In this project, the effect of solution thermal and structural history on nucleation was investigated. Many researchers have shown that temperature and duration of pretreatment has an influence on induction time, polymorphic outcome and metastable zone width. Here, solution of tolbutamide in 1-propanol was first prepared with same conditions, to “standardize” and control the initial solution history. Next, pretreatment of varied duration and temperature was applied to introduce different solution history. Then, nucleation began in 9℃, and induction time and polymorphic outcome were measured. Two batches of 30 isolated nucleation experiments each, were done per set of conditions. The results showed an impact on induction time and polymorphic outcome. However, this change cannot be clearly correlated with the conditions of pretreatment. Furthermore, the deviation between series of experiments that were performed under the same set of conditions, showed that the parameters affecting induction time and polymorphism were not controlled sufficiently to reach a safe conclusion. Moreover, the effect of solution filtration right before nucleation was investigated. This filtration step decreased experimental induction time from 160 minutes to less than 5. It is possible that this filtration step removed the solution’s structural memory, which accelerated nucleation. However, the effect of evaporation on concentration for example, or other parameters was not investigated. Furthermore, the effect of using filtration with 0.1 and 0.2 μm filters was examined. It was found that using 0.1 filter results in decreased median induction time by a factor of 4. Finally, filtration before standardization resulted in a 1.5% increase in concentration compared to solution that was not filtered. Filtration with 0.1 μm filter before standardization decreased median induction time by a factor of 4, as compared to using a 0.2 μm filter. / Detta projekt har undersökt effekten av en lösnings förhistoria vad gäller temperatur och struktur på kristallkärnbildning. Tidigare forskning har visat att både temperaturen och tiden för en lösnings förbehandling har inflytande på induktionstid, kärnbildande polymorf och metastabil zonbredd. I detta projekt förbereddes först lösningar av tolbutamid i 1-propanol vid identiska förhållanden, för att standardisera och kontrollera lösningens förhistoria. Därefter varierades längden och temperaturen för förbehandlingen för att introducera olika förhistoria. Kärnbildningsexperiment utfördes vid 9°C varvid induktionstid och kärnbildande polymorf noterades. Två batcher med 30 lösningar vardera kristalliserades för varje uppsättning experimentella förhållanden.  Resultaten påvisar ett inflytande på induktionstid och kärnbildande polymorf, vilka dock inte på ett tydligt sätt korrelerar med förbehandlingsparametrarna. Vidare visar spridningen mellan identiska experiment att parametrar som styr induktionstid och polymorfi inte kontrollerats tillräckligt väl för att dra tydliga slutsatser. Effekten av filtrering av lösningar precis innan kärnbildning har också undersökts. Filtrering ledde till en förkortning av experimentellt uppmätta induktionstider från 160 min till mindre än 5 min. Det är möjligt att filtreringen raderade lösningens strukturella ”minne”, vilket lett till en snabbare kärnbildning. Effekten av förångning av lösningsmedlet i samband med filtreringen på koncentrationen har dock inte undersökts. Skillnaden i effekt mellan användning av 0.1 μm och 0.2 μm filter undersökts. Användning av 0.1 μm filter resulterade i ett minskat medianvärde för induktionstid motsvarande en faktor 4. Ett filtreringssteg innan standardiseringssteget resulterade i en 1.5% minskning i koncentration jämfört med icke-filtrerade lösningar.

Crystallizing RNA has been an imperative facet and a challenging task in the world of RNA research. Assistive methods such as Chaperone Assisted RNA Crystallography (CARC), employing monoclonal antibody fragments (Fabs) as crystallization chaperones have enabled us to obtain RNA crystal structures by increasing the crystal contacts and providing initial phasing information. Using this technology the crystal structure of [delta]C209 P4-P6 RNA (an independent folding domain of the self-splicing Tetrahymena group I intron) complexed to Fab2 (high affinity binding Fab) has been resolved to 1.95 Å (1). Although the complexed class I ligase ribozyme has also been crystallized using CARC (2), in practice, it has been found that the crystallization of, large RNA-Fab complex remains a confrontation. The possible reason for this difficulty is that Fabs have not been optimized for crystallization when complexed with RNA. Here we have used the Surface Entropy Reduction technique (SER) for the optimization process. Candidate residues for mutations were identified based on combining results from visual inspection of [delta]C209 P4-P6/Fab2 crystal structure complex using pyMOL software and a web-based SER software. The protruding lysine and glutamate residues were mutated to a set of alanine (Super Mutant Alanine SMA) and serine (Super Mutant Serine SMS) mutant clones. Filter binding assay studies confirmed that the mutant clones bind to [delta]C209 P4-P6 with similar binding affinities as that of the parent Fab2. Large scale expression of the mutants, parent clone and [delta]C209 P4-P6 RNA were optimised. Crystal trays for [delta]C209 P4-P6 complexed with Fab2, Fab2SMA and Fab2SMS were set-up side-by-side using Hampton crystal screen kits and ~600 conditions including temperature as a variable condition were screened. Crystal screening shows significantly higher crystal-forming ratios for the mutant complexes. As the chosen SER residues are far away from the CDR regions of the Fab, the same set of mutations can be potentially applied to other Fabs binding to a variety of ribozymes and riboswitches to improve the crystallizability of the Fab-RNA complex.

