren der Zielverbindungen ermittelt sowie diskutiert. Zudem zeigte eine Variation am Chromophor (Acyl-, Carbonsäure- und Carbonsäureester) der Photoreaktanten bei der Bestrahlung in Dichlormethan eine vergleichbare Photokinetik und -reaktivität. Der zweite Abschnitt dieser Dissertation ist dem Design und der Entwicklung zweier Photoreaktoren für UV-Anwendungen im kontinuierlichen Durchfluss gewidmet, da photochemische Transformationen bekanntermaßen in ihrer Skalierbarkeit limitiert sind. Im ersten Prototyp konnten mittels effizienter Parallelschaltung mit bis zu drei UV-Lampen (𝜆𝜆 = 254, 310 und 355 nm) Produktmaterialmengen von bis zu n = 188 mmol anhand eines ausgewählten Fallbeispiels erreicht werden. Im konstruktionstechnisch stark vereinfachten zweiten Photoreaktor wurden alle quarzhaltigen Elemente gegen günstigeres PLEXIGLAS® ersetzt. Das Resultat waren identische Raum-Zeit-Ausbeuten in Bezug auf das zuvor gewählte Synthesebeispiel. Demnach bietet die UV-Photochemie im kontinuierlichen Durchfluss Vorteile gegenüber der traditionellen Bestrahlung im Tauchreaktor. Hinsichtlich Reaktionszeit, Produktausbeuten und Lösemittelverbrauch ist sie synthetisch weit überlegen. Im letzten Abschnitt der Arbeit wurden diese Erkenntnisse genutzt, um biomedizinisch und pharmakologisch vielversprechende 1-Arylnaphthalen-Lignane mittels einer intramolekularen PDDA-Reaktion (IMPDDA-Reaktion) als Schlüsselschritt herzustellen. Hierzu wurden drei Konzepte erarbeitet und in der Totalsynthese von drei ausgewählten Zielstrukturen auf Basis des 1-Arylnaphthalengrundgerüsts realisiert.
Ionizing radiation is used in cancer radiation therapy to effectively damage the DNA of tumors leading to cell death and reduction of the tumor tissue. The main damage is due to generation of highly reactive secondary species such as low-energy electrons (LEE) with the most probable energy around 10 eV through ionization of water molecules in the cells. A simulation of the dose distribution in the patient is required to optimize the irradiation modality in cancer radiation therapy, which must be based on the fundamental physical processes of high-energy radiation with the tissue. In the present work the accurate quantification of DNA radiation damage in the form of absolute cross sections for LEE-induced DNA strand breaks (SBs) between 5 and 20 eV is done by using the DNA origami technique. This method is based on the analysis of well-defined DNA target sequences attached to DNA origami triangles with atomic force microscopy (AFM) on the single molecule level. The present work focuses on poly-adenine sequences (5'-d(A4), 5'-d(A8), 5'-d(A12), 5'-d(A16), and 5'- d(A20)) irradiated with 5.0, 7.0, 8.4, and 10 eV electrons. Independent of the DNA length, the strand break cross section shows a maximum around 7.0 eV electron energy for all investigated oligonucleotides confirming that strand breakage occurs through the initial formation of negative ion resonances. Additionally, DNA double strand breaks from a DNA hairpin 5'-d(CAC)4T(Bt-dT)T2(GTG)4 are examined for the first time and are compared with those of DNA single strands 5'-d(CAC)4 and 5'- d(GTG)4. The irradiation is made in the most likely energy range of 5 to 20 eV with an anionic resonance maximum around 10 eV independently of the DNA sequence. There is a clear difference between σSSB and σDSB of DNA single and double strands, where the strand break for ssDNA are always higher in all electron energies compared to dsDNA by the factor 3. A further part of this work deals with the characterization and analysis of new types of radiosensitizers used in chemoradiotherapy, which selectively increases the DNA damage upon radiation. Fluorinated DNA sequences with 2'-fluoro-2'-deoxycytidine (dFC) show an increased sensitivity at 7 and 10 eV compared to the unmodified DNA sequences by an enhancement factor between 2.1 and 2.5. In addition, light-induced oxidative damage of 5'-d(GTG)4 and 5'-d((CAC)4T(Bt-dT)T2(GTG)4) modified DNA origami triangles by singlet oxygen 1O2 generated from three photoexcited DNA groove binders [ANT994], [ANT1083] and [Cr(ddpd)2][BF4]3 illuminated in different experiments with UV-Vis light at 430, 435 and 530 nm wavelength is demonstrated. The singlet oxygen induced generation of DNA damage could be detected in both aqueous and dry environments for [ANT1083] and [Cr(ddpd)2][BF4]3.
