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05 January 2009
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Lights on for drug delivery
17 December 2008
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Contents list for Soft Matter, issue 2, 2009
Front cover
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 253
DOI: 10.1039/b822638p
Inside front cover
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 254
DOI: 10.1039/b822639n
Contents
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 255
DOI: 10.1039/b822640g
Highlights
Nematic colloids entangled by topological defects
Miha Ravnik and Slobodan 
umer,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 269
DOI: 10.1039/b810933h
Entanglement by delocalized defect lines in confined nematic liquid crystal colloids is highlighted with a particular focus on the modeling of novel complex colloidal structures.
Smart responsive surfaces switching reversibly between super-hydrophobicity and super-hydrophilicity
Fan Xia, Ying Zhu, Lin Feng and Lei Jiang,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 275
DOI: 10.1039/b803951h
Smart responsive surfaces switching reversibly between super-hydrophobicity and super-hydrophilicity can be effectively fabricated by modification of stimuli-responsive materials on rough surfaces. The externally applied stimuli include light, electricity, thermal, pH, solvent and stress. Such surfaces with controllable wettability are of great importance to both fundamental research and practical applications.
Review Article
Polyelectrolyte microcapsules for biomedical applications
Bruno G. De Geest, Stefaan De Koker, Gleb B. Sukhorukov, Oliver Kreft, Wolfgang J. Parak, Andrei G. Skirtach, Jo Demeester, Stefaan C. De Smedt and Wim E. Hennink,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 282
DOI: 10.1039/b808262f
In this paper we review the recent contributions of polyelectrolyte microcapsules in the biomedical field, comprising in vitro and in vivo drug delivery as well as their applications as biosensors.
Communications
Biologically inspired design of hydrogel-capped hair sensors for enhanced underwater flow detection
Michael E. McConney, Nannan Chen, David Lu, Huan A. Hu, Sheryl Coombs, Chang Liu and Vladimir V. Tsukruk,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 292
DOI: 10.1039/b808839j
A bioinspired hydrogel structure enhanced water flow sensitivity by almost two orders of magnitude and endowed the sensors with threshold sensitivities that rival those of fish.
Direct visualization of the real time swelling and collapse of a poly(methacrylic acid) brush using atomic force microscopy
Andrew J. Parnell, Simon J. Martin, Richard A. L. Jones, C. Vasilev, Colin J. Crook and Anthony J. Ryan,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 296
DOI: 10.1039/b812872c
The reversible height change dynamics of a poly(methacrylic acid) brush, a weak polyelectrolyte in response to pH changes, were observed in real time using atomic force microscopy.
Biointerfacing luminescent nanotubes
Qiang He, Ying Tian, Helmuth Möhwald and Junbai Li,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 300
DOI: 10.1039/b813781a
Formation of lipid bilayers on the surface of layer-by-layer assembled luminescent nanotube maintains its fluidity and enables development of bioorganic nanomaterials.
Competitive hydrogen-bonding in polymer solutions with mixed solvents
Ravi Shankar, Rebecca R. Klossner, Juan T. Weaver, Tsuyoshi Koga, John H. van Zanten, Wendy E. Krause, Coray M. Colina, Fumihiko Tanaka and Richard J. Spontak,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 304
DOI: 10.1039/b808479c
Competitive hydrogen-bonding between two polar solvents (methanol and water) induces an abrupt conformational change in poly(ethylene oxide) as discerned from viscosity and scattering measurements and predicted by molecular theory.
Photoinduced bending of a coumarin-containing supramolecular polymer
Jie He, Yi Zhao and Yue Zhao,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 308
DOI: 10.1039/b814278e
Film of an amorphous polymer bearing coumarin pendant groups through H-bonding can display large bending towards incident UV light as a result of the surface photodimerization of the chromophore.