No description available.

This report explores simultaneous crystallization in multicomponent solutions to intensification of metal recovery in lithium-ion batteries. The main focus is to evaluate and compare the efficiency of sodium hydroxide and sodium carbonate as precipitating agents in recovering cobalt, nickel, manganese and lithium. To be able to do this, 15 different metal systems were precipitated with these two precipitating agents at 8 and 12 molar equivalent. The samples were then analyzed through ICP-OES, XRD, gravimetric analysis, and SEM-EDX. The results showed that the precipitation efficiency of the transition metals cobalt, nickel and manganese, in all the system was 98% or more. Lithium precipitated only with carbonate. In the system with four metals and 12 molar equivalents carbonate lithium 78% was precipitated. The results indicate that higher concentration of carbonate leads to higher precipitation efficiency. A way to likely reach a higher effective concentration is to first neutralize the solution with sodium hydroxide and then precipitate it with carbonate.

The melting behavior of polymers can provide information on their crystallization mechanism. However, the origin of the time-dependent low endotherm, or annealing peak, and the extent of melting-recrystallization-remelting during heating are still debated. The crystallization and subsequent melting behavior of isotactic polystyrene are explored in the context of Stroblâ "s 3-Phase model using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and wide angle X-ray diffraction. DSC experiments confirm the existence of a crystallization time-dependent low endotherm, and melting-recrystallization-remelting processes during heating. SAXS analysis using the correlation function confirms that the lamellar thickness increases with crystallization temperature and is independent of time. The spread between equilibrium melting and crystallization temperatures determined in this work (Tfâ"" = 533K, Tcâ"" = 544K) is much smaller than reported by Strobl et al. (Tfâ"" = 562K, Tcâ"" = 598K). These differences are partially attributed to overestimation in lamellar thicknesses calculated through the interface distribution function. Analysis of diffraction broadening shows that the apparent crystal size decreases with crystallization time, suggesting the formation of smaller/less perfect crystals during secondary crystallization. These results are consistent with observations that the glass transition temperature increases with crystallization time and supports the idea that secondary crystallization leads to increased amorphous conformational constraints. These results also suggest that the upward shift of the annealing peak during secondary crystallization is associated with increased amorphous constraints rather than increased crystal dimensions. The lack of distinction between Tfâ"" and Tcâ"" and the evolution of crystal size during crystallization stand in direct contrast with Stroblâ "s model. / Master of Science

In the atmosphere in the height of 18000ft to 25000ft, there are some metastable droplets called supercooled liquid water in the temperature range of 0◦C to 40◦C. When these droplets impinge on the wings of an airplane, a very thin layer of ice is formed on the surface. This natural phenomenon calls “impact icing”. In this research, I studied the nanoscale impact icing on structured graphite surfaces, as the substrates at the atomistic scale using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. This research focuses on the first steps of the development of a predictive multiscale strategy for molecular simulations of impact ice adhesion on nanostructured substrates. Through the simulations, the molecular level physics such as molecular interactions, interfacial energy, and nanoscale surface roughness are processed into a “microscopic ice adhesion strength” that describes the energy cost for breaking the nanoscale interfacial layer. In this work, the simulation strategy is designed based on the postulate that at the nanoscale the fracture strength of impact ice on a given substrate is controlled by the extent of the ice interdigitating the substrate. The interdigitating interfacial structure is then determined by the process of wetting the substrate by a supercooled impinged water droplet and the process of penetrating of supercooled water crystallizing into ice crystals under graphene nanoconfinement. Following this line of reasoning, I divided my impact icing simulations into three separate sections including (1) simulations of dynamic wetting of supercooled water on nanostructured graphene substrate, (2) simulations of water crystallization under nano-confinement, and (3) simulations of fracture of prescribed ice-substrate interfacial structure. Based on the results, it is concluded that the degree of surface hydrophobicity, depth of penetrated water, the order of interlocked water molecules, size of surface roughness, texture structure of the surface, and ice temperature are the key roles that dominate the investigation of fracture strength of impact ice at the solid interface. Furthermore, MD simulation results demonstrate that the surface roughness lower than 3.0nm is enabled to stop water from crystallization, a piece of useful information to design anti-icing surfaces.