Over the years, we developed highly selective fluorescent probes for K+ in water, which show K+-induced fluorescence intensity enhancements, lifetime changes, or a ratiometric behavior at two emission wavelengths (cf. Scheme 1, K1-K4). In this paper, we introduce selective fluorescent probes for Na+ in water, which also show Na+ induced signal changes, which are analyzed by diverse fluorescence techniques. Initially, we synthesized the fluorescent probes 2, 4, 5, 6 and 10 for a fluorescence analysis by intensity enhancements at one wavelength by varying the Na+ responsive ionophore unit and the fluorophore moiety to adjust different K-d values for an intra- or extracellular Na+ analysis. Thus, we found that 2, 4 and 5 are Na+ selective fluorescent tools, which are able to measure physiologically important Na+ levels at wavelengths higher than 500 nm. Secondly, we developed the fluorescent probes 7 and 8 to analyze precise Na+ levels by fluorescence lifetime changes. Herein, only 8 (K-d=106 mm) is a capable fluorescent tool to measure Na+ levels in blood samples by lifetime changes. Finally, the fluorescent probe 9 was designed to show a Na+ induced ratiometric fluorescence behavior at two emission wavelengths. As desired, 9 (K-d=78 mm) showed a ratiometric fluorescence response towards Na+ ions and is a suitable tool to measure physiologically relevant Na+ levels by the intensity change of two emission wavelengths at 404 nm and 492 nm.
Stereoselective [4+2] Cycloaddition of Singlet Oxygen to Naphthalenes Controlled by Carbohydrates
(2021)
Stereoselective reactions of singlet oxygen are of current interest. Since enantioselective photooxygenations have not been realized efficiently, auxiliary control is an attractive alternative. However, the obtained peroxides are often too labile for isolation or further transformations into enantiomerically pure products. Herein, we describe the oxidation of naphthalenes by singlet oxygen, where the face selectivity is controlled by carbohydrates for the first time. The synthesis of the precursors is easily achieved starting from naphthoquinone and a protected glucose derivative in only two steps. Photooxygenations proceed smoothly at low temperature, and we detected the corresponding endoperoxides as sole products by NMR. They are labile and can thermally react back to the parent naphthalenes and singlet oxygen. However, we could isolate and characterize two enantiomerically pure peroxides, which are sufficiently stable at room temperature. An interesting influence of substituents on the stereoselectivities of the photooxygenations has been found, ranging from 51:49 to up to 91:9 dr (diastereomeric ratio). We explain this by a hindered rotation of the carbohydrate substituents, substantiated by a combination of NOESY measurements and theoretical calculations. Finally, we could transfer the chiral information from a pure endoperoxide to an epoxide, which was isolated after cleavage of the sugar chiral auxiliary in enantiomerically pure form.
Interfacial properties of morpholine-2,5-dione-based oligodepsipeptides and multiblock copolymers
(2019)
Oligodepsipeptides (ODPs) with alternating amide and ester bonds prepared by ring-opening polymerization of morpholine-2,5-dione derivatives are promising matrices for drug delivery systems and building blocks for multifunctional biomaterials. Here, we elucidate the behavior of three telechelic ODPs and one multiblock copolymer containing ODP blocks at the air-water interface. Surprisingly, whereas the oligomers and multiblock copolymers crystallize in bulk, no crystallization is observed at the air-water interface. Furthermore, polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy is used to elucidate hydrogen bonding and secondary structures in ODP monolayers. The results will direct the development of the next ODP-based biomaterial generation with tailored properties for highly sophisticated applications.
Temperature-memory technology was utilized to generate flat substrates with a programmable stiffness pattern from cross-linked poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) substrates with cylindrical microstructures. Programmed substrates were obtained by vertical compression at temperatures in the range from 60 to 100 degrees C and subsequent cooling, whereby a flat substrate was achieved by compression at 72 degrees C, as documented by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM nanoindentation experiments revealed that all programmed substrates exhibited the targeted stiffness pattern. The presented technology for generating polymeric substrates with programmable stiffness pattern should be attractive for applications such as touchpads. optical storage, or cell instructive substrates.
New cryogels for selective dye removal from aqueous solution were prepared by free radical polymerization from the highly water-soluble crosslinker N,N,N’,N’-tetramethyl-N,N’-bis(2-ethylmethacrylate)-propyl-1,3-diammonium dibromide and the sulfobetaine monomer 2-(N-3-sulfopropyl-N,N-dimethyl ammonium)ethyl methacrylate. The resulting white and opaque cryogels have micrometer sized pores with a smaller substructure. They adsorb methyl orange (MO) but not methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. Mixtures of MO and MB can be separated through selective adsorption of the MO to the cryogels while the MB remains in solution. The resulting cryogels are thus candidates for the removal of hazardous organic substances, as exemplified by MO and MB, from water. Clearly, it is possible that the cryogels are also potentially interesting for removal of other compounds such as pharmaceuticals or pesticides, but this must be investigated further.
The hydrolytic stability of polymers to be used for coatings in aqueous environments, for example, to confer anti-fouling properties, is crucial. However, long-term exposure studies on such polymers are virtually missing. In this context, we synthesized a set of nine polymers that are typically used for low-fouling coatings, comprising the well-established poly(oligoethylene glycol methylether methacrylate), poly(3-(N-2-methacryloylethyl-N,N-dimethyl) ammoniopropanesulfonate) (“sulfobetaine methacrylate”), and poly(3-(N-3-methacryamidopropyl-N,N-dimethyl)ammoniopropanesulfonate) (“sulfobetaine methacrylamide”) as well as a series of hitherto rarely studied polysulfabetaines, which had been suggested to be particularly hydrolysis-stable. Hydrolysis resistance upon extended storage in aqueous solution is followed by ¹H NMR at ambient temperature in various pH regimes. Whereas the monomers suffered slow (in PBS) to very fast hydrolysis (in 1 M NaOH), the polymers, including the polymethacrylates, proved to be highly stable. No degradation of the carboxyl ester or amide was observed after one year in PBS, 1 M HCl, or in sodium carbonate buffer of pH 10. This demonstrates their basic suitability for anti-fouling applications. Poly(sulfobetaine methacrylamide) proved even to be stable for one year in 1 M NaOH without any signs of degradation. The stability is ascribed to a steric shielding effect. The hemisulfate group in the polysulfabetaines, however, was found to be partially labile.
In many biological and environmental applications spatially resolved sensing of molecular oxygen is desirable. A powerful tool for distributed measurements is optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) which is often used in the field of telecommunications. We combine this technique with a novel optical oxygen sensor dye, triangular-[4] phenylene (TP), immobilized in a polymer matrix. The TP luminescence decay time is 86 ns. The short decay time of the sensor dye is suitable to achieve a spatial resolution of some meters. In this paper we present the development and characterization of a reflectometer in the UV range of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as optical oxygen sensing with different fiber arrangements.
Femtosecond-pulsed laser written and etched fiber bragg gratings for fiber-optical biosensing
(2018)
We present the development of a label-free, highly sensitive fiber-optical biosensor for online detection and quantification of biomolecules. Here, the advantages of etched fiber Bragg gratings (eFBG) were used, since they induce a narrowband Bragg wavelength peak in the reflection operation mode. The gratings were fabricated point-by-point via a nonlinear absorption process of a highly focused femtosecond-pulsed laser, without the need of prior coating removal or specific fiber doping. The sensitivity of the Bragg wavelength peak to the surrounding refractive index (SRI), as needed for biochemical sensing, was realized by fiber cladding removal using hydrofluoric acid etching. For evaluation of biosensing capabilities, eFBG fibers were biofunctionalized with a single-stranded DNA aptamer specific for binding the C-reactive protein (CRP). Thus, the CRP-sensitive eFBG fiber-optical biosensor showed a very low limit of detection of 0.82 pg/L, with a dynamic range of CRP detection from approximately 0.8 pg/L to 1.2 µg/L. The biosensor showed a high specificity to CRP even in the presence of interfering substances. These results suggest that the proposed biosensor is capable for quantification of CRP from trace amounts of clinical samples. In addition, the adaption of this eFBG fiber-optical biosensor for detection of other relevant analytes can be easily realized.
Luminescent Ionogels with Excellent Transparency, High Mechanical Strength, and High Conductivity
(2020)
The paper describes a new kind of ionogel with both good mechanical strength and high conductivity synthesized by confining the ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide ([Bmim][NTf₂]) within an organic–inorganic hybrid host. The organic–inorganic host network was synthesized by the reaction of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of a coupling agent, offering the good mechanical strength and rapid shape recovery of the final products. The silane coupling agent 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH-570) plays an important role in improving the mechanical strength of the inorganic–organic hybrid, because it covalently connected the organic component MMA and the inorganic component SiO₂. Both the thermal stability and mechanical strength of the ionogel significantly increased by the addition of IL. The immobilization of [Bmim][NTf₂] within the ionogel provided the final ionogel with an ionic conductivity as high as ca. 0.04 S cm⁻¹ at 50 °C. Moreover, the hybrid ionogel can be modified with organosilica-modified carbon dots within the network to yield a transparent and flexible ionogel with strong excitation-dependent emission between 400 and 800 nm. The approach is, therefore, a blueprint for the construction of next-generation multifunctional ionogels.
The article describes the surface modification of 3D printed poly(lactic acid) (PLA) scaffolds with calcium phosphate (CP)/gelatin and CP/chitosan hybrid coating layers. The presence of gelatin or chitosan significantly enhances CP co-deposition and adhesion of the mineral layer on the PLA scaffolds. The hydrogel/CP coating layers are fairly thick and the mineral is a mixture of brushite, octacalcium phosphate, and hydroxyapatite. Mineral formation is uniform throughout the printed architectures and all steps (printing, hydrogel deposition, and mineralization) are in principle amenable to automatization. Overall, the process reported here therefore has a high application potential for the controlled synthesis of biomimetic coatings on polymeric biomaterials.
The impact that catalysis has on global economy and environment is substantial, since 85% of all chemical industrial processes are catalytic. Among those, 80% of the processes are heterogeneously catalyzed, 17% make use of homogeneous catalysts, and 3% are biocatalytic processes. Especially in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry, a significant part of these processes involves chiral compounds. Obtaining enantiomerically pure compounds is necessary and it is usually accomplished by asymmetric synthesis and catalysis, as well as chiral separation. The efficiency of these processes may be vastly improved if the chiral selectors are positioned on a porous solid support, thereby increasing the available surface area for chiral recognition. Similarly, the majority of commercial catalysts are also supported, usually comprising of metal nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed on highly porous oxide or nanoporous carbon material.
Materials that have exceptional thermal and chemical stability, and are electrically conductive are porous carbons. Their stability in extreme pH regions and temperatures, the possibility to tailor their pore architecture and chemical functionalization, and their electric conductivity have already established these materials in the fields of separation and catalysis. However, their heterogeneous chemical structure with abundant defects make it challenging to develop reliable models for the investigation of structure-performance relationships. Therefore, there is a necessity for expanding the fundamental understanding of these robust materials under experimental conditions to allow for their further optimization for particular applications. This thesis gives a contribution to our knowledge about carbons, through different aspects, and in different applications.
On the one hand, a rather exotic novel application was investigated by attempts in synthesizing porous carbon materials with an enantioselective surface. Chapter 4.1 described an approach for obtaining mesoporous carbons with an enantioselective surface by direct carbonization of a chiral precursor. Two enantiomers of chiral ionic liquids (CIL) based on amino acid tyrosine were used as carbon precursors and ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 served as a hard template for obtaining porosity. The chiral recognition of the prepared carbons has been tested in the solution by isothermal titration calorimetry with enantiomers of Phenylalanine as probes, as well as chiral vapor adsorption with 2-butanol enantiomers. Measurements in both solution and the gas phase revealed the differences in the affinity of carbons towards two enantiomers.
The atomic efficiency of the CIL precursors was increased in Chapter 4.2, and the porosity was developed independently from the development of chiral carbons, through the formation of stable composites of pristine carbon and CIL-derived coating. After the same set of experiments for the investigation of chirality, the enantiomeric ratios of the composites reported herein were even higher than in the previous chapter.
On the other hand, the structure‒activity relationship of carbons as supports for gold nanoparticles in a rather traditional catalytic model reaction, on the interface between gas, liquid, and solid, was studied. In Chapter 5.1 it was shown on the series of catalysts with different porosities that the kinetics of ᴅ-glucose oxidation reaction can be enhanced by increasing the local concentration of the reactants around the active phase of the catalyst. A large amount of uniform narrow mesopores connected to the surface of the Au catalyst supported on ordered mesoporous carbon led to the water confinement, which increased the solubility of the oxygen in the proximity of the catalyst and thereby increased the apparent catalytic activity of this catalyst.
After increasing the oxygen concentration in the internal area of the catalyst, in Chapter 5.2 the concentration of oxygen was increased in the external environment of the catalyst, by the introduction of less cohesive liquids that serve as efficient solvent for oxygen, perfluorinated compounds, near the active phase of the catalyst. This was achieved by a formation of catalyst particle-stabilized emulsions of perfluorocarbon in aqueous ᴅ-glucose solution, that further promoted the catalytic activity of gold-on-carbon catalyst.
The findings reported within this thesis are an important step in the understanding of the structure-related properties of carbon materials.
The structures and synthesis of polyzwitterions ("polybetaines") are reviewed, emphasizing the literature of the past decade. Particular attention is given to the general challenges faced, and to successful strategies to obtain polymers with a true balance of permanent cationic and anionic groups, thus resulting in an overall zero charge. Also, the progress due to applying new methodologies from general polymer synthesis, such as controlled polymerization methods or the use of "click" chemical reactions is presented. Furthermore, the emerging topic of responsive ("smart") polyzwitterions is addressed. The considerations and critical discussions are illustrated by typical examples.
Various 1,6- and 1,8-naphthalenophanes were synthesized by using the Photo-Dehydro-Diels-Alder (PDDA) reaction of bis-ynones. These compounds are easily accessible from omega-(3-iodophenyl)carboxylic acids in three steps. The obtained naphthalenophanes are axially chiral and the activation barrier for the atropisomerization could be determined in some cases by means of dynamic NMR (DNMR) and/or dynamic HPLC (DHPLC) experiments.
In the present thesis, self-assembly of hydrophilic polymers, reinforced hydrogels and inorganic/polymer hybrids were examined. The thesis describes an avenue from polymer synthesis via various methods over polymer self-assembly to the formation of polymer materials that have promising properties for future applications.
Hydrophilic polymers were utilized to form multi-phase systems, water-in-water emulsions and self-assembled structures, e.g. particles/aggregates or hollow structures from completely water-soluble building blocks. The structuring of aqueous environments by hydrophilic homo and block copolymers was further utilized in the formation of supramolecular hydrogels with compartments or specific thermal behavior. Furthermore, inorganic graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) was utilized as photoinitiator for hydrogel formation and as reinforcer for hydrogels. As such, hydrogels with remarkable mechanical properties were synthesized, e.g. high compressibility, high storage modulus or lubricity. In addition, g-CN was combined with polymers for a broad range of materials, e.g. coatings, films or latex, that could be utilized in photocatalytic applications. Another inorganic material class was combined with polymers in the present thesis as well, namely metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). It was shown that the pore structure of MOFs enables improved control over tacticity and achievement of high molar masses. Furthermore, MOF-based polymerization catalysis was introduced with improved control for coordinating monomers, catalyst recyclability and decreased metal contamination in the product. Finally, the effect of external influence on MOF morphology was studied, e.g. via solvent or polymer additives, which allowed the formation of various MOF structures.
Overall, advances in several areas of polymer science are presented in here. A major topic of the thesis was hydrophilic polymers and hydrogels that currently constitute significant materials in the polymer field due to promising future applications in biomedicine. Moreover, the combination of polymers with materials from other areas of research, i.e. g-CN and MOFs, provided various new materials with remarkable properties also of interest for applications in the future, e.g. coatings, particle structures and catalysis.