Papers
The stabilisation of receptor structure in low cross-linked MIPs by an immobilised template
Rosa M. Garcinuño, Iva Chianella, Antonio Guerreiro, Irene Mijangos, Elena V. Piletska, Michael J. Whitcombe and Sergey A. Piletsky,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 311
DOI: 10.1039/b804476g
Preparing MIPs using a polymerisable template allows retention of affinity, specificity and selectivity even when materials are produced with only 12% of cross-linker.
Rearrangement and elimination of ordered surface layers of crystalline bubble structures due to gas diffusion
Antje van der Net, Denis Weaire and Stefan Hutzler,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 318
DOI: 10.1039/b809169b
We describe a self-organising effect, driven by gas diffusion, which results in the formation of a bidisperse top layer for an initially monodisperse crystalline bubble structure.
Intact lipid vesicles reversibly tethered to a bacterial S-layer protein lattice
Christian Kepplinger, Nicola Ilk, Uwe B. Sleytr and Bernhard Schuster,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 325
DOI: 10.1039/b811777b
A layer of vesicles containing Ni2+-NTA-lipids can be reversibly tethered to a self-assembled crystalline lattice of recombinant surface (S-)layer proteins carrying a accessible hexahistidine-tag on its C-terminal end.
Tailor-made crystalline structures of truncated S-layer proteins on heteropolysaccharides
Bernhard Schuster and Uwe B. Sleytr,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 334
DOI: 10.1039/b810211b
Crystalline surface (S-)layer protein patches separated by unstructured proteinaceous arrays can be specifically anchored to a layer composed of heteropolysaccharides and form nanometre-thick layers differing in morphology and viscoelasticity.
Spontaneous homeotropic alignment in films of rigid–flexible polyelectrolyte complexes
Hayley A. Every, Leen van der Ham, Stephen J. Picken and Eduardo Mendes,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 342
DOI: 10.1039/b807298a
Electrostatic complexation of a rigid-rod anionic polyelectrolyte exhibiting a nematic phase in solution with a flexible cationic polyelectrolyte forms homeotropically aligned films upon casting: the rigid molecules align perpendicular to the substrate.
Dissipative particle dynamics simulation of T- and X-shaped polyphilic molecules exhibiting honeycomb columnar phases
Martin Bates and Martin Walker,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 346
DOI: 10.1039/b813015a
Simulations are used to examine the honeycomb columnar liquid-crystal phases of T- and X-shaped polyphilic molecules. T-shaped molecules have double-walled structures, X-shaped molecules have single-walled structures.
The switching properties of chiral nematic liquid crystals using electrically commanded surfaces
Su Seok Choi, Stephen M. Morris, Wilhelm T. S. Huck and Harry J. Coles,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 354
DOI: 10.1039/b810691f
The switching behaviour of a chiral nematic liquid crystal using electrically commanded ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) surfaces has been investigated. The influence of the surfaces on the electric field dependence of the wavelength of the photonic band gap is examined along with the time dependence of the switching process.
Computer simulations and theory of polymer tethered nanorods: the role of flexible chains in influencing mesophase stability
Mark R. Wilson, Angela B. Thomas, Matthew Dennison and Andrew J. Masters,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 363
DOI: 10.1039/b812902a
The colloidal mesophase behaviour of a polymer tethered nanorod is shown to be tunable by changing the radius of gyration of the polymer chain.
Cholesterol containing model membranes studied by multinuclear solid state NMR spectroscopy
James A. Clarke, John M. Seddon and Robert V. Law,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 369
DOI: 10.1039/b809139k
A series of ternary phase diagrams composed of saturated, unsaturated phospholipids containing cholesterol have been investigated by multinuclear solid state NMR spectroscopy.
Manipulating cylindrical polyelectrolyte brushes on the nanoscale by counterions: collapse transition to helical structures
Youyong Xu, Sreenath Bolisetty, Markus Drechsler, Bing Fang, Jiayin Yuan, Ludger Harnau, Matthias Ballauff and Axel H. E. Müller,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 379
DOI: 10.1039/b812179f
The morphology of cylindrical polycation brushes can be switched by multivalent counterions and UV light.
