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Author van der Sluijs, M.M.; Salzmann, B.B.V.; Arenas Esteban, D.; Li, C.; Jannis, D.; Brafine, L.C.; Laning, T.D.; Reinders, J.W.C.; Hijmans, N.S.A.; Moes, J.R.; Verbeeck, J.; Bals, S.; Vanmaekelbergh, D.
Title Study of the Mechanism and Increasing Crystallinity in the Self-Templated Growth of Ultrathin PbS Nanosheets Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Chemistry of materials Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Abstract Colloidal 2D semiconductor nanocrystals, the analogue of solid-state quantum wells, have attracted strong interest in material science and physics. Molar quantities of suspended quantum objects with spectrally pure absorption and emission can be synthesized. For the visible region, CdSe nanoplatelets with atomically precise thickness and tailorable emission have been (almost) perfected. For the near-infrared region, PbS nanosheets (NSs) hold strong promise, but the photoluminescence quantum yield is low and many questions on the crystallinity, atomic structure, intriguing rectangular shape, and formation mechanism remain to be answered. Here, we report on a detailed investigation of the PbS NSs prepared with a lead thiocyanate single source precursor. Atomically resolved HAADF-STEM imaging reveals the presence of defects and small cubic domains in the deformed orthorhombic PbS crystal lattice. Moreover, variations in thickness are observed in the NSs, but only in steps of 2 PbS monolayers. To study the reaction mechanism, a synthesis at a lower temperature allowed for the study of reaction intermediates. Specifically, we studied the evolution of pseudo-crystalline templates towards mature, crystalline PbS NSs. We propose a self-induced templating mechanism based on an oleylamine-lead-thiocyanate (OLAM-Pb-SCN) complex with two Pb-SCN units as a building block; the interactions between the long-chain ligands regulate the crystal structure and possibly the lateral dimensions.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000959572100001 Publication Date 2023-03-25
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0897-4756 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 8.6 Times cited 2 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes H2020 Research Infrastructures, 731019 ; H2020 European Research Council, 692691 815128 ; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 715.016.002 ; Approved Most recent IF: 8.6; 2023 IF: 9.466
Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:195894 Serial 7255
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Author Eshtehardi, H.A.; Van ‘t Veer, K.; Delplancke, M.-P.; Reniers, F.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Postplasma Catalytic Model for NO Production: Revealing the Underlying Mechanisms to Improve the Process Efficiency Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Abbreviated Journal
Volume 11 Issue 5 Pages 1720-1733
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Plasma catalysis is emerging for plasma-assisted gas conversion

processes. However, the underlying mechanisms of plasma catalysis are poorly

understood. In this work, we present a 1D heterogeneous catalysis model with axial

dispersion (i.e., accounting for back-mixing and molecular diffusion of fluid elements in

the process stream in the axial direction), for plasma-catalytic NO production from

N2/O2 mixtures. We investigate the concentration and reaction rates of each species

formed as a function of time and position across the catalyst, in order to determine the

underlying mechanisms. To obtain insights into how the performance of the process

can be further improved, we also study how changes in the postplasma gas flow

composition entering the catalyst bed and in the operation conditions of the catalytic

stage affect the performance of NO production.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000926412800001 Publication Date 2023-02-06
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2168-0485 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 8.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes This research was supported by the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023) and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 810182 − SCOPE ERC Synergy project). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. Approved Most recent IF: 8.4; 2023 IF: 5.951
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:195377 Serial 7257
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Author Eshtehardi, H.A.; Van ‘t Veer, K.; Delplancke, M.-P.; Reniers, F.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Postplasma Catalytic Model for NO Production: Revealing the Underlying Mechanisms to Improve the Process Efficiency Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Abbreviated Journal
Volume 11 Issue 5 Pages 1720-1733
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Plasma catalysis is emerging for plasma-assisted gas conversion

processes. However, the underlying mechanisms of plasma catalysis are poorly

understood. In this work, we present a 1D heterogeneous catalysis model with axial

dispersion (i.e., accounting for back-mixing and molecular diffusion of fluid elements in

the process stream in the axial direction), for plasma-catalytic NO production from