Highly luminescent indium phosphide zinc sulfide (InPZnS) quantum dots (QDs), with zinc selenide/zinc sulfide (ZnSe/ZnS) shells, were synthesized. The QDs were modified via a post-synthetic ligand exchange reaction with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) in different MPA:MUA ratios, making this study the first investigation into the effects of mixed ligand shells on InPZnS QDs. Moreover, this article also describes an optimized method for the correlation of the QD size vs. optical absorption of the QDs. Upon ligand exchange, the QDs can be dispersed in water. Longer ligands (MUA) provide more stable dispersions than short-chain ligands. Thicker ZnSe/ZnS shells provide a better photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and higher emission stability upon ligand exchange. Both the ligand exchange and the optical properties are highly reproducible between different QD batches. Before dialysis, QDs with a ZnS shell thickness of ~4.9 monolayers (ML), stabilized with a mixed MPA:MUA (mixing ratio of 1:10), showed the highest PLQY, at ~45%. After dialysis, QDs with a ZnS shell thickness of ~4.9 ML, stabilized with a mixed MPA:MUA and a ratio of 1:10 and 1:100, showed the highest PLQYs, of ~41%. The dispersions were stable up to 44 days at ambient conditions and in the dark. After 44 days, QDs with a ZnS shell thickness of ~4.9 ML, stabilized with only MUA, showed the highest PLQY, of ~34%.
A surface modification of ultraflat gold nanotriangles (AuNTs) with different shaped nanoparticles is of special relevance for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and the photo-catalytic activity of plasmonic substrates. Therefore, different approaches are used to verify the flat platelet morphology of the AuNTs by oriented overgrowth with metal nanoparticles. The most important part for the morphological transformation of the AuNTs is the coating layer, containing surfactants or polymers. By using well established AuNTs stabilized by a dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) bilayer, different strategies of surface modification with noble metal nanoparticles are possible. On the one hand undulated superstructures were synthesized by in situ growth of hemispherical gold nanoparticles in the polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated AOT bilayer of the AuNTs. On the other hand spiked AuNTs were obtained by a direct reduction of Au³⁺ ions in the AOT double layer in presence of silver ions and ascorbic acid as reducing agent. Additionally, crumble topping of the smooth AuNTs can be realized after an exchange of the AOT bilayer by hyaluronic acid, followed by a silver-ion mediated reduction with ascorbic acid. Furthermore, a decoration with silver nanoparticles after coating the AOT bilayer with the cationic surfactant benzylhexadecyldimethylammonium chloride (BDAC) can be realized. In that case the ultraviolet (UV)-absorption of the undulated Au@Ag nanoplatelets can be tuned depending on the degree of decoration with silver nanoparticles. Comparing the Raman scattering data for the plasmon driven dimerization of 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP) to 4,4′-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) one can conclude that the most important effect of surface modification with a 75 times higher enhancement factor in SERS experiments becomes available by decoration with gold spikes.
Ammonia is a chemical of fundamental importance for nature`s vital nitrogen cycle. It is crucial for the growth of living organisms as well as food and energy source. Traditionally, industrial ammonia production is predominated by Haber- Bosch process (HBP) which is based on direct conversion of N2 and H2 gas under high temperature and high pressure (~500oC, 150-300 bar). However, it is not the favorite route because of its thermodynamic and kinetic limitations, and the need for the energy intense production of hydrogen gas by reforming processes. All these disfavors of HBP open a target to search for an alternative technique to perform efficient ammonia synthesis via electrochemical catalytic processes, in particular via water electrolysis, using water as the hydrogen source to save the process from gas reforming.
In this study, the investigation of the interface effects between imidazolium-based ionic liquids and the surface of porous carbon materials with a special interest in the nitrogen absorption capability. As the further step, the possibility to establish this interface as the catalytically active area for the electrochemical N2 reduction to NH3 has been evaluated. This particular combination has been chosen because the porous carbon materials and ionic liquids (IL) have a significant importance in many scientific fields including catalysis and electrocatalysis due to their special structural and physicochemical properties. Primarily, the effects of the confinement of ionic liquid (EmimOAc, 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) into carbon pores have been investigated. The salt-templated porous carbons, which have different porosity (microporous and mesoporous) and nitrogen species, were used as model structures for the comparison of the IL confinement at different loadings. The nitrogen uptake of EmimOAc can be increased by about 10 times by the confinement in the pores of carbon materials compared to the bulk form. In addition, the most improved nitrogen absorption was observed by IL confinement in micropores and in nitrogen-doped carbon materials as a consequence of the maximized structural changes of IL. Furthermore, the possible use of such interfaces between EmimOAc and porous carbon for the catalytic activation of dinitrogen during the kinetically challenging NRR due to the limited gas absorption in the electrolyte, was examined. An electrocatalytic NRR system based on the conversion of water and nitrogen gas to ammonia at ambient operation conditions (1 bar, 25 °C) was performed in a setup under an applied electric potential with a single chamber electrochemical cell, which consists of the combination of EmimOAc electrolyte with the porous carbon-working electrode and without a traditional electrocatalyst. Under a potential of -3 V vs. SCE for 45 minutes, a NH3 production rate of 498.37 μg h-1 cm-2 and FE of 12.14% were achieved. The experimental observations show that an electric double-layer, which serves the catalytically active area, occurs between a microporous carbon material and ions of the EmimOAc electrolyte in the presence of sufficiently high provided electric potential. Comparing with the typical NRR systems which have been reported in the literature, the presented electrochemical ammonia synthesis approach provides a significantly higher ammonia production rate with a chance to avoid the possible kinetic limitations of NRR. In terms of operating conditions, ammonia production rate and the faradic efficiency without the need for any synthetic electrocatalyst can be resulted of electrocatalytic activation of nitrogen in the double-layer formed between carbon and IL ions.
