Wissenschaftliche Artikel der BAM
Filtern
Dokumenttyp
- Zeitschriftenartikel (2) (entfernen)
Sprache
- Englisch (2)
Referierte Publikation
- ja (2)
Schlagworte
Organisationseinheit der BAM
Discotic ionic liquid crystals (DILCs) consist of self-assembled superdiscs of cations and anions that spontaneously stack in linear columns with high one-dimensional ionic and electronic charge mobility, making them prominent model systems for functional soft matter. Compared to classical nonionic discotic liquid crystals, many liquid crystalline structures with a combination of electronic and ionic conductivity have been reported, which are of interest for separation membranes, artificial ion/proton conducting membranes, and optoelectronics. Unfortunately, a homogeneous alignment of the DILCs on the macroscale is often not achievable, which significantly limits the applicability of DILCs. Infiltration into nanoporous solid scaffolds can, in principle, overcome this drawback. However, due to the experimental challenges to scrutinize liquid crystalline order in extreme spatial confinement, little is known about the structures of DILCs in nanopores. Here, we present temperaturedependent high-resolution optical birefringence measurement and 3D reciprocal space mapping based on synchrotron X-ray scattering to investigate the thermotropic phase behavior of dopamine-based ionic liquid crystals confined in cylindrical channels of 180 nm diameter in macroscopic anodic aluminum oxide membranes. As a function of the membranes’ hydrophilicity and thus the molecular anchoring to the pore walls (edge-on or face-on) and the variation of the hydrophilic−hydrophobic balance between the aromatic cores and the alkyl side chain motifs of the superdiscs by tailored chemical synthesis, we find a particularly rich phase behavior, which is not present in the bulk state. It is governed by a complex interplay of liquid crystalline elastic energies (bending and splay deformations), polar interactions, and pure geometric confinement and includes textural transitions between radial and axial alignment of the columns with respect to the long nanochannel axis. Furthermore, confinement-induced continuous order formation is observed in contrast to discontinuous first-order phase transitions, which can be quantitatively described by Landau-de Gennes free energy models for liquid crystalline order transitions in confinement. Our observations suggest that the infiltration of DILCs into nanoporous solids allows tailoring their nanoscale texture and ion channel formation and thus their electrical and optical functionalities over an even wider range than in the bulk state in a homogeneous manner on the centimeter scale as controlled by the monolithic nanoporous scaffolds.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by accumulation of tau and amyloid-beta in the brain, and recent evidence suggests a correlation between associated protein aggregates and trace elements, such as copper, iron and zinc. In AD, distorted brain redox homeostasis and complexation by amyloid-beta and hyperphosphorylated tau May alter the isotopic composition of essential mineral elements. Therefore, high-precision isotopic analysis may reveal changes in the homeostasis of these elements. We used inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)-based techniques to determine the total Cu, Fe and Zn contents in the brain, as well as their isotopic compositions in both mouse brain and serum.
Results for male transgenic tau (Line 66, L66) and amyloid/presenilin (5xFAD) mice were compared to those for the corresponding age- and gendermatched wild-type control mice (WT). Our data show that L66 brains showed significantly higher Fe levels than the corresponding WT. Significantly less Cu, but more Zn was found in 5xFAD brains. We observed significantly lighter isotopic compositions of Fe (enrichment in the lighter isotopes) in the brain, and in serum of L66 mice compared to WT. For 5xFAD mice, Zn exhibited a trend towards a lighter isotopic composition in brain and a heavier isotopic composition in serum compared to WT. Neither mouse model yielded differences in the isotopic composition of Cu. Our findings indicate significant pathology-specific alterations of Fe and Zn brain homeostasis in mouse models of AD. The associated changes in isotopic composition May serve as a marker for proteinopathies Underlying AD and other types of dementia.