Development of a method for environmentally friendly chemical peptide synthesis in water using water-dispersible amino acid nanoparticles

Due to the vast importance of peptides in biological processes, there is an escalating need for synthetic peptides to be used in a wide variety of applications. However, the consumption of organic solvent is extremely large in chemical peptide syntheses because of the multiple condensation steps in organic solvents. That is, the current synthesis method is not environmentally friendly. From the viewpoint of green sustainable chemistry, we focused on developing an organic solvent-free synthetic method using water, an environmentally friendly solvent. Here we described in-water synthesis technology using water-dispersible protected amino acids

Development of dynamic deployment simulation of thin composite layer for shape morphing structure

[21st International Conference on Composite Materials] August 20-25, 2017; Xi'an, ChinaThe present study attempted to develop a numerical method to deal with deployment dynamics of a thin composite layer for shape morphing structures, including space deployable structure based on shape memory polymer composites (SMPCs). We utilized a three-layer model based on finite element analysis using shell elements in order to model a thin composite layer. The three-layer model could deal with the difference between tension and bending properties of the thin composite layer.Employing this approach, we also attempted to model our deployment experiment. We observed and simulated the deployment dynamics when one end of the hemispherically curved composite layer was released. When the appropriate bending modulus was used for modeling the composites, the simulated dynamics was almost similar to the experimental results. Therefore, we concluded that the proposed simulation can reproduce the deployment dynamics of a thin composite layer well

Measurement of ICRF waves in the GAMMA10 tandem mirror using reflectometers

科研費報告書収録論文(課題番号:07458088・基盤研究(B)(2)・H7～H8/研究代表者:犬竹, 正明/マイクロ波反射計とプローブ計測による密度および磁場揺動径方向分布の比較

A Decaheme Cytochrome as a Molecular Electron Conduit in Dye-Sensitized Photoanodes.

In nature, charge recombination in light-harvesting reaction centers is minimized by efficient charge separation. Here, it is aimed to mimic this by coupling dye-sensitized TiO2 nanocrystals to a decaheme protein, MtrC from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, where the 10 hemes of MtrC form a ≈7-nm-long molecular wire between the TiO2 and the underlying electrode. The system is assembled by forming a densely packed MtrC film on an ultra-flat gold electrode, followed by the adsorption of approximately 7 nm TiO2 nanocrystals that are modified with a phosphonated bipyridine Ru(II) dye (RuP). The step-by-step construction of the MtrC/TiO2 system is monitored with (photo)electrochemistry, quartz-crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Photocurrents are dependent on the redox state of the MtrC, confirming that electrons are transferred from the TiO2 nanocrystals to the surface via the MtrC conduit. In other words, in these TiO2/MtrC hybrid photodiodes, MtrC traps the conduction-band electrons from TiO2 before transferring them to the electrode, creating a photobioelectrochemical system in which a redox protein is used to mimic the efficient charge separation found in biological photosystems.This work was supported by the BBSRC (grants BB/K009753/1, BB/K010220/1, and BB/K009885/1), the EPSRC (EP/H00338X/2; PhD studentship to Emma Ainsworth), the Christian Doppler Research Association and the OMV Group. The authors appreciate Dr. Liang Shi (PNNL) and Dr. Marcus Edwards (UEA) for providing the S. oneidensis strain and the protocol allowing for purification of MtrC.This is the final published version of the article. It was originally published in Advanced Functional Materials (Hwang ET, Sheikh K, Orchard KL, Hojo D, Radu V, Lee C-Y, Ainsworth E, Lockwood C, Gross MA, Adschiri T, Reisner E, Butt JN, Jeuken LJC, Advanced Functional Materials 2015, 25, 2308–2315, doi: 10.1002/adfm.201404541) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201404541

Catechol-TiO₂ hybrids for photocatalytic H₂ production and photocathode assembly

Visible-light driven H₂ evolution in water is achieved using catechol-photosensitised TiO₂ nanoparticles with a molecular nickel catalyst. Layer-by-layer immobilisation of catechol-TiO₂ onto tin-doped indium oxide electrodes generates photocathodic currents in the presence of an electron acceptor. This approach represents a new strategy for controlling photocurrent direction in dye-sensitised photoelectrochemical applications.We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the EPSRC and World Premier International Research Center Initiative, MEXT, Japan

Electron density fluctuation measurements using a multichannel microwave interferometer in GAMMA 10

Measurement of fluctuation in plasma is important for studying the improvement in plasma confinement by the formation of the plasma confinement potential. The density fluctuation is observed by microwaves by methods such as interferometry, reflectometry and Fraunhofer diffraction method. We have constructed a new multichannel microwave interferometer to measure the plasma density and fluctuation radial profiles in a single plasma shot. We successfully measured the time-dependent density and line-integrated density fluctuation radial profiles in a single plasma shot using the multichannel microwave interferometer. Thus, we have developed a useful tool for studying the improvement in plasma confinement by the formation of plasma confinement potential