N2/O2 mixtures. We investigate the concentration and reaction rates of each species

formed as a function of time and position across the catalyst, in order to determine the

underlying mechanisms. To obtain insights into how the performance of the process

can be further improved, we also study how changes in the postplasma gas flow

composition entering the catalyst bed and in the operation conditions of the catalytic

stage affect the performance of NO production.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000926412800001 Publication Date 2023-02-06
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2168-0485 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 8.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 30505023 GoF9618n ; Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique – FNRS, 30505023 GoF9618n ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; Approved Most recent IF: 8.4; 2023 IF: 5.951
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:195377 Serial 7258
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Author Van Alphen, S.; Hecimovic, A.; Kiefer, C.K.; Fantz, U.; Snyders, R.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Modelling post-plasma quenching nozzles for improving the performance of CO2 microwave plasmas Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Chemical engineering journal Abbreviated Journal
Volume 462 Issue Pages 142217
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Given the ecological problems associated to the CO2 emissions of fossil fuels, plasma technology has gained

interest for conversion of CO2 into value-added products. Microwave plasmas operating at atmospheric pressure

have proven to be especially interesting, due to the high gas temperatures inside the reactor (i.e. up to 6000 K)

allowing for efficient thermal dissociation of CO2 into CO and O2. However, the performance of these high

temperature plasmas is limited by recombination of CO back into CO2 once the gas cools down in the afterglow.

In this work, we computationally investigated several quenching nozzles, developed and experimentally tested

by Hecimovic et al., [1] for their ability to quickly cool the gas after the plasma, thereby quenching the CO

recombination reactions. Using a 3D computational fluid dynamics model and a quasi-1D chemical kinetics

model, we reveal that a reactor without nozzle lacks gas mixing between hot gas in the center and cold gas near

the reactor walls. Especially at low flow rates, where there is an inherent lack of convective cooling due to the

low gas flow velocity, the temperature in the afterglow remains high (between 2000 and 3000 K) for a relatively

long time (in the 0.1 s range). As shown by our quasi-1D chemical kinetics model, this results in a important loss

of CO due to recombination reactions. Attaching a nozzle in the effluent of the reactor induces fast gas quenching

right after the plasma. Indeed, it introduces (i) more convective cooling by forcing cool gas near the walls to mix

with hot gas in the center of the reactor, as well as (ii) more conductive cooling through the water-cooled walls of

the nozzle. Our model shows that gas quenching and the suppression of recombination reactions have more

