ANSTO Publications Online

Welcome to the ANSTO Institutional Repository known as APO.

The APO database has been migrated to version 7.5. The functionality has changed, but the content remains the same.

ANSTO Publications Online is a digital repository for publications authored by ANSTO staff since 2007. The Repository also contains ANSTO Publications, such as Reports and Promotional Material. ANSTO publications prior to 2007 continue to be added progressively as they are in identified in the library. ANSTO authors can be identified under a single point of entry within the database. The citation is as it appears on the item, even with incorrect spelling, which is marked by (sic) or with additional notes in the description field.

If items are only held in hardcopy in the ANSTO Library collection notes are being added to the item to identify the Dewey Call number: as DDC followed by the number.

APO will be integrated with the Research Information System which is currently being implemented at ANSTO. The flow on effect will be permission to publish, which should allow pre-prints and post prints to be added where content is locked behind a paywall. To determine which version can be added to APO authors should check Sherpa Romeo. ANSTO research is increasingly being published in open access due mainly to the Council of Australian University Librarians read and publish agreements, and some direct publisher agreements with our organisation. In addition, open access items are also facilitated through collaboration and open access agreements with overseas authors such as Plan S.

ANSTO authors are encouraged to use a CC-BY licence when publishing open access. Statistics have been returned to the database and are now visible to users to show item usage and where this usage is coming from.

Contact the Repository

 

Communities in ANSTO Publications Online

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Recent Submissions

No Thumbnail Available
Item
The assembly mechanism and mesoscale architecture of protein–polysaccharide complexes formed at the solid–liquid Interface
(American Chemical Society, 2022-10-04) Biswas, S; Melton, LD; Nelson, ARJ; Le Brun, AP; Heinrich, F; McGillivray, DJ; Xu, AY
Protein-polysaccharide composite materials have generated much interest due to their potential use in medical science and biotechnology. A comprehensive understanding of the assembly mechanism and the mesoscale architecture is needed for fabricating protein-polysaccharide composite materials with desired properties. In this study, complex assemblies were built on silica surfaces through a layer-by-layer (LbL) approach using bovine beta-lactoglobulin variant A (βLgA) and pectin as model protein and polysaccharide, respectively. We demonstrated the combined use of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and neutron reflectometry (NR) for elucidating the assembly mechanism as well as the internal architecture of the protein-polysaccharide complexes formed at the solid-liquid interface. Our results show that βLgA and pectin interacted with each other and formed a cohesive matrix structure at the interface consisting of intertwined pectin chains that were cross-linked by βLgA-rich domains. Although the complexes were fabricated in an LbL fashion, the complexes appeared to be relatively homogeneous with βLgA and pectin molecules spatially distributed within the matrix structure. Our results also demonstrate that the density of βLgA-pectin complex assemblies increased with both the overall and local charge density of pectin molecules. Therefore, the physical properties of the protein-polysaccharide matrix structure, including density and level of hydration, can be tuned by using polysaccharides with varying charge patterns, thus promoting the development of composite materials with desired properties. © 2024 American Chemical Society
Thumbnail Image
Item
Advances in sample environments for neutron scattering for colloid and interface science
(Elsevier, 2024-05) Le Brun, AP; Gilbert, EP
This review describes recent advances in sample environments across the full complement of applicable neutron scattering techniques to colloid and interface science. Temperature, pressure, flow, tensile testing, ultrasound, chemical reactions, IR/visible/UV light, confinement, humidity and electric and magnetic field application, as well as tandem X-ray methods, are all addressed. Consideration for material choices in sample environments and data acquisition methods are also covered as well as discussion of current and potential future use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Crown Copyright © 2024 Published by Elsevier B.V
Thumbnail Image
Item
A polytherapy based approach to combat antimicrobial resistance using cubosomes
(Springer Nature, 2022-01-17) Lai, XF; Han, ML; Ding, Y; Chow, SH; Le Brun, AP; Wu, CM; Bergen, PJ; Jiang, JH; Hsu, HY; Muir, BW; White, J; Song, JN; Li, J; Shen, HH
A depleted antimicrobial drug pipeline combined with an increasing prevalence of Gram-negative ‘superbugs’ has increased interest in nano therapies to treat antibiotic resistance. As cubosomes and polymyxins disrupt the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria via different mechanisms, we herein examine the antimicrobial activity of polymyxin-loaded cubosomes and explore an alternative strategy via the polytherapy treatment of pathogens with cubosomes in combination with polymyxin. The polytherapy treatment substantially increases antimicrobial activity compared to polymyxin B-loaded cubosomes or polymyxin and cubosomes alone. Confocal microscopy and neutron reflectometry suggest the superior polytherapy activity is achieved via a two-step process. Firstly, electrostatic interactions between polymyxin and lipid A initially destabilize the outer membrane. Subsequently, an influx of cubosomes results in further membrane disruption via a lipid exchange process. These findings demonstrate that nanoparticle-based polytherapy treatments may potentially serve as improved alternatives to the conventional use of drug-loaded lipid nanoparticles for the treatment of “superbugs”. © The Authors - Open Access CC-BY 4.0
No Thumbnail Available
Item
Electro-polymerization rates of diazonium salts are dependent on the crystal orientation of the surface
(Elsevier, 2022-11-15) Rahpeima, S; Le Brun, AP; Raston, CL; Darwish, N
Electro-polymerization of diazonium salts is widely used for modifying surfaces with thin organic films. Initially this method was primarily applied to carbon, then to metals, and more recently to semiconducting Si. Unlike on other surfaces, electrochemical reduction of diazonium salts on Si, which is one of the most industrially dominant material, is not well understood. Here, we report the electrochemical reduction of diazonium salts on a range of silicon electrodes of different crystal orientations (111, 211, 311, 411, and 100). We show that the kinetics of surface reaction and the reduction potential is Si crystal-facet dependent and is more favorable in the hierarchical order (1 1 1) > (2 1 1) > (3 1 1) > (4 1 1) > (1 0 0), a finding that offers control over the surface chemistry of diazonium salts on Si. The dependence of the surface reaction kinetics on the crystal orientation was found to be directly related to differences in the potential of zero charge (PZC) of each crystal orientation, which in turn controls the adsorption of the diazonium cations prior to reduction. Another consequence of the effect of PZC on the adsorption of diazonium cations, is that molecules terminated by distal diazonium moieties form a compact film in less time and requires less reduction potentials compared to that formed from diazonium molecules terminated by only one diazo moiety. In addition, at higher concentrations of diazonium cations, the mechanism of electrochemical polymerization on the surface becomes PZC-controlled adsorption-dominated inner-sphere electron transfer while at lower concentrations, diffusion-based outer-sphere electron transfer dominates. These findings help understanding the electro-polymerization reaction of diazonium salts on Si en route towards an integrated molecular and Si electronics technology. © 2022 Elsevier Inc
Thumbnail Image
Item
Organic monolayers on Si(211) for triboelectricity generation: etching optimization and relationship between the electrochemistry and current output
(American Chemical Society, 2022-09-28) Hurtado, C; Lyu, X; Ferrie, S; Le Brun, AP; MacGregor, M; Ciampi, S
Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) based on sliding silicon-organic monolayer-metal Schottky diodes are an emerging autonomous direct-current (DC) current supply technology. Herein, using conductive atomic force microscopy and electrochemical techniques, we explore the optimal etching conditions toward the preparation of DC TENGs on Si(211), a readily available, highly conductive, and underexplored silicon crystallographic cut. We report optimized conditions for the chemical etching of Si(211) surfaces with subnanometer root-mean-square roughness, explore Si(211) chemical passivation, and unveil a relationship between the electrochemical charge-transfer behavior at the silicon-liquid interface and the zero-applied bias current output from the corresponding dynamic silicon-organic monolayer-platinum system. The overall aim is to optimize the etching and functionalization of the relatively underexplored Si(211) facet, toward its application in out-of-equilibrium Schottky diodes as autonomous power supplies. We also propose the electrochemical behavior of surface-confined redox couples as a diagnostic tool to anticipate whether or not a given surface will perform satisfactorily when used in a TENG design. © 2022 American Chemical Society