Im Rahmen der vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und -forschung geförderten Forschungsinitiative „BonaRes – Boden als nachhaltige Ressource der Bioökonomie“ soll sich das Teilprojekt „I4S – integrated system for site-specific soil fertility management“ der Entwicklung eines integrierten Systems zum ortsspezifischen Management der Bodenfruchtbarkeit widmen. Hierfür ist eine Messplattform zur Bestimmung relevanter Bodeneigenschaften und der quantitativen Analyse ausgewählter Makro- und Mikronährstoffe geplant. In der ersten Phase dieses Projekts liegt das Hauptaugenmerk auf der Kalibrierung und Validierung der verschiedenen Sensoren auf die Matrix Boden, der Probennahme auf dem Acker und der Planung sowie dem Aufbau der Messplattform. Auf dieser Plattform sollen in der zweiten Phase des Projektes die verschiedenen Bodensensoren installiert, sowie Modelle und Entscheidungsalgorithmen zur Steuerung der Düngung und dementsprechend Verbesserung der Bodenfunktionen erstellt werden.
Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Grundlagenuntersuchung und Entwicklung einer robusten Online-Analyse mittels Energie-dispersiver Röntgenfluoreszenzspektroskopie (EDRFA) zur Quantifizierung ausgewählter Makro- und Mikronährstoffe in Böden für eine kostengünstige und flächendeckende Kartierung von Ackerflächen. Für die Entwicklung eines Online-Verfahrens wurde ein dem Stand der Technik entsprechender Röntgenfluoreszenzmesskopf in Betrieb genommen und die dazugehörigen Geräteparameter auf die Matrix Boden optimiert. Die Bestimmung der analytischen Qualitäts-merkmale wie Präzision und Nachweisgrenzen fand für eine Auswahl an Nährelementen von Aluminium bis Zink statt. Um eine möglichst Matrix-angepasste Kalibrierung zu erhalten, wurde sowohl mit zertifizierten Referenzmaterialien (CRM), als auch mit Ackerböden kalibriert. Da einer der größten Nachteile der Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse die Beeinflussung durch Matrixeffekte ist, wurde neben der klassischen univariaten Datenauswertung auch die chemometrische multivariate Methode der Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) eingesetzt. Die PLSR bietet dabei den Vorteil, Matrixeffekte auszugleichen, wodurch robustere Kalibriermodelle erhalten werden können. Zusätzlich wurde eine Hauptkomponentenanalyse (PCA) durchgeführt, um Gemeinsamkeiten und Ausreißer innerhalb des Probensets zu identifizieren. Es zeigte sich, dass eine Klassifizierung der Böden anhand ihrer Textur Sand, Schluff, Lehm und Ton möglich ist.
Aufbauend auf den Ergebnissen idealer Bodenproben (zu Tabletten gepresste luftgetrocknete Proben mit Korngrößen < 0,5 mm) wurde im Verlauf dieser Arbeit die Probenvorbereitung immer weiter reduziert und der Einfluss verschiedener Kenngrößen untersucht. Diese Einflussfaktoren können die Dichte und die Homogenität der Probe, sowie Korngrößeneffekte und die Feuchtigkeit sein. Anhand des RMSE (Wurzel der mittleren Fehlerquadratsumme) und unter Berücksichtigung der Residuen werden die jeweils erstellten Kalibriermodelle miteinander verglichen. Um die Güte der Modelle zu bewerten, wurden diese mit einem Testset validiert. Hierfür standen 662 Bodenproben von 15 verschiedenen Standorten in Deutschland zur Verfügung. Da die Ergebnisse an gepressten Tabletten für die Elemente Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe und Zn den Anforderungen für eine spätere Online-Analyse entsprechen, wurden im weiteren Verlauf dieser Arbeit Kalibriermodelle mit losen Bodenproben erstellt. Auch hier konnten gute Ergebnisse durch ausreichende Nachweisgrenzen und eine niedrige gemittelte Messabweichung bei der Vorhersage unbekannter Testproben erzielt werden. Es zeigte sich, dass die Vorhersagefähigkeit mit der multivariaten PLSR besser ist als mit der univariaten Datenauswertung, insbesondere für die Elemente Mn und Zn.