impact at low flow rates, where recombination is the most limiting factor in the conversion process.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000962382600001 Publication Date 2023-03-03
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes This research was supported by the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project), and through long-term structural funding (Methusalem). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. Approved Most recent IF: 15.1; 2023 IF: 6.216
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:195889 Serial 7259
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Author Craig, T.M.; Kadu, A.A.; Batenburg, K.J.; Bals, S.
Title Real-time tilt undersampling optimization during electron tomography of beam sensitive samples using golden ratio scanning and RECAST3D Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Nanoscale Abbreviated Journal
Volume 15 Issue 11 Pages 5391-5402
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Abstract Electron tomography is a widely used technique for 3D structural analysis of nanomaterials, but it can cause damage to samples due to high electron doses and long exposure times. To minimize such damage, researchers often reduce beam exposure by acquiring fewer projections through tilt undersampling. However, this approach can also introduce reconstruction artifacts due to insufficient sampling. Therefore, it is important to determine the optimal number of projections that minimizes both beam exposure and undersampling artifacts for accurate reconstructions of beam-sensitive samples. Current methods for determining this optimal number of projections involve acquiring and post-processing multiple reconstructions with different numbers of projections, which can be time-consuming and requires multiple samples due to sample damage. To improve this process, we propose a protocol that combines golden ratio scanning and quasi-3D reconstruction to estimate the optimal number of projections in real-time during a single acquisition. This protocol was validated using simulated and realistic nanoparticles, and was successfully applied to reconstruct two beam-sensitive metal–organic framework complexes.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000937908900001 Publication Date 2023-02-13
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2040-3364 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 6.7 Times cited 1 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes H2020 European Research Council, 815128 ; H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 860942 ; Approved Most recent IF: 6.7; 2023 IF: 7.367
Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:195235 Serial 7260
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Author de la Encarnación, C.; Jungwirth, F.; Vila-Liarte, D.; Renero-Lecuna, C.; Kavak, S.; Orue, I.; Wilhelm, C.; Bals, S.; Henriksen-Lacey, M.; Jimenez de Aberasturi, D.; Liz-Marzán, L.M.
Title Hybrid core–shell nanoparticles for cell-specific magnetic separation and photothermal heating Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Journal of materials chemistry B : materials for biology and medicine Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Abstract Hyperthermia, as the process of heating a malignant site above 42 °C to trigger cell death, has emerged as an effective and selective cancer therapy strategy. Various modalities of hyperthermia have been proposed, among which magnetic and photothermal hyperthermia are known to benefit from the use of nanomaterials. In this context, we introduce herein a hybrid colloidal nanostructure comprising plasmonic gold nanorods (AuNRs) covered by a silica shell, onto which iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are subsequently grown. The resulting hybrid nanostructures are responsive to both external magnetic fields and near-infrared irradiation. As a result, they can be applied for the targeted magnetic separation of selected cell populations – upon targeting by antibody functionalization – as well as for photothermal heating. Through this combined functionality, the therapeutic effect of photothermal heating can be enhanced. We demonstrate both the fabrication of the hybrid system and its application for targeted photothermal hyperthermia of human glioblastoma cells.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000968908400001 Publication Date 2023-04-05
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2050-750X ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 7 Times cited 1 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, PID2019-108854RA-I00 ; H2020 European Research Council, ERC AdG 787510, 4DBIOSERS ERC CoG 815128, REALNANO ; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, PhD research grant 1181122N ; Approved Most recent IF: 7; 2023 IF: 4.543
Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:195879 Serial 7261
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Author Wang, J.; Zhang, K.; Meynen, V.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Dry reforming in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor with non-uniform discharge gap : effects of metal rings on the discharge behavior and performance Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Chemical engineering journal Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 142953-29
Keywords A1 Journal article; Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract The application of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactors is promising in various environmental and energy processes, but is limited by their low energy yield. In this study, we put a number of stainless steel rings over the inner electrode rod of the DBD reactor to change the local discharge gap and electric field, and we studied the dry reforming performance. At 50 W supplied power, the metal rings mostly have a negative impact on the performance, which we attribute to the non-uniform spatial distribution of the discharges caused by the rings. However, at 30 W supplied power, the energy yield is higher than at 50 W and the placement of the rings improves the performance of the reactor. More rings and with a larger cross-sectional diameter can further improve the performance. The reactor with 20 rings with a 3.2 mm cross-sectional diameter exhibits the best performance in this study. Compared to the reactor without rings, it increases the CO2 conversion from 7% to 16 %, the CH4 conversion from 12% to 23%, and the energy yield from 0.05 mmol/kJ supplied power to 0.1 mmol/kJ (0.19 mmol/kJ if calculated from the plasma power), respectively. The presence of the rings increases the local electric field, the displaced charge and the discharge fraction, and also makes the discharge more stable and with more uniform intensity. It also slightly improves the selectivity to syngas. The performance improvement observed by placing stainless steel rings in this study may also be applicable to other plasma-based processes.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000986051300001 Publication Date 2023-04-17
