Research

Bacterial attachment on sub-nanometrically smooth titanium substrata

Biofouling, 29 (2), 163-170 (2013)
H.K. Webb, V. Boshkovikj, C.J. Fluke, V.K. Truong, J. Hasan, V.A. Baulin, R. Lapovok, Y. Estrin, R.J. Crawford and E.P. Ivanova
Despite the volume of work that has been conducted on the topic, the role of surface topography in mediating bacterial cell adhesion is not well understood. The primary reason for this lack of […]

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Mechanisms of Vesicle Spreading on Surfaces: Coarse-Grained Simulations

Marc Fuhrmans, Marcus Müller

Langmuir, 29 (13), pp 4335–4349 (2013)

Exposition of unilamellar vesicles to attractive surfaces is a frequently used way to create supported lipid bilayers. Although this approach is known to produce continuous supported bilayer coatings, the mechanism of their formation and its dependence on factors like surface interaction and roughness or membrane tension as […]

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Biophysical Model of Bacterial Cell Interactions with Nanopatterned Cicada Wing Surfaces

S. Pogodin, J. Hasan, V.A. Baulin, H.K. Webb, V.K. Truong, T.H.P. Nguyen, V. Boshkovikj, C.J. Fluke, G.S. Watson, J.A. Watson, R.J. Crawford and E.P. Ivanova

Biophys. J., 104 (4), 835-840 (2013)

The nanopattern on the surface of Clanger cicada (Psaltoda claripennis) wings represents the first example of a new class of biomaterials that can kill bacteria […]

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Natural Bactericidal Surfaces: Mechanical Rupture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Cells by Cicada Wings

Elena P. Ivanova, Jafar Hasan, Hayden K. Webb, Vi Khanh Truong, Gregory S. Watson, Jolanta A. Watson, Vladimir A. Baulin, Sergey Pogodin, James Y. Wang, Mark J. Tobin, Christian Löbbe, Russell J. Crawford

Small, 8 (16), 2489 – 2494 (2012)

Natural superhydrophobic surfaces are often thought to have antibiofouling potential due to their self-cleaning properties. However, when […]

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Differential attraction and repulsion of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa on molecularly smooth titanium films

E. Ivanova, V. Khanh Truong , H. Webb , V.A. Baulin, J. Wang , N. Mohammodi, F. Wang, C. Fluke, R. Crawford

Langmuir, 27(18), 11710-11721 (2011)

Magnetron sputtering techniques were used to prepare molecularly smooth titanium thin films possessing an average roughness between 0.18 nm and 0.52 nm over 5 μm × 5 μm AFM scanning areas. Films […]

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Surface patterning of carbon nanotubes can enhance their penetration through a phospholipid bilayer

S. Pogodin, N.K.H. Slater and V.A. Baulin
ACS Nano, 5 (2), 1141–1146 (2011)

Nanotube patterning may occur naturally upon the spontaneous self-assembly of biomolecules onto the surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). It results in periodically alternating bands of surface properties, ranging from relatively hydrophilic to hydrophobic, along the axis of the nanotube. Single-chain mean field (SCMF) […]

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Signatures of a concentration dependent Flory chi parameter: swelling and collapse of coils and brushes

V. A. Baulin and A. Halperin
Macromolecules, 35, 6432 – 6438 (2002)
The quality of solvents of polymers is often described in terms of the Flory χ parameter typically assumed to depend only on the temperature, T. In certain polymer-solvent systems fitting the experimental data enforces the replacement of (χT) by a concentration-dependent χeff. In turn, this modifies […]

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