1. |
- Ajjan, Fátima, et al.
(author)
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High performance PEDOT/lignin biopolymer composites for electrochemical supercapacitors
- 2016
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In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 4:5, s. 1838-1847
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Developing sustainable organic electrode materials for energy storage applications is an urgent task. We present a promising candidate based on the use of lignin, the second most abundant biopolymer in nature. This polymer is combined with a conducting polymer, where lignin as a polyanion can behave both as a dopant and surfactant. The synthesis of PEDOT/Lig biocomposites by both oxidative chemical and electrochemical polymerization of EDOT in the presence of lignin sulfonate is presented. The characterization of PEDOT/Lig was performed by UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, FTIR infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge. PEDOT doped with lignin doubles the specific capacitance (170.4 F g(-1)) compared to reference PEDOT electrodes (80.4 F g(-1)). The enhanced energy storage performance is a consequence of the additional pseudocapacitance generated by the quinone moieties in lignin, which give rise to faradaic reactions. Furthermore PEDOT/Lig is a highly stable biocomposite, retaining about 83% of its electroactivity after 1000 charge/discharge cycles. These results illustrate that the redox doping strategy is a facile and straightforward approach to improve the electroactive performance of PEDOT.
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2. |
- Ajjan, Fátima, et al.
(author)
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Innovative polyelectrolytes/poly(ionic liquid)s for energy and the environment
- 2017
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In: Polymer international. - : WILEY. - 0959-8103 .- 1097-0126. ; 66:8, s. 1119-1128
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents the work carried out within the European project RENAISSANCE-ITN, which was dedicated to the development of innovative polyelectrolytes for energy and environmental applications. Within the project different types of innovative polyelectrolytes were synthesized such as poly(ionic liquid)s coming from renewable or natural ions, thiazolium cations, catechol functionalities or from a new generation of cheap deep eutectic monomers. Further, macromolecular architectures such as new poly(ionic liquid) block copolymers and new (semi)conducting polymer/polyelectrolyte complexes were also developed. As the final goal, the application of these innovative polymers in energy and the environment was investigated. Important advances in energy storage technologies included the development of new carbonaceous materials, new lignin/conducting polymer biopolymer electrodes, new iongels and single-ion conducting polymer electrolytes for supercapacitors and batteries and new poly(ionic liquid) binders for batteries. On the other hand, the use of innovative polyelectrolytes in sustainable environmental technologies led to the development of new liquid and dry water, new materials for water cleaning technologies such as flocculants, oil absorbers, new recyclable organocatalyst platforms and new multifunctional polymer coatings with antifouling and antimicrobial properties. All in all this paper demonstrates the potential of poly(ionic liquid)s for high-value applications in energy and enviromental areas. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry
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3. |
- Andersson, Viktor, et al.
(author)
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Morphology of organic electronic materials imaged via electron tomography
- 2012
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In: Journal of Microscopy. - : Wiley. - 0022-2720 .- 1365-2818. ; 247:3, s. 277-287
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several organic materials and blends have been studied with the use of electron tomography. Tomography reconstructions of active layers of organic solar cells, where various preparation techniques have been used, have been analysed and compared to device behaviour. In addition, materials with predefined structures, including contrast enhancing features, have been studied and double tilt data collection has been employed to improve reconstructions. Small changes in preparation procedures may lead to large differences in morphology and device performance, and the results also indicate a complex relation between these.
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4. |
- Andersson, Viktor, et al.
(author)
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Preparation of amyloidlike fibrils containing magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: Effect of protein aggregation on proton relaxivity
- 2012
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In: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications - BBRC. - : Elsevier. - 0006-291X .- 1090-2104. ; 419:4, s. 682-686
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A method to prepare amyloid-like fibrils functionalized with magnetic nanoparticles has been developed. The amyloid-like fibrils are prepared in a two step procedure, where insulin and magnetic nanoparticles are mixed simply by grinding in the solid state, resulting in a water soluble hybrid material. When the hybrid material is heated in aqueous acid, the insulin/nanoparticle hybrid material self assembles to form amyloid-like fibrils incorporating the magnetic nanoparticles. This results in magnetically labeled amyloid-like fibrils which has been characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and electron tomography. The influence of the aggregation process on proton relaxivity is investigated. The prepared materials have potential uses in a range of bio-imaging applications.
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5. |
- Bäcklund, Fredrik, et al.
(author)
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Amyloid fibrils as dispersing agents for oligothiophenes: control of photophysical properties through nanoscale templating and flow induced fibril alignment
- 2014
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In: Journal of Materials Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1364-5501 .- 0959-9428 .- 2050-7526 .- 2050-7534. ; 2:37, s. 7811-7822
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Herein we report that protein fibrils formed from aggregated proteins, so called amyloid fibrils, serve as an excellent dispersing agent for hydrophobic oligothiophenes such as alpha-sexithiophene (6T). Furthermore, the protein fibrils are capable of orienting 6T along the fibril long axis, as demonstrated by flow-aligned linear dichroism spectroscopy and polarized fluorescence microscopy. The materials are prepared by solid state mixing of 6T with a protein capable of self-assembly. This results in a water soluble composite material that upon heating in aqueous acid undergoes self-assembly into protein fibrils non-covalently functionalized with 6T, with a typical diameter of 5-10 nm and lengths in the micrometre range. The resulting aqueous fibril dispersions are a readily available source of oligothiophenes that can be processed from aqueous solvent, and we demonstrate the fabrication of macroscopic structures consisting of aligned 6T functionalized protein fibrils. Due to the fibril induced ordering of 6T these structures exhibit polarized light emission.
