Irradiation-Dependent Helium Gas Bubble Superlattice in Tungsten.

The implantation of noble gas atoms into metals at high gas concentrations can lead to the self-organization of nanobubbles into superlattices with symmetry similar to the metal host matrix. Here, we examine the influence of implantation parameters on the formation and structure of helium gas bubble superlattices within a tungsten host matrix to uncover mechanistic insight into the formation process. The determination of the size and symmetry of the gas bubbles was performed using a combination of small angle x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The former was demonstrated to be particularly useful in determining size and structure of the gas bubble superlattice as a function of irradiation conditions. Prior to the formation of a superlattice, we observe a persistent substructure characterized by inter-bubble spacings similar to those observable when the gas bubble superlattice has formed with very large ordering parameters. As the implantation fluence increases, the inter-bubble ordering parameter decreases, indicating improved ordering, until a superlattice is formed. Multiple implantation-specific differences were observed, including a temperature-dependent superlattice parameter that increases with increasing temperature and a flux-dependent superlattice parameter that decreases with increasing flux. The trends quantified here are in excellent agreement with our recent theoretical predictions for gas bubble superlattice formation and highlight that superlattice formation is strongly dependent on the diffusion of vacancy and implanted He atoms.

Anisotropic pair correlations and structure factors of confined hard-sphere fluids: an experimental and theoretical study.

We address the fundamental question: how are pair correlations and structure factors of hard-sphere fluids affected by confinement between hard planar walls at close distance? For this purpose, we combine x-ray scattering from colloid-filled nanofluidic channel arrays and first-principles inhomogeneous liquid-state theory within the anisotropic Percus-Yevick approximation. The experimental and theoretical data are in remarkable agreement at the pair-correlation level, providing the first quantitative experimental verification of the theoretically predicted confinement-induced anisotropy of the pair-correlation functions for the fluid. The description of confined fluids at this level provides, in the general case, important insights into the mechanisms of particle-particle interactions in dense fluids under confinement.

Small-angle neutron scattering study of protein unfolding and refolding.

Small-angle neutron scattering has been used to study protein unfolding and refolding in protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) due to perturbation in its native structure as induced by three different protein denaturating agents: urea, surfactant, and pressure. The BSA protein unfolds for urea concentrations greater than 4 M and is observed to be independent of the protein concentration. The addition of surfactant unfolds the protein by the formation of micellelike aggregates of surfactants along the unfolded polypeptide chains of the protein and depends on the ratio of surfactant to protein concentration. We make use of the dilution method to show the refolding of unfolded proteins in the presence of urea and surfactant. BSA does not show any protein unfolding up to the pressure of 450 MPa. The presence of urea and surfactant (for concentrations prior to inducing their own unfolding) has been used to examine pressure-induced unfolding of the protein at lower pressures. The protein unfolds at 200 MPa pressure in the presence of urea; however, no unfolding is observed with surfactant. The protein unfolding is shown to be reversible in all the above denaturating methods.

Small-angle neutron scattering study of structure and kinetics of temperature-induced protein gelation.

The phase diagram, structural evolution, and kinetics of temperature-induced protein gelation of protein Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) have been studied as a function of solution pH and protein concentration. The protein gelation temperature represents the onset of turbidity in the protein solution, which increases significantly with increasing pH beyond the isoelectric pH of the protein molecule. On the other hand, the gelation temperature decreases with an increase in protein concentration only in the low-protein-concentration regime and shows a small increasing trend at higher protein concentrations. The structural evolution and kinetics of protein gelation have been studied using small-angle neutron scattering. The structure of the protein molecule remains stable up to temperatures very close to the gelation temperature. On increasing the temperature above the gelation temperature, the protein solution exhibits a fractal structure, an indication of gel formation due to aggregation. The fractal dimension of the gel increases with increasing temperature, suggesting an increase in branching between the aggregates, which leads to stronger gels. The increase in both solution pH and protein concentration is found to delay the growth in the fractal structure and its saturation. The kinetics of gelation has been studied using the temperature-jump process of heating. It is found that the structure of the protein gels remains invariant after the heating time ( approximately 1 min), indicating a rapid formation of gel structure within this time. The protein gels prepared through gradual and temperature-jump heating routes do not always show the same structure. In particular, at higher temperatures (e.g., 85 degrees C ), while gradual heating shows a fractal structure, there is collapse of such fractal structure during temperature-jump heating.

Structural study of coacervation in protein-polyelectrolyte complexes.

Coacervation is a dense liquid-liquid phase separation and herein we report coacervation of protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the presence of polyelectrolyte sodium polystyrene sulfonate (NaPSS) under varying solution conditions. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements have been performed on above protein-polyelectrolyte complexes to study the structural evolution of the process that leads to coacervation and the phase separated coacervate as a function of solution pH , protein-polyelectrolyte ratio and ionic strength. SANS study prior to phase separation on the BSA-NaPSS complex shows a fractal structure representing a necklace model of protein macromolecules randomly distributed along the polystyrene sulfonate chain. The fractal dimension of the complex decreases as pH is shifted away from the isoelectric point ( approximately 4.7) of BSA protein, which indicates the decrease in the compactness of the complex structure due to increase in the charge repulsion between the protein macromolecules bound to the polyelectrolyte. Concentration-dependence studies of the polyelectrolyte in the complex suggest coexistence of two populations of polyelectrolytes, first one fully saturated with proteins and another one free from proteins. Coacervation phase has been obtained through the turbidity measurement by varying pH of the aqueous solution containing protein and polyelectrolyte from neutral to acidic regime to get them to where the two components are oppositely charged. The spontaneous formation of coacervates is observed for pH values less than 4. SANS study on coacervates shows two length scales related to complex aggregations (mesh size and overall extent of the complex) hierarchically branched to form a larger network. The mesh size represents the distance between cross-linked points in the primary complex, which decreases with increase in ionic strength and remains the same on varying the protein-polyelectrolyte ratio. On the other hand, the overall extent of the complex shows a similar structure irrespective of varying ionic strength and protein-polyelectrolyte ratio. A large fraction ( approximately 50%) of protein-polyelectrolyte complexes is also found to be free in the supernatant after the coacervation.

Structural evolution during protein denaturation as induced by different methods.

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) have been used to study conformational changes in protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) due to perturbation in its native structure as induced by varying temperature and pressure, and in presence of protein denaturating agents urea and surfactant. BSA has prolate ellipsoidal shape at ambient temperature and we observe no effect of temperature on its structure up to a temperature of about 60 degrees C . At temperatures beyond 60 degrees C , protein denaturation leads to aggregation. The protein solution exhibits a fractal structure at temperatures above 64 degrees C , and its fractal dimension increases with temperature. This is an indication of aggregation followed by gelation that evolves with increasing temperature. It is known for some of the proteins (e.g., Staphylococcal Nuclease) that pressure of 200 MPa can unfold the protein, whereas BSA does not show any protein unfolding even up to the pressure of 450 MPa . In presence of urea, the BSA protein unfolds for urea concentrations greater than 4M and acquires a random coil configuration. We make use of the dilution method to show the reversibility of protein unfolding with urea. The addition of surfactant denaturates the protein by the formation of micellelike aggregates of surfactants along the unfolded polypeptide chains of the protein. We show such structure of the protein-surfactant complex can be stabilized at higher temperatures, which is not the case for pure protein.

Structure and interaction in protein solutions as studied by small-angle neutron scattering.

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements have been performed to compare the effect of the salts KF, KCl, and KBr on crystallization in aqueous solution of lysozyme protein. It is found that the propensity of the salt to crystallize protein follows the Hoffmeister series (KF