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Ackroyd AJ, De Paolis A, Xu YT, Momeni A, Hamad WY, MacLachlan MJ. Self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals confined to square capillaries. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:14388-14398. [PMID: 37609826 DOI: 10.1039/d3nr02650g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Biological systems exploit restricted degrees of freedom to drive self-assembly of nano- and microarchitectures. Simplified systems, such as colloidal nanoparticles that behave as lyotropic liquid crystalline mesophases in confined geometric spaces, may be used to mimic biological structures. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are colloidally stable nanoparticles that self-assemble into chiral nematic (ChN) liquid crystalline mesophases. To date, the self-assembly of ChN mesophases of CNCs has been studied under confinement conditions within curved surfaces or under drying conditions that impose curvatures that can be exploited to control ChN ordering; however, their self-assembly has not been investigated in geometries with square cross-sections under static conditions. Here, we show that because of surface anchoring on perpendicular surfaces, the ChN CNC phase is unable to bend with the 90° angle of the square capillary under increasing confinement. Instead, the ChN phase forms radial layers in the shape of concentric squircle shells. With increasing layer distance from the capillary wall, the squircles transition into concentric cylinder shells. In larger capillaries, the radial shell layers appear as a continuous spiral pattern that engulfs fragmented ChN pseudolayers, a defect to accommodate the cylindrical confinement of the mesophase. These results are useful for understanding the fundamentals of self-assembling systems and development of new technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Ackroyd
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| | - Adam De Paolis
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| | - Yi-Tao Xu
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| | - Arash Momeni
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| | - Wadood Y Hamad
- Transformation and Interfaces Group, Bioproducts Innovation Centre of Excellence, FPInnovations, 2665 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Mark J MacLachlan
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
- Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, 2355 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
- WPI Nano Life Science Institute, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan
- UBC BioProducts Institute, 2385 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
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Zhang Y, Deng J. Chiral helical polymer materials derived from achiral monomers and their chiral applications. Polym Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1039/d0py00934b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Helix-sense-selective polymerization (HSSP) of achiral monomers and chiral post-induction of racemic helical polymers provide two alternative approaches for constructing chiral helical polymer materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingjie Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology
- Beijing 100029
- China
- College of Materials Science and Engineering
| | - Jianping Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology
- Beijing 100029
- China
- College of Materials Science and Engineering
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