Structures of amphiphilic Janus discs in aqueous media
Andreas Walther, Markus Drechsler and Axel H. E. Müller,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 385
DOI: 10.1039/b812321g
Small Janus discs can be individually dispersed in water, with a significant hydrophobic face exposed to water, whereas larger Janus discs undergo bending to stabilize and shield the hydrophobic face.
Disorder-induced vs temperature-induced melting of two-dimensional colloidal crystals
S. Herrera-Velarde and H. H. von Grünberg,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 391
DOI: 10.1039/b810197c
Melting transition at zero temperature
: simulations show that when disordered substrates become strong enough to destroy translational correlations, two-dimensional crystals of superparamagnetic colloids can melt even in the absence of some finite temperature.
Layer-by-layer self-assembly of peroxidase on gold electrodes based on complementary cyclodextrin–adamantane supramolecular interactions
Alex Fragoso, Blanca Sanromà, Mayreli Ortiz and Ciara K. O'Sullivan,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 400
DOI: 10.1039/b813754d
Layer-by-layer deposition of peroxidase on cyclodextrin-modified electrodes for biosensor construction is achieved through complementary supramolecular interactions between adamantane-appended enzyme and cyclodextrin-capped gold nanoparticles.
Synthesis and evaluation of polypyrrole-coated thermally-expandable microspheres: an improved approach to reversible adhesion
Andreas Schmid, Liam R. Sutton, Steven P. Armes, Peter S. Bain and Giovanni Manfrè,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 407
DOI: 10.1039/b811246k
Polypyrrole-coated thermally-expandable microspheres can be used for reversible adhesion in manufacturer-led recycling initiatives; infra-red irradiation efficiently triggers a large volumetric expansion that causes failure of the glued joint.
Phase behavior of C18 monoglyceride in hydrophobic solutions
C. H. Chen, I. Van Damme and E. M. Terentjev,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 432
DOI: 10.1039/b813216j
Amphiphilic monoglycerides dispersed in an oil phase form a phase sequence differing from that in water, with a strong gel network establishing from the outset of surfactant aggregation.
Fracture and large strain behavior of self-assembled triblock copolymer gels
Michelle E. Seitz, David Martina, Tristan Baumberger, Venkat R. Krishnan, Chung-Yuen Hui and Kenneth R. Shull,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 447
DOI: 10.1039/b810041a
The rate dependence of fracture has been studied in a series of physically associating triblock copolymer gels that have a well-defined molecular structure.
Poly(L-alanine)-modified nanoporous colloidal films
Alexis E. Abelow and Ilya Zharov,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 457
DOI: 10.1039/b808674e
Colloidal films assembled from silica nanospheres were modified with poly(L-alanine) brushes, leading to the temperature- and pH-controlled transport through the nanopores.
Unusual properties of a bent-core liquid-crystalline fluid
Verena Görtz, Christopher Southern, Nicholas W. Roberts, Helen F. Gleeson and John W. Goodby,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 463
DOI: 10.1039/b808283a
Nematic bis-(phenyl)oxadiazoles show segregation into chiral domains of opposite handedness, cluster formation, and kinetically governed behaviour leading to unique filament structures at the onset of new order.
A basic swimmer at low Reynolds number
Marco Leoni, Jurij Kotar, Bruno Bassetti, Pietro Cicuta and Marco Cosentino Lagomarsino,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 472
DOI: 10.1039/b812393d
Pumping fluid is shown to be possible using optical tweezers driving a set of three colloidal beads. Bead motion is induced to break the time-reversal symmetry. This model system is characterized experimentally and numerically.
Back matter
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 477
DOI: 10.1039/b822641p
Back cover
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 479
DOI: 10.1039/b822642n
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