With an ordered polystyrene (PS) template-assisted electrochemical approach we synthesized three-dimensional ordered macroporous (3DOM) Cu2O/Ni inverse opals as electrodes for supercapacitors. The 3DOM Cu2O/Ni electrodes display superior kinetic performance, and satisfactory rate capability and cycling performance.

Polyolefins are finding increased popularity in microfluidic applications due to their attractive mechanical, processing, and optical properties. While intricate features are typically realized in these thermoplastics by hot embossing and injection molding, such fabrication approaches are expensive and slow. Here, we apply our shrink-induced approach-first demonstrated with polystyrene 'Shrinky...

We herein report a new facile strategy to ellipsoidal block copolymer nanoparticles that exhibit a pH-triggered anistropic swelling profile. In a first step, elongated particles with an axially stacked lamellae structure are selectively prepared by utilizing functional surfactants to control the phase separation of symmetric polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) in dispersed droplets....

A new and general approach is proposed to analyze the dynamics of a colloidal particle interacting with a nearby wall. This analysis can be used to determine the acting forces even when the system is non-stationary. As an illustration, we use total internal reflection microscopy to investigate the forces acting on a polystyrene sulfate latex particle as it is receding from a charged glass surface.

Mouse monoclonal anti-Fas (CD95) antibody clone CH-11 has been widely used in research on apoptosis. CH-11 has the ability to bind to Fas protein on cell surface and induce apoptosis. Here, we used polystyrene beads coated with CH-11 to investigate the role of lipid rafts in Fas-mediated apoptosis in SKW6.4 cells. Unexpectedly, by treatment of the cells with CH-11-coated beads Fas protein was d...

The electrical properties of solution-processed composite thin films consisting of functionalized graphene sheets (FGS) as the filler and polystyrene (PS) as the host material are described. We demonstrate that transistors from graphene-based composite thin films exhibit ambipolar field effect characteristics, suggesting transport via percolation among FGS in the insulating PS matrix. Device ch...

Most polymers solidify into a glassy amorphous state, accompanied by a rapid increase in the viscosity when cooled below the glass transition temperature (T(g)). There is an ongoing debate on whether the T(g) changes with decreasing polymer film thickness and on the origin of the changes. We measured the viscosity of unentangled, short-chain polystyrene films on silicon at different temperature...

The glass transition temperature T, can be identified with a sharp increase of the thermal expansion coefficient X . We present photoacoustic and constrained photodeformation measurements of the glass transition in polystyrene in conditions of weak optical absorption. Since the thermoelastic contribution to the signal prevails in those conditions, we show both theoretically and experimentally t...

Under many conditions, biomolecules and nanoparticles associate by means of attractive bonds, due to hydrophobic attraction. Extracting the microscopic association or dissociation rates from experimental data is complicated by the dissociation events and by the sensitivity of the binding force to temperature (T). Here we introduce a theoretical model that combined with light-scattering experime...

Polymer, heal thyself! Supramolecular ABA triblock copolymers formed by dimerization of 2-ureido-4-pyrimidinone (UPy) end-functionalized polystyrene-b-poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PS-b-PBA) AB diblock copolymers have been synthesized, resulting in a self-healing material that combines the advantageous mechanical properties of thermoplastic elastomers and the dynamic self-healing features of supramol...