No description available.

Long chain branched polypropylene (LCBPP) crystallizes rapidly and with high nucleation density. The origin of this fast crystallization process is not well understood. It has been attributed to its complicated molecular architecture. In this research, we explore isothermal crystallization of LCBPP, 5%LCBPP and linear polypropylene (LPP) through rheological, thermal, microscopy and optical measurements at different experimental temperatures. The time resolved mechanical spectroscopy technique was used to predict the liquid-to-solid transition (gel point) at different crystallization temperatures (supercooling rates) in order to understand the structure during the crystallization process. The crystallization process of LCBPP was completed in time scale less than that of 5%LCBPP and LPP at different supercooling rates. This has been observed in all crystallization experiments using DSC, SALS and Rheometery. LCBPP exhibit stiff behavior at gel point compared to 5%LCBPP and LPP which imply that the small spherulites observed under polarized microscopy are stiff. Understanding of the rheological behavior during crystallization process will help to develop polymer with different processing conditions and applications.

Structural biology uncovers life's secrets by studying protein structures via techniques like X-ray crystallography. This knowledge drives advancements in protein engineering for the improvement of human lives. Yet, obtaining high-quality crystals in X-ray crystallography is challenging. To overcome this, we used Translocation ETS Leukemia protein Sterile Alpha Motif domain (TELSAM), a promising polymer-forming crystallization chaperone (PFCC), to enhance protein crystallization. Human thirty-eight-negative kinase-1 (TNK1), a key player in cancer progression, possess a ubiquitin association (UBA) domain that binds polyubiquitin and regulates TNK1 activity and stability. Although sequence analysis hints at an unconventional TNK1 UBA domain architecture, its molecular structure lacks experimental validation. To gain insight into TNK1 regulation, we fused the UBA domain to the 1TEL crystallization chaperone and obtained crystals diffracting as far as 1.53 Ã…. 1TEL enabled solution of the X-ray phases. GG and GSGG linkers allowed the UBA to reproducibly find a productive binding mode against its 1TEL polymer and to crystallize at protein concentrations as low as 0.1 mg/mL. Our findings support a TELSAM fusion crystallization mechanism, highlighting fewer crystal contacts compared to traditional crystals. Both modeling and experimental validation indicate that the UBA domain exhibits selectivity towards polyubiquitin chain length and linkages. Radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzymes catalyze various radical-mediated substrate transformations. Despite the growing interest of computational enzyme design in industrial small molecule synthesis, radical SAM enzymes remain relatively unexplored. We used PyRosetta to leverage hydrogen bonding design (hbDes) and hydrophobic interaction design (hpDes) to enable a radical cyclization reaction on our selected substrate. Although the purified enzymes demonstrated activation potential with a reducing agent, enzymatic assays failed to exhibit activity against the reactant. To obtain successful results, addressing additional questions and issues is required, which may involve the implementation of machine learning.

Chalcogenide glasses are well known to have good transparency into the infrared spectrum. These glasses though tend to have low thresholds as compared to oxide glasses for photo-induced changes and thermally-induced changes. Material modification such as photo-induced darkening, bleaching, refractive index change, densification or expansion, ablation of crystallization have been demonstrated, and are typically induced by a thermal furnace-based heat treatment, an optical source such as a laser, or a combination of photo-thermal interactions. Solely employing laser-based heating has an advantage over a furnace, since one has the potential to be able to spatially modify the materials properties with much greater precision by moving either the beam or the sample. The main properties of ChG glasses investigated in this study were the light-induced and thermally-induced modification of the glass through visible microscopy, white light interferometry, and Raman spectroscopy. Additionally computational models were developed in order to aid in determining what temperature rise should be occurring under the conditions used in experiments. It was seen that ablation, photo-expansion, crystallization, and melting could occur for some of the irradiation conditions that were used. The above bandgap energy simulations appeared to overestimate the maximum temperature that should have been reached in the sample, while the below bandgap energy simulations appeared to underestimate the maximum temperature that should have been reached in the sample. Ultimately, this work produces the ground work to be able to predict and control dose, and therefore heating, to induce localized crystallization and phase change.