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1385-8947; 1873-3212 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 15.1; 2023 IF: 6.216
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:195603 Serial 7264
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Author Kovács, A.; Yusupov, M.; Cornet, I.; Billen, P.; Neyts, E.C.
Title Effect of natural deep eutectic solvents of non-eutectic compositions on enzyme stability Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Journal Of Molecular Liquids Abbreviated Journal J Mol Liq
Volume 366 Issue Pages 120180-17
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE); Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)
Abstract Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) represent a green alternative to common organic solvents in the biochemical industry due to their benign behavior and tailorable properties, in particular as media for enzymatic reactions. However, to fully exploit their potential in enzymatic reactions, there is a need for a more fundamental understanding of how these neoteric solvents influence the course of these reac-tions. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the influence of NADES with various molar composi-tions on the stability and structure of enzymes, applying molecular dynamics simulations. This can help to better understand the effect of individual compounds of NADES, in addition to eutectic mixtures. More specifically, we simulate the behavior of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) enzyme in NADES com-posed of choline chloride with either urea, ethylene glycol or glycerol. Hereto, we monitor the NADES microstructure, the general stability of the enzyme and changes in the structure of its active sites and sur-face residues. Our simulations show that none of the studied NADES systems significantly disrupt the microstructure of the solvent or the stability of the CALB enzyme within the time scales of the simula-tions. The enzyme preserves its initial structure, size and intra-chain hydrogen bonds in all investigated compositions and, for the first time reported, also in NADES with increased hydrogen bond donating com-pound ratios. As the main novelty, our results indicate that, in addition to the composition, the molar ratio can be an additional variable to fine-tune the physicochemical properties of NADES without altering the enzyme characteristics. These findings could facilitate the development and application of task -tailored NADES media for biocatalytic processes. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000865431800010 Publication Date 2022-08-25
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0167-7322 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 6 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 6
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:191538 Serial 7265
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Author Bal, K.M.; Neyts, E.C.
Title Extending and validating bubble nucleation rate predictions in a Lennard-Jones fluid with enhanced sampling methods and transition state theory Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Journal Of Chemical Physics Abbreviated Journal J Chem Phys
Volume 157 Issue 18 Pages 184113-10
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract We calculate bubble nucleation rates in a Lennard-Jones fluid through explicit molecular dynamics simulations. Our approach-based on a recent free energy method (dubbed reweighted Jarzynski sampling), transition state theory, and a simple recrossing correction-allows us to probe a fairly wide range of rates in several superheated and cavitation regimes in a consistent manner. Rate predictions from this approach bridge disparate independent literature studies on the same model system. As such, we find that rate predictions based on classical nucleation theory, direct brute force molecular dynamics simulations, and seeding are consistent with our approach and one another. Published rates derived from forward flux sampling simulations are, however, found to be outliers. This study serves two purposes: First, we validate the reliability of common modeling techniques and extrapolation approaches on a paradigmatic problem in materials science and chemical physics. Second, we further test our highly generic recipe for rate calculations, and establish its applicability to nucleation processes.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000885260600002 Publication Date 2022-11-14
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0021-9606 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 4.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 4.4
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192076 Serial 7266
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Author Lu, X.P.; Bruggeman, P.J.; Reuter, S.; Naidis, G.; Bogaerts, A.; Laroussi, M.; Keidar, M.; Robert, E.; Pouvesle, J.-M.; Liu, D.W.; Ostrikov, K.(K.)
Title Grand challenges in low temperature plasmas Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Frontiers in physics Abbreviated Journal
Volume 10 Issue Pages 1040658-12