Der untersuchte Einfluss der Feuchtigkeit und der Korngrößen auf die Quantifizierung der Elementgehalte war vor allem bei leichteren Elementen deutlich zu sehen. Es konnte schließlich eine multivariate Kalibrierung unter Berücksichtigung dieser Faktoren für die Elemente Al bis Zn erstellt werden, so dass ein Einsatz an Böden auf dem Acker möglich sein sollte. Eine höhere Messunsicherheit muss dabei einkalkuliert werden. Für eine spätere Probennahme auf dem Feld wurde zudem der Unterschied zwischen statischen und dynamischen Messungen betrachtet, wobei sich zeigte, dass beide Varianten genutzt werden können. Zum Abschluss wurde der hier eingesetzte Sensor mit einem kommerziell erhältlichen Hand-Gerät auf sein Quantifizierungspotential hin verglichen. Der Sensor weist anhand seiner Ergebnisse ein großes Potential als Online-Sensor für die Messplattform auf. Die Ergebnisse unter Laborbedingungen zeigen, dass eine robuste Analyse Ackerböden unter Berücksichtigung der Einflussfaktoren möglich ist.
In recent years people have realised non-renewability of our modern society which relays on spending huge amounts of energy mostly produced from fosil fuels, such as oil and coal, and the shift towards more sustainable energy sources has started. However, sustainable sources of energy, such as wind-, solar- and hydro-energy, produce primarily electrical energy and can not just be poured in canister like many fosil fuels, creating necessity for rechragable batteries. However, modern Li-ion batteries are made from toxic heavy metals and sustainable alternatives are needed. Here we show that naturally abundant catecholic and guaiacyl groups can be utilised to replace heavy metals in Li-ion batteries.
Foremost vanillin, a naturally occurring food additive that can be sustainably synthesised from industrial biowaste, lignin, was utilised to synthesise materials that showed extraordinary performance as cathodes in Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, behaviour of catecholic and guiacyl groups in Li-ion system was compared, confirming usability of guiacayl containing biopolymers as cathodes in Li-ion batteries. Lastly, naturally occurring polyphenol, tannic acid, was incorporated in fully bioderived hybrid material that shows performance comparable to commercial Li-ion batteries and good stability.
This thesis presents an important advancement in understanding of biowaste derived cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. Further research should be conducted to better understand behaviour of guaiacyl groups during Li-ion battery cycling. Lastly, challenges of incorporation of lignin, an industrial biowaste, have to be addressed and lignin should be incorporated as a cathode material in Li-ion batteries.
Abstract. Catalysis is one of the most effective tools for the highly efficient assembly of complex molecular structures. Nevertheless, it is mainly represented by transition metal-based catalysts and typically is an energy consuming process. Therefore, photocatalysis utilizing solar energy is one of the appealing approaches to overcome these problems. A great alternative to classic transition metal-based photocatalysts, carbon nitrides, a group of organic polymeric semiconductors, have already shown their efficiency in water splitting, CO2 reduction, and organic pollutants degradation. However, these materials have also a great potential for the use in functionalization of complex organic molecules for synthetic needs as it was shown in recent years.
This work addresses the challenge to develop efficient system for heterogeneous organic photocatalysis, employing cheap and environmentally benign photocatalysts – carbon nitrides. Herein, fundamental properties of semiconductors are studied from the organic chemistry standpoint; the inherent properties of carbon nitrides, such as ability to accumulate electrons, are deeply investigated and their effect on the reaction outcome is established. Thus, understanding of the electron charging processes allowed for the synthesis of otherwise hardly-achieved diazetidines-1,3 by tetramerization of benzylamines. Furthermore, the high electron capacity of Potassium Poly(heptazine imide)s (K-PHI) made possible a multi-electron reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to bare or formylated anilines. Additionally, two deep eutectic solvents (DES) were designed as a sustainable reaction media and reducing reagent for this reaction. Eventually, the high oxidation ability of carbon nitride K-PHI is employed in a challenging reaction of halide anion oxidation (Cl―, Br―) to accomplish electrophilic substitution in aromatic ring. The possibility to utilize NaCl solution (seawater mimetic) for the chlorination of electron rich arenes was shown. Eventually, light itself is used as a tool in a chromoselective photocatalytic oxidation of aromatic thiols and thioacetatas to three different compounds, using UV, blue, and red LEDs.
All in all, the work enhances understanding the mechanism of heterogeneous photocatalysis in synthetic organic reactions and therefore, is a step forward to the sustainable methods of synthesis in organic chemistry.
In den letzten Jahrzehnten ist die Nachfrage nach kostengünstigen und flächendeckenden Kartierungsmöglichkeiten im Hinblick auf eine ertragssteigernde und umweltfreundlichere Bewirtschaftung von landwirtschaftlichen Nutzflächen stark gestiegen. Hierfür eignen sich spektroskopische Methoden wie die Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse (RFA), Raman- und Gammaspektroskopie sowie die laserinduzierte Plasmaspektroskopie (LIBS). In Abhängigkeit von der Funktionsweise der jeweiligen Methoden werden Informationen zu verschiedensten Bodeneigenschaften wie Nährelementgehalt, Textur und pH-Wert erhalten.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Entwicklung eines Online-LIBS-Verfahrens zur Nährelementbestimmmung und Kartierung von Ackerflächen. Die LIBS ist eine schnelle und simultane Multielementanalyse bei der durch das Fokussieren eines hochenergetischen Laserpulses Probenmaterial von der Probenoberfläche ablatiert wird und in ein Plasma überführt wird. Beim Abkühlen des Plasmas wird Strahlung emittiert, welche Rückschlüsse über die elementare Zusammensetzung der Probe gibt. Diese Arbeit ist im Teilprojekt I4S (Intelligenz für Böden) im Forschungsprogramm BonaRes (Boden als nachhaltige Ressource für die Bioökonomie) des Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) entstanden. Es wurden insgesamt 651 Bodenproben von verschiedenen Test-Agrarflächen unterschiedlichster Standorte Deutschlands gemessen, ausgewertet und zu Validierungszwecken mit entsprechender Referenzanalytik wie die Optische Emissionsspektroskopie mittels induktiv gekoppeltem Plasma (ICP-OES) und die wellenlängendispersive Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse (WDRFA) charakterisiert.