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6. |
- Bäcklund, Fredrik, et al.
(author)
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Conducting microhelices from self-assembly of protein fibrils
- 2017
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In: Soft Matter. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1744-683X .- 1744-6848. ; 13:25, s. 4412-4417
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Herein we utilize insulin to prepare amyloid based chiral heliceswith either right or left handed helicity. We demonstrate that thehelices can be utilized as structural templates for the conductingpolymer alkoxysulfonate poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT-S).The chirality of the helical assembly is transferred to PEDOT-S asdemonstrated by polarized optical microscopy (POM) and CircularDichroism (CD). Analysis of the helices by conductive atomic force(c-AFM) shows significant conductivity. In addition the morphologyof the template structure is stabilized by PEDOT-S. Theseconductive helical structures represent promising candidates in ourquest for THz resonators.
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7. |
- Bäcklund, Fredrik, et al.
(author)
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Development and Application of Methodology for Rapid Screening of Potential Amyloid Probes
- 2014
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In: ACS COMBINATORIAL SCIENCE. - : ACS Publications. - 2156-8952 .- 2156-8944. ; 16:12, s. 721-729
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Herein, we demonstrate that it is possible to rapidly screen hydrophobic fluorescent aromatic molecules with regards to their properties as amyloid probes. By grinding the hydrophobic molecule with the amyloidogenic protein insulin, we obtained a water-soluble composite material. When this material is dissolved and exposed to conditions promoting amyloid formation, the protein aggregates into amyloid fibrils incorporating the hydrophobic molecule. As a result, changes in the fluorescence spectra of the hydrophobic molecule can be correlated to the formation of amyloid fibrils, and the suitability of the hydrophobic molecular skeleton as an amyloid probe can thus be assessed. As a result, we discovered two new amyloid probes, of which one is the well-known laser dye DCM. The grinding method can also be used for rapid preparation of novel composite materials between dyes and proteins, which can be used in materials science applications such as organic electronics and photonics.
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8. |
- Bäcklund, Fredrik G., et al.
(author)
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Controlling Amyloid Fibril Formation by Partial Stirring
- 2016
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In: Biopolymers. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0006-3525 .- 1097-0282. ; 105:5, s. 249-259
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many proteins undergoes self-assembly into fibrillar structures known as amyloid fibrils. During the self-assembly process related structures, known as spherulites, can be formed. Herein we report a facile method where the balance between amyloid fibrils and spherulites can be controlled by stirring of the reaction mixture during the initial stages of the self-assembly process. Moreover, we report how this methodology can be used to prepare non-covalently functionalized amyloid fibrils. By stirring the reaction mixture continuously or for a limited time during the lag phase the fibril length, and hence the propensity to form liquid crystalline phases, can be influenced. This phenomena is utilized by preparing films consisting of aligned protein fibrils incorporating the laser dye Nile red. The resulting films display polarized Nile red fluorescence.
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9. |
- Bäcklund, Fredrik Gustaf, et al.
(author)
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Convection Induced Air-Water Interface Assembly of Amyloid Fibrils
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We report that hydrophobically modified amyloid fibrils form macroscopic films at the air-water interface. The hydrophobically modified fibrils are prepared in a two step process. First bovine insulin is ground with a hydrophobic compound. The resulting material is dissolved in acidic water and heated to induce assembly into fibrils incorporating the hydrophobic compounds. Upon dilution followed by asymmetric heating, resulting in convection flow, the fibrills form highly ordered films with thicknesses from 80 nm and up. The thickness of the film can be controlled by the fibril concentration and/or reaction time. The films contain anisotropic domains spanning several square centimeters. In addition, the films contains ordered assemblies of dyes that display emission of polarized light.
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10. |
- Bäcklund, Fredrik G., et al.
(author)
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Tuning the aqueous self-assembly process of insulin by a hydrophobic additive
- 2015
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In: RSC ADVANCES. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2046-2069. ; 5:112, s. 92254-92262
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biomolecular self-assembly is an efficient way of preparing soft-matter based materials. Herein we report a novel method, based on the use of insoluble additives in aqueous media, for influencing the self-assembly process. Due to their low solubility, the use of hydrophobic additives in aqueous media is problematic; however, by mixing the additive with the biomolecule in the solid state, prior to solvation, this problem can be circumvented. In the investigated self-assembly system, where bovine insulin self-assembles into spherical structures, the inclusion of the hydrophobic material α-sexithiophene (6T) results in significant changes in the self-assembly process. Under our reaction conditions, in the case of materials prepared from insulin-only the growth of spherulites typically stops at a diameter of 150μm. However, by adding 2 weight % of hydrophobic material, spherulite growth continues up to diameters in the mm-range. The spherulites incorporate 6T and are thus fluorescent. The method reported herein should be of interest to all scientists working in the field of self-assembly as the flexible materials preparation, based simply on co-grinding of commercially available materials, adds another option to influence the structure and properties of products formed by self-assembly reactions.
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