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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Controlled Membrane Remodeling By Nanospheres And Nanorods: Experiments Targeting The Design Principles For Membrane-Based Materials, Sarah Zuraw-Weston
Controlled Membrane Remodeling By Nanospheres And Nanorods: Experiments Targeting The Design Principles For Membrane-Based Materials, Sarah Zuraw-Weston
Doctoral Dissertations
In this thesis we explore two experimental systems probing the interactions of nanoparticles with lipid bilayer membranes. Inspired by the ability of cell membranes to alter their shape in response to bound particles, we report two experimental studies: one of nanospheres the other of long, slender nano-rods binding to lipid bilayer vesicles and altering the membrane shape. Our work illuminates the role of particle geometry, particle concentration, adhesion strength and membrane tension in how membrane morphology is determined. We combine giant unilamellar vesicles with oppositely charged nanoparticles, carefully tuning adhesion strength, membrane tension and particle concentration. In the case of …
Assembly Of Particles Onto Rigid Cylinders And Flexible Membranes: Probing Effects Of Surface Curvature And Deformation, Derek Wood
Doctoral Dissertations
In this thesis we explore two specific topics within the broad field of particle adhesion. First, we examine the effect of substrate shape and geometry on the self assembly of adsorbed particles, by performing molecular dynamics simulations of interacting particles constrained to the surface of cylinders of varying diameters. We find the diameter of the cylinder imposes a constraint on the shape and crystallographic orientation of the self-assembled lattice, essentially determining the optimal arrangement of particles a priori. We propose a simple one-dimensional model to explain the optimal arrangement of particles as a function of the particle interaction potential …
Self-Assembly Of Nanoparticles At Liquid-Liquid Interfaces, Kan Du
Self-Assembly Of Nanoparticles At Liquid-Liquid Interfaces, Kan Du
Open Access Dissertations
In this thesis, we studied the self-assembly of nanoparticles at liquid metal-water interfaces and oil-water interfaces. We demonstrated a simple approach to form nanostructured electronic devices by self-assembly of nanoparticles at liquid metal surfaces. In this approach, two liquid-metal droplets, which were coated with a monolayer of ligand-stabilized nanoparticles, were brought into contact. They did not coalesce but instead remained separated by the nanoparticles assembled at the interface. Devices formed by this method showed electron transport between droplets that was characteristic of the Coulomb blockade, where current was suppressed below a tunable threshold voltage because of the energy of charging …