TY - JOUR A1 - Kityk, A.V. A1 - Busch, M. A1 - Rau, D. A1 - Calus, S. A1 - Cerclier, C.V. A1 - Lefort, R. A1 - Morineau, D. A1 - Grelet, E. A1 - Krause, Christina A1 - Schönhals, Andreas A1 - Frick, B. A1 - Huber, P. T1 - Thermotropic orientational order of discotic liquid crystals in nanochannels: an optical polarimetry study and a Landau-de Gennes analysis N2 - Optical polarimetry measurements of the orientational order of a discotic liquid crystal based on a pyrene derivative confined in parallelly aligned nanochannels of monolithic, mesoporous alumina, silica, and silicon as a function of temperature, channel radius (3–22 nm) and surface chemistry reveal a competition of radial and axial columnar orders. The evolution of the orientational order parameter of the confined systems is continuous, in contrast to the discontinuous transition in the bulk. For channel radii larger than 10 nm we suggest several, alternative defect structures, which are compatible both with the optical experiments on the collective molecular orientation presented here and with a translational, radial columnar order reported in previous diffraction studies. For smaller channel radii our observations can semi-quantitatively be described by a Landau–de Gennes model with a nematic shell of radially ordered columns (affected by elastic splay deformations) that coexists with an orientationally disordered, isotropic core. For these structures, the cylindrical phase boundaries are predicted to move from the channel walls to the channel centres upon cooling, and vice-versa upon heating, in accord with the pronounced cooling/heating hystereses observed and the scaling behavior of the transition temperatures with the channel diameter. The absence of experimental hints of a paranematic state is consistent with a biquadratic coupling of the splay deformations to the order parameter. PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c4sm00211c SN - 1744-683X VL - 10 IS - 25 SP - 4522 EP - 4534 PB - RSC Publ. CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-30866 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sieg, H. A1 - Krause, B.-C. A1 - Kästner, Claudia A1 - Böhmert, L. A1 - Lichtenstein, D. A1 - Tentschert, J. A1 - Jungnickel, H. A1 - Laux, P. A1 - Braeuning, A. A1 - Fessard, V. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Luch, A. A1 - Lampen, A. T1 - Cellular Effects of In Vitro-Digested Aluminum Nanomaterials on Human Intestinal Cells N2 - Aluminum (Al) can be taken up from food, packaging, or the environment and thus reaches the human gastrointestinal tract. Its toxic potential after oral uptake is still discussed. The fate of different solid and ionic Al species during the passage through the digestive tract is the focus of this research, as well as the cellular effects caused by these different Al species. The present study combines the physicochemical processing of three recently studied Al species (metallic Al0, mineral Al2O3, and soluble AlCl3) in artificial digestion fluids with in vitro cell systems for the human intestinal barrier. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) methods were used to characterize the Al species in the artificial digestion fluids and in cell culture medium for proliferating and differentiated intestinal Caco-2 cells. Cytotoxicity testing and cellular impedance measurements were applied to address the effects of digested Al species on cell viability and cell proliferation. Microarray-based transcriptome analyses and quantitative real-time PCR were conducted to obtain a deeper insight into cellular mechanisms of action and generated indications for cellular oxidative stress and an influence on xenobiotic metabolism, connected with alterations in associated signaling pathways. These cellular responses, which were predominantly caused by formerly ionic Al species and only at very high concentrations, were not impacted by artificial digestion. A two-directional conversion of Al between ionic species and solid particles occurred throughout all segments of the gastrointestinal tract, as evidenced by the presence of nanoscaled particles. Nevertheless, this presence did not increase the toxicity of the respective Al species. KW - SAXS KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - Nanoparticle PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.9b02354 VL - 3 IS - 3 SP - 2246 EP - 2256 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-50632 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -