Séminaire de Juan J. Giner-Casares (University of Córdoba)
Langmuir monolayers for assembling nanostructured films
le vendredi 10 janvier 2020 à 11h, salle des conseils de l’UFR de Chimie (32.42.101).
Résumé
Langmuir monolayers for assembling nanostructured films
The Langmuir monolayer technique is a well-established experimental methodology for conducting basic studies at the air/liquid interface.1 With the advent of new in situ probing techniques, the scope and applications of the Langmuir technique have been greatly increased, reaching organic/inorganic hybrid composites, complex biomolecules and functional nanoparticles, among others.2 The possibility of finely tuning the available surface area per molecule combined with the detailed experimental information that can be attained makes the Langmuir technique a relevant platform to obtain unique insights in Colloid and Interface Science.
Mechanosensation, i. e., conversion of applied pressure to defined modification in molecular arrangements was explored. Gold nanoparticles were hybridized with a purposefully designed self-assembling molecule based on non-covalent intermolecular interactions. The air/liquid interface served in this case for assembling supramolecular structures that mimic biological behaviour.3
With the viewpoint on nanoscience, the self-assembly of a set of Fmoc-dipeptides at fluid interfaces was assessed. The impact of the amino acid sequence on the resulting supramolecular structures were evaluated in detail by the Langmuir technique. The partition coefficient appears as a relevant and easily calculated molecular parameter providing an immediate guide for predicting the self-assembly behaviour. This idea was extrapolated to the interaction of the Fmoc-dipeptide derivatives with a model cell membrane.4 Langmuir monolayers for mimicking biological surfaces are highly versatile and offered stimulating insights on the internalization mechanism of fluorinated quantum dots that could be related with in vitro experiments.5
In summary, despite been established on the classical Colloid and Interface Science, Langmuir technique is still contributing with remarkable ideas, techniques and results. Much more fascinating research is certainly yet to come !
References
[1] Pockels A. Nature 43, 437 (1891).
[2] Giner-Casares J. J. ; Brezesinski G. ; Möhwald H. Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 176 (2014).
[3] Coelho J. P. ; Mayoral M. J. ; Camacho L. ; Martín-Romero M. T. ; Tardajos G. ; López-Montero I. ; Sanz E. ; Ávila-Brande D. ; Giner-Casares J. J. ; Fernández G. ; Guerrero-Martínez A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 1120 (2017).
[4] Argudo P. G. ; Contreras-Montoya R. ; Álvarez de Cienfuegos L. ; Cuerva J. M. ; Cano M. ; Alba-Molina D. ; Martín-Romero M. T. ; Camacho L. ; Giner-Casares J. J. Soft Matter 14, 9343 (2018).
[5] Argudo P. G. ; Carril M. ; Martín-Romero M. T. ; Giner-Casares J. J. ; Carrillo-Carrión C. Chem. Eur. J. 25, 195 (2019).
