| 1. |
- Boyd, Hannah, 1994-, et al.
(author)
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A comparison between the structures of reconstituted salivary pellicles and oral mucin (MUC5B) films.
- 2021
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In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9797 .- 1095-7103. ; 584, s. 660-668
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- HYPOTHESIS: Salivary pellicles i.e., thin films formed upon selective adsorption of saliva, protect oral surfaces against chemical and mechanical insults. Pellicles are also excellent aqueous lubricants. It is generally accepted that reconstituted pellicles have a two-layer structure, where the outer layer is mainly composed of MUC5B mucins. We hypothesized that by comparing the effect of ionic strength on reconstituted pellicles and MUC5B films we could gain further insight into the pellicle structure.EXPERIMENTS: Salivary pellicles and MUC5B films reconstituted on solid surfaces were investigated at different ionic strengths by Force Spectroscopy, Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation, Null Ellipsometry and Neutron Reflectometry.FINDINGS: Our results support the two-layer structure for reconstituted salivary pellicles. The outer layer swelled when ionic strength decreased, indicating a weak polyelectrolyte behavior. While initially the MUC5B films exhibited a similar tendency, this was followed by a drastic collapse indicating an interaction between exposed hydrophobic domains. This suggests that mucins in the pellicle outer layer form complexes with other salivary components that prevent this interaction. Lowering ionic strength below physiological values also led to a partial removal of the pellicle inner layer. Overall, our results highlight the importance that the interactions of mucins with other pellicle components play on their structure.
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| 2. |
- Boyd, Hannah, 1994-, et al.
(author)
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Effect of nonionic and amphoteric surfactants on salivary pellicles reconstituted in vitro
- 2021
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Surfactants are important components of oral care products. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is the most common because of its foaming properties, taste and low cost. However, the use of ionic surfactants, especially SDS, is related to several oral mucosa conditions. Thus, there is a high interest in using non-ionic and amphoteric surfactants as they are less irritant. To better understand the performance of these surfactants in oral care products, we investigated their interaction with salivary pellicles i.e., the proteinaceous films that cover surfaces exposed to saliva. Specifically, we focused on pentaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12E5) and cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) as model nonionic and amphoteric surfactants respectively, and investigated their interaction with reconstituted salivary pellicles with various surface techniques: Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation, Ellipsometry, Force Spectroscopy and Neutron Reflectometry. Both C12E5 and CAPB were gentler on pellicles than SDS, removing a lower amount. However, their interaction with pellicles differed. Our work indicates that CAPB would mainly interact with the mucin components of pellicles, leading to collapse and dehydration. In contrast, exposure to C12E5 had a minimal effect on the pellicles, mainly resulting in the replacement/solubilisation of some of the components anchoring pellicles to their substrate.
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| 3. |
- Busch, Christian, et al.
(author)
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A mobile setup for simultaneous and in situ neutron reflectivity, infrared spectroscopy, and ellipsometry studies
- 2022
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In: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : American Institute of Physics. - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 93:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Neutron reflectivity at the solid/liquid interface offers unique opportunities for resolving the structure–function relationships of interfacial layers in soft matter science. It is a non-destructive technique for detailed analysis of layered structures on molecular length scales, providing thickness, density, roughness, and composition of individual layers or components of adsorbed films. However, there are also some well-known limitations of this method, such as the lack of chemical information, the difficulties in determining large layer thicknesses, and the limited time resolution. We have addressed these shortcomings by designing and implementing a portable sample environment for in situ characterization at neutron reflectometry beamlines, integrating infrared spectroscopy under attenuated total reflection for determination of molecular entities and their conformation, and spectroscopic ellipsometry for rapid and independent measurement of layer thicknesses and refractive indices. The utility of this combined setup is demonstrated by two projects investigating (a) pH-dependent swelling of polyelectrolyte layers and (b) the impact of nanoparticles on lipid membranes to identify potential mechanisms of nanotoxicity.
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| 4. |
- Dennison, Andrew J. C., et al.
(author)
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Graphite intercalation compound (GIC) crystal monochromators for cold neutron instruments : Characterization of KC24 by time-of-flight neutron diffraction
- 2021
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In: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 92:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) are a group of layered materials that are suitable as monochromators for cold neutrons. KC24 is a particularly interesting compound in this regard as it features a large c-axis lattice spacing of 8.74 angstrom, high reflectivity, and the possibility to produce large crystals with mosaicity that matches the beam divergence of cold neutron guides. GICs can be synthesized with different levels of intercalation, known as the stage of the compounds. Each stage displays a specific d-spacing. Impure GIC-monochromators containing multiple stages produce mixing of neutron wavelengths, which complicates data analysis on neutron reflectometers. We discuss the implications of GIC crystal purity and stage contamination for neutron reflectometry and show how GIC crystals can be characterized by time-of-flight neutron diffraction providing an efficient and quantifiable measure of the reflected wavelength spectrum. This allows taking into account multiple wavelength contaminations and ascertains the robustness of reflectometry measurements.
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| 5. |
- Gonzalez-Martinez, Juan F, et al.
(author)
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MUC5B mucin films under mechanical confinement : A combined neutron reflectometry and atomic force microscopy study.
