Viral variants that initiate and drive maturation of V1V2-directed HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies.

CAPRISA, 2015.Abstract available in pdf

Do alkali metal anions (M(-)) exist in zeolite A?

Recent NMR studies by Nakayama et al. on sodium zeolite A saturated with potassium metal have implied the presence of the anionic Na- species. This, if confirmed, would represent the first observation in a zeolite and opens up a wide range of possibilities for mixed metal zeolitic systems. We report the results of a number of metal combinations, using both sodium and potassium forms of zeolite A as hosts, studied by ESR, solid state MAS-NMR and powder neutron diffraction

Lattice Strain Mapping of Platinum Nanoparticles on Carbon and SnO2 Supports

It is extremely important to understand the properties of supported metal nanoparticles at the atomic scale. In particular, visualizing the interaction between nanoparticle and support, as well as the strain distribution within the particle is highly desirable. Lattice strain can affect catalytic activity, and therefore strain engineering via e.g. synthesis of core-shell nanoparticles or compositional segregation has been intensively studied. However, substrate-induced lattice strain has yet to be visualized directly. In this study, platinum nanoparticles decorated on graphitized carbon or tin oxide supports are investigated using spherical aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (Cs-corrected STEM) coupled with geometric phase analysis (GPA). Local changes in lattice parameter are observed within the Pt nanoparticles and the strain distribution is mapped. This reveals that Pt nanoparticles on SnO(2) are more highly strained than on carbon, especially in the region of atomic steps in the SnO(2) lattice. These substrate-induced strain effects are also reproduced in density functional theory simulations, and related to catalytic oxygen reduction reaction activity. This study suggests that tailoring the catalytic activity of electrocatalyst nanoparticles via the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is possible. This technique also provides an experimental platform for improving our understanding of nanoparticles at the atomic scale