Für die Quantifizierung wurden zunächst die Messparameter des LIBS-Systems auf die Bodenmatrix optimiert und für die Elemente geeignete Linien ausgewählt sowie deren Nachweisgrenzen bestimmt. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass eine absolute Quantifizierung basierend auf einem univariaten Ansatz aufgrund der starken Matrixeffekte und der schlechten Reproduzierbarkeit des Plasmas nur eingeschränkt möglich ist. Bei Verwendung eines multivariaten Ansatz wie der Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) für die Kalibrierung konnten für die Nährelemente im Vergleich zur univariaten Variante Analyseergebnisse mit höherer Güte und geringeren Messunsicherheiten ermittelt werden. Die Untersuchungen haben gezeigt, dass das multivariate Modell weiter verbessert werden kann, indem mit einer Vielzahl von gut analysierten Böden verschiedener Standorte, Bodenarten und einem breiten Gehaltsbereich kalibriert wird. Mithilfe der Hauptkomponentenanalyse (PCA) wurde eine Klassifizierung der Böden nach der Textur realisiert. Weiterhin wurde auch eine Kalibrierung mit losem Bodenmaterial erstellt. Trotz der Signalabnahme konnten für die verschiedenen Nährelemente Kalibriergeraden mit ausreichender, analytischer Güte erstellt werden.
Für den Einsatz auf dem Acker wurde außerdem der Einfluss von Korngröße und Feuchtigkeit auf das LIBS-Signal untersucht. Die unterschiedlichen Korngrößen haben nur einen geringen Einfluss auf das LIBS-Signal und das Kalibriermodell lässt sich durch entsprechende Proben leicht anpassen. Dagegen ist der Einfluss der Feuchtigkeit deutlich stärker und hängt stark von der Bodenart ab, sodass für jede Bodenart ein separates Kalibriermodell für verschiedene Feuchtigkeitsgehalte erstellt werden muss. Mithilfe der PCA kann der Feuchtigkeitsgehalt im Boden grob abgeschätzt werden und die entsprechende Kalibrierung ausgewählt werden.
Diese Arbeit liefert essentielle Informationen für eine Echtzeit-Analyse von Nährelementen auf dem Acker mittels LIBS und leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zu einer fortschrittlichen und zukunftsfähigen Nutzung von Ackerflächen.
Metal halide perovskites have merged as an attractive class of materials for photovoltaic applications due to their excellent optoelectronic properties. However, the long term stability is a roadblock for this class of material’s industrial pathway. Increasing evidence shows that intrinsic defects in perovskite promote material degradation. Consequently, understanding defect behaviours in perovskite materials is essential to further improve device stability and performance. This dissertation, hence, focuses on the topic of defect chemistry in halide perovskites.
The first part of the dissertation gives a brief overview of the defect properties in halide perovskite. Subsequently, the second part shows that doping methylammonium lead iodide with a small amount of alkaline earth metals (Sr and Mg) creates a higher quality, less defective material resulted in high open circuit voltages in both n-i-p and p-i-n architecture. It has been found that the mechanism of doping has two distinct regimes in which a low doping concentration enables the inclusion of the dopants into the lattice whereas higher doping concentrations lead to phase segregation. The material can be more n-doped in the low doping regime while being less n-doped in the high doping regime. The threshold of these two regimes is based on the atomic size of the dopants.
The next part of the dissertation examines the photo-induced degradation in methylammonium lead iodide. This degradation mechanism links closely to the formation and migration of ionic defects. After they are formed, these ionic defects can migrate, however, not freely depending on the defect concentration and their distribution. In fact, a highly concentrated defect region such as the grain boundaries can inhibit the migration of ionic defects. This has implications for material design as perovskite solar cells normally employ a polycrystalline thin-film which has a high density of grain boundary.
The final study presented in this PhD dissertation focuses on the stability of the state-of-the-art triple cation perovskite-based solar devices under external bias. Prolonged bias (more than three hours) is found to promote amorphization in halide perovskite. The amorphous phase is suspected to accumulate at the interfaces especially between the hole selective layer and perovskite. This amorphous phase inhibits the charge collection and severely affects the device performance. Nonetheless, the devices can recover after resting without bias in the dark. This amorphization is attributed to ionic defect migration most likely halides. This provides a new understanding of the potential degradation mechanisms in perovskite solar cells under operational conditions.