- 2022
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In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9797 .- 1095-7103. ; 614, s. 120-129
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- HYPOTHESIS: Among other functions, mucins hydrate and protect biological interfaces from mechanical challenges. Mucins also attract interest as biocompatible coatings with excellent lubrication performance. Therefore, it is of high interest to understand the structural response of mucin films to mechanical challenges. We hypothesized that this could be done with Neutron Reflectometry using a novel sample environment where mechanical confinement is achieved by inflating a membrane against the films.EXPERIMENTS: Oral MUC5B mucin films were investigated by Force Microscopy/Spectroscopy and Neutron Reflectometry both at solid-liquid interfaces and under mechanical confinement.FINDINGS: NR indicated that MUC5B films were almost completely compressed and dehydrated when confined at 1 bar. This was supported by Force Microscopy/Spectroscopy investigations. Force Spectroscopy also indicated that MUC5B films could withstand mechanical confinement by means of steric interactions for pressures lower than ∼ 0.5 bar i.e., mucins could protect interfaces from mechanical challenges of this magnitude while keeping them hydrated. To investigate mucin films under these pressures by means of the employed sample environment for NR, further technological developments are needed. The most critical would be identifying or developing more flexible membranes that would still meet certain requirements like chemical homogeneity and very low roughness.
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| 6. |
- Gvaramia, Manuchar, et al.
(author)
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Neutron spin echo spectroscopy with a moving sample
- 2023
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 13:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Neutron spin echo spectroscopy is a high resolution inelastic neutron scattering method probing nanosecond dynamics. It is well suited to study the atomistic motion in polymer systems and contributes to our understanding of viscoelasticity. However, for samples under shear, or moving samples in general, Doppler scattering has to be considered. We compare the measured phase shift and depolarisation due to Doppler scattering from a rotating graphite disk to numerical and analytical calculations and find excellent agreement. This allows to take into account Doppler scattering during the data processing and makes longer Fourier times as well as higher shear rates and Q ranges possible with neutron spin echo spectroscopy, enabling for example the study of polymers under high shear.
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| 7. |
- Paracini, Nicolò, et al.
(author)
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Structural Characterization of Nanoparticle-Supported Lipid Bilayer Arrays by Grazing Incidence X-ray and Neutron Scattering
- 2023
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In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 15:3, s. 3772-3780
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Arrays of nanoparticle-supported lipid bilayers (nanoSLB) are lipid-coated nanopatterned interfaces that provide a platform to study curved model biological membranes using surface-sensitive techniques. We combined scattering techniques with direct imaging, to gain access to sub-nanometer scale structural information on stable nanoparticle monolayers assembled on silicon crystals in a noncovalent manner using a Langmuir-Schaefer deposition. The structure of supported lipid bilayers formed on the nanoparticle arrays via vesicle fusion was investigated using a combination of grazing incidence X-ray and neutron scattering techniques complemented by fluorescence microscopy imaging. Ordered nanoparticle assemblies were shown to be suitable and stable substrates for the formation of curved and fluid lipid bilayers that retained lateral mobility, as shown by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and quartz crystal microbalance measurements. Neutron reflectometry revealed the formation of high-coverage lipid bilayers around the spherical particles together with a flat lipid bilayer on the substrate below the nanoparticles. The presence of coexisting flat and curved supported lipid bilayers on the same substrate, combined with the sub-nanometer accuracy and isotopic sensitivity of grazing incidence neutron scattering, provides a promising novel approach to investigate curvature-dependent membrane phenomena on supported lipid bilayers.
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| 8. |
- Wolff, Max, et al.
(author)
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Grazing incidence neutron scattering for the study of solid–liquid interfaces
- 2023
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In: Reference Module in Chemistry, Molecular Sciences and Chemical Engineering. - : Elsevier.
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Neutrons are characterized by a low absorption in many engineering materials. At the same time the scattering cross section of light elements, such as hydrogen and deuterium, may be large. These properties make neutron scattering experiments performed under grazing incidence geometry an excellent tool for the study of solid–liquid interfaces. In this review we describe the basic concepts of neutron reflection and grazing incidence scattering experiments as well as experimental procedures and sample cells. The full power of the method is exemplified on a range of science areas, including polymers, bio- and ionic liquid lubricants, electrolytes as well as bio-membranes or magnetic liquids.
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| 9. |
- Wolff, Max, et al.
(author)
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Grazing incidence neutron scattering for the study of solid–liquid interfaces
- 2023
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In: Encyclopedia of Solid-Liquid Interfaces. - : Elsevier. ; , s. 1-1
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Neutrons are characterized by a low absorption in many engineering materials. At the same time the scattering cross section of light elements, such as hydrogen and deuterium, may be large. These properties make neutron scattering experiments performed under grazing incidence geometry an excellent tool for the study of solid–liquid interfaces. In this review we describe the basic concepts of neutron reflection and grazing incidence scattering experiments as well as experimental procedures and sample cells. The full power of the method is exemplified on a range of science areas, including polymers, bio- and ionic liquid lubricants, electrolytes as well as bio-membranes or magnetic liquids.
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