11. |
- Das, Oisik, et al.
(author)
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The Effect of Carbon Black on the Properties of Plasticised Wheat Gluten Biopolymer
- 2020
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In: Molecules. - : MDPI. - 1431-5157 .- 1420-3049. ; 25:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Wheat gluten biopolymers generally become excessively rigid when processed without plasticisers, while the use of plasticisers, on the other hand, can deteriorate their mechanical properties. As such, this study investigated the effect of carbon black (CB) as a filler into glycerol-plasticised gluten to prepare gluten/CB biocomposites in order to eliminate the aforementioned drawback. Thus, biocomposites were manufactured using compression moulding followed by the determination of their mechanical, morphological, and chemical properties. The filler content of 4 wt% was found to be optimal for achieving increased tensile strength by 24%, and tensile modulus by 268% along with the toughness retention based on energy at break when compared with those of glycerol-plasticised gluten. When reaching the filler content up to 6 wt%, the tensile properties were found to be worsened, which can be ascribed to excessive agglomeration of carbon black at the high content levels within gluten matrices. Based on infrared spectroscopy, the results demonstrate an increased amount of β-sheets, suggesting the formation of more aggregated protein networks induced by increasing the filler contents. However, the addition of fillers did not improve fire and water resistance in such bionanocomposites owing to the high blend ratio of plasticiser to gluten.
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12. |
- Frostenson, Carl Mikael, 1992, et al.
(author)
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Hard and soft materials: Putting consistent van der Waals density functionals to work
- 2022
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In: Electronic Structure. - : IOP Publishing. - 2516-1075. ; 4:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the idea and illustrate potential benefits of having a tool chain of closely related regular, unscreened and screened hybrid exchange-correlation (XC) functionals, all within the consistent formulation of the van derWaals density functional (vdW-DF) method (Hyldgaard et al (2020 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 32 393001)). Use of this chain of nonempirical XC functionals allows us to map when the inclusion of truly nonlocal exchange and of truly nonlocal correlation is important. Here we begin the mapping by addressing hard and soft material challenges: Magnetic elements, perovskites, and biomolecular problems.We also predict the structure and polarization for a ferroelectric polymer. To facilitate this work and future broader explorations, we present a stress formulation for spin vdW-DF and illustrate the use of a simple stability-modeling scheme. The modeling supplements density functional theory (DFT) (with a specific XC functional) by asserting whether the finding of a soft mode (an imaginary-frequency vibrational mode, ubiquitous in perovskites and soft matter) implies an actual DFT-based prediction of a low-temperature transformation.
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13. |
- Merte, Lindsay R., et al.
(author)
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Structure of two-dimensional Fe3O4
- 2020
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In: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 152:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have investigated the structure of an ultrathin iron oxide phase grown on Ag(100) using surface X-ray diffraction in combination with Hubbard-corrected density functional theory (DFT+U) calculations. The film exhibits a novel structure composed of one close-packed layer of octahedrally coordinated Fe2+ sandwiched between two close-packed layers of tetrahedrally coordinated Fe3+ and an overall stoichiometry of Fe3O4. As the structure is distinct from bulk iron oxide phases and the coupling with the silver substrate is weak, we propose that the phase should be classified as a metastable two-dimensional oxide. The chemical and physical properties are potentially interesting, thanks to the predicted charge ordering between atomic layers, and analogy with bulk ferrite spinels suggests the possibility of synthesis of a whole class of two-dimensional ternary oxides with varying electronic, optical, and chemical properties.
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14. |
- Toijer, Elin, et al.
(author)
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Ab initio modelling of intergranular fracture of nickel containing phosphorus : Interfacial excess properties
- 2021
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In: Nuclear Materials and Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-1791. ; 28
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the present work, the impact of phosphorus impurities on the grain boundary strength of nickel has been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) modelling. Owing to different outcomes and trends previously reported in the literature, it is unclear whether P is strengthening or weakening the Ni grain boundary. To address this issue, we utilize three different DFT based methods: the excess-energy approach, rigid grain separation, and Rice-Wang's thermodynamic approach. The results show that the commonly used rigid model predicts P to have an increasing effect on the peak stress of Ni of up to 14%, as opposed to a reduction, which is indicated by the excess-energy approach. Employment of the Rice-Wang approach, on the other hand, displays a slight reduction in work of separation. The results show that the discrepancies between previous works can be attributed not so much to the physics of the system, but to the applied model, the partition scheme and the interpretation of the outcomes. This underlines the importance of a proper description of the fracture process, and shows that common simplifications can have a decisive impact on the observed trends.
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15. |
- Asplund Högelin, K., et al.
(author)
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B-cell repopulation dynamics and drug pharmacokinetics impact SARS-CoV-2 vaccine efficacy in anti-CD20-treated multiple sclerosis patients
- 2022
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In: European Journal of Neurology. - : Wiley. - 1351-5101 .- 1468-1331. ; 29:11, s. 3317-3328
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and purpose: Recent findings document a blunted humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients on anti-CD20 treatment. Although most patients develop a cellular response, it is still important to identify predictors of seroconversion to optimize vaccine responses. Methods: We determined antibody responses after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in a real-world cohort of multiple sclerosis patients (n = 94) treated with anti-CD20, mainly rituximab, with variable treatment duration (median = 2.9, range = 0.4–9.6 years) and time from last anti-CD20 infusion to vaccination (median = 190, range = 60–1032 days). Results: We find that presence of B cells and/or rituximab in blood predict seroconversion better than time since last infusion. Using multiple logistic regression, presence of >0.5% B cells increased probability of seroconversion with an odds ratio (OR) of 5.0 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0–28.1, p = 0.055), whereas the corresponding OR for ≥6 months since last infusion was 1.45 (95% CI = 0.20–10.15, p = 0.705). In contrast, detectable rituximab levels were negatively associated with seroconversion (OR = 0.05, 95% CI = 0.002–0.392, p = 0.012). Furthermore, naïve and memory IgG+ B cells correlated with antibody levels. Although retreatment with rituximab at 4 weeks or more after booster depleted spike-specific B cells, it did not noticeably affect the rate of decline in antibody titers. Interferon-γ and/or interleukin-13 T-cell responses to the spike S1 domain were observed in most patients, but with no correlation to spike antibody levels. Conclusions: These findings are relevant for providing individualized guidance to patients and planning of vaccination schemes, in turn optimizing benefit–risk with anti-CD20.
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