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Hierarchical Nanostructures (hierarchical + nanostructure)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Polymers and Materials Science	75%

Selected Abstracts

Similarities in the Structural Organization of Major and Minor Ampullate Spider Silk

MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS, Issue 9-10 2009
Periklis Papadopoulos
Abstract Minor and major ampullate spider silks are studied under varying mechanical stress by static and time-resolved FT-IR spectroscopy. This enables one to trace the external mechanical excitation on a microscopic level and to determine for the different moieties the time dependence of the molecular order parameters and corresponding band shifts. It is concluded that the hierarchical nanostructure of both types of silk is similar, being composed of highly oriented nanocrystals, which are interconnected by amorphous chains that obey the worm-like chain model and have a Gaussian distribution of pre-strain. By that it is possible to describe the mechanical properties of both silks by two adjustable parameters only, the center and width of the distribution. For major ampullate silk, the observed variability is small in pronounced contrast to the findings for minor ampullate. [source]

Synthesis of highly-ordered hierarchical ZnO nanostructures and their application in dye-sensitized solar cells

CRYSTAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2010
Y. F. Zhu
Abstract In order to improve the performance of ZnO-based solar cells, highly-ordered hierarchical ZnO nanostructures were design and fabricated. The hierarchical nanostructures were grown on FTO (fluorine doped tin oxide, SnO2:F) glass substrates via a facile, low-temperature, and low-cost chemical route. The morphology and structure of the obtained products has been confirmed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. The performance investigation of the prepared dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) demonstrates that the hierarchical ZnO nanostructure-based solar cell shows a higher short-circuit current density compared with the ZnO nanowire counterpart. The enhanced current density may be due to the fact that the surface area of the hierarchical nanostructures is increased. These results indicate that hierarchical ZnO nanostructures are more suitable for the application as photoelectrode of DSSCs. (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

Self-Assembled Graphene,Enzyme Hierarchical Nanostructures for Electrochemical Biosensing

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 19 2010
Qiong Zeng
Abstract The self-assembly of sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (SDBS) functionalized graphene sheets (GSs) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) by electrostatic attraction into novel hierarchical nanostructures in aqueous solution is reported. Data from scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction demonstrate that the HRP,GSs bionanocomposites feature ordered hierarchical nanostructures with well-dispersed HRP intercalated between the GSs. UV-vis and infrared spectra indicate the native structure of HRP is maintained after the assembly, implying good biocompatibility of SDBS-functionalized GSs. Furthermore, the HRP,GSs composites are utilized for the fabrication of enzyme electrodes (HRP,GSs electrodes). Electrochemical measurements reveal that the resulting HRP,GSs electrodes display high electrocatalytic activity to H2O2 with high sensitivity, wide linear range, low detection limit, and fast amperometric response. These desirable electrochemical performances are attributed to excellent biocompatibility and superb electron transport efficiency of GSs as well as high HRP loading and synergistic catalytic effect of the HRP,GSs bionanocomposites toward H2O2. As graphene can be readily non-covalently functionalized by "designer" aromatic molecules with different electrostatic properties, the proposed self-assembly strategy affords a facile and effective platform for the assembly of various biomolecules into hierarchically ordered bionanocomposites in biosensing and biocatalytic applications. [source]