Hetero-nanoparticles represent a new class of nanomaterials exhibiting multifunctional and collective properties, which could find applications in medical imaging and therapy, catalysis, photovoltaics, and electronics. This present work demonstrates the intrinsic hetero-epitaxial linkage in heterodimer nanoparticles to enable interaction of the individual components across their interface. It revealed distinct differences between Au@MnO and Au@Fe 3 O 4 regarding the synthetic procedure, growth kinetics, as well as the properties to be altered by the variation of the electronic structure of the metal oxides. The chemically related metal oxides differ concerning their band gap; while MnO is a Mott-Hubbard insulator with a large band gap, Fe 3 O 4 is a semimetal with thermally activated conductivity. The fluorescence dynamics indicate a prolonged relaxation time (> 2 ns) for electrons of the conduction band of the Au nanoparticles after interfacing to Fe 3 O 4 . Here, the semiconductor is not depleted and forms an ohmic contact to the Au domain. In contrast, the fluorescence dynamics and ESCA of Au@MnO affirmed the weak interaction with the electrons of the Au domain, where the junction behaves as a Schottky barrier.

Cyano-functional polyether copolymers based on THF were prepared via cationic ring-opening copolymerization of THF with cyano ethylene oxide (CEO). The CEO content of poly(tetrahydrofuran) (polyTHF) based copolymers varied from 3.3 to 29.3%, and molecular weights ranged from 5100 to 31900 g•mol −1 with M w /M n in the range of 1.31 to 1.74 (SEC in THF, PS standards). The polymerization was conducted with methyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (MeOTf) as an initiator. Kinetic studies concerning incorporation of both monomers were performed via NMR spectroscopy. The cyano groups at the poly(THF-co-CEO) copolymers enable direct access to amino (polyTHF−NH 2 ) and carboxyl groups (polyTHF−COOH) in facile one-step procedures, respectively. The modified copolymers were characterized via NMR, MALDI−ToF mass, and FT-IR spectroscopy. Thermal properties of the materials were studied via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), demonstrating a gradual decrease of the melting points with increasing amount of CEO in the copolymers (from 30 °C for 3.3% CEO to 21 °C for 8.4% CEO). After postmodification to carboxylic acid groups the melting points decrease from 26 to 18 °C in the series of copolymers. Contact angles of water on thin films of the polymers can be tuned in a wide range from 72.7°to 17.8°by varying the CEO fraction as well as by postmodification. Crystallization studies of CaCO 3 with water-soluble polyTHF−COOH revealed the composition-dependent inhibition of calcite growth, with crystallite size in the mineralization process being controlled by the amount of carboxylic acid groups at the poly(THF) copolymers.

We evaluated different methods for a high surface PEGylation of lysozyme. The resulting lipophilic enzymes can be used for the formation of stable nanoparticles.