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Low temperature plasmas (LTPs) enable to create a highly reactive environment at near ambient temperatures due to the energetic electrons with typical kinetic energies in the range of 1 to 10 eV (1 eV = 11600K), which are being used in applications ranging from plasma etching of electronic chips and additive manufacturing to plasma-assisted combustion. LTPs are at the core of many advanced technologies. Without LTPs, many of the conveniences of modern society would simply not exist. New applications of LTPs are continuously being proposed. Researchers are facing many grand challenges before these new applications can be translated to practice. In this paper, we will discuss the challenges being faced in the field of LTPs, in particular for atmospheric pressure plasmas, with a focus on health, energy and sustainability.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000878212000001 Publication Date 2022-10-14
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2296-424x ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 3.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.1
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192173 Serial 7267
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Author Nematollahi, P.; Neyts, E.C.
Title Identification of a unique pyridinic FeN4Cx electrocatalyst for N₂ reduction : tailoring the coordination and carbon topologies Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Journal Of Physical Chemistry C Abbreviated Journal J Phys Chem C
Volume 126 Issue 34 Pages 14460-14469
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Although the heterogeneity of pyrolyzed Fe???N???C materials is known and has been reported previously, the atomic structure of the active sites and their detailed reaction mechanisms are still unknown. Here, we identified two pyridinic Fe???N4-like centers with different local C coordinates, i.e., FeN4C8 and FeN4C10, and studied their electrocatalytic activity for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We also discovered the influence of the adsorption of NH2 as a functional ligand on catalyst performance on the NRR. We confirmed that the NRR selectivity of the studied catalysts is essentially governed either by the local C coordination or by the dynamic structure associated with the FeII/FeIII. Our investigations indicate that the proposed traditional pyridinic FeN4C10 has higher catalytic activity and selectivity for the NRR than the robust FeN4C8 catalyst, while it may have outstanding activity for promoting other (electro)catalytic reactions. <comment>Superscript/Subscript Available</comment
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000859545200001 Publication Date 2022-08-17
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1932-7447; 1932-7455 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 3.7 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.7
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:191469 Serial 7268
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Author Sahun, M.; Privat-Maldonado, A.; Lin, A.; De Roeck, N.; Van de Heyden, L.; Hillen, M.; Michiels, J.; Steenackers, G.; Smits, E.; Ariën, K.K.; Jorens, P.G.; Delputte, P.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped and non-enveloped viruses with non-thermal plasma for hospital disinfection Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 1-10
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Center for Oncological Research (CORE); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Laboratory Experimental Medicine and Pediatrics (LEMP)
Abstract As recently highlighted by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, viruses have become an increasing burden for health, global economy, and environment. The control of transmission by contact with contaminated materials represents a major challenge, particularly in hospital environments. However, the current disinfection methods in hospital settings suffer from numerous drawbacks. As a result, several medical supplies that cannot be properly disinfected are not reused, leading to severe shortages and increasing amounts of waste, thus prompting the search for alternative solutions. In this work, we report that non-thermal plasma (NTP) can effectively inactivate SARS-CoV-2 from non-porous and porous materials commonly found in healthcare facilities. We demonstrated that 5 min treatment with a dielectric barrier discharge NTP can inactivate 100% of SARS-CoV-2 (Wuhan and Omicron strains) from plastic material. Using porcine respiratory coronavirus (surrogate for SARS-CoV-2) and coxsackievirus B3 (highly resistant non-enveloped virus), we tested the NTP virucidal activity on hospital materials and obtained complete inactivation after 5 and 10 min, respectively. We hypothesize that the produced reactive species and local acidification contribute to the overall virucidal effect of NTP. Our results demonstrate the potential of dielectric barrier discharge NTPs for the rapid, efficient, and low-cost disinfection of healthcare materials.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000964269500001 Publication Date 2023-03-23
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2168-0485 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 8.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 8.4; 2023 IF: 5.951
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:194897 Serial 7269
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Van Alphen, S.
Title Modelling plasma reactors for sustainable CO2 conversion and N2 fixation Type Doctoral thesis
Year 2023 Publication Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 202 p.
Keywords Doctoral thesis; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract 200 years ago, humanity started the industrial revolution by discovering fossil fuels, which lead to unprecedented technological advancements. However it has become alarmingly clear that the major environmental concerns associated with fossil fuels require a short-term transition from a carbon-based energy economy to a sustainable one based on green electricity. A key step concerning this transition exists in developing electricity-driven alternatives for chemical processes that rely on fossil fuels as a raw material. A technology that is gaining increasing interest to achieve this, is plasma technology. Using plasmas to induce chemical reactions by selectively heating electrons in a gas has already delivered promising results for gas conversion applications like CO2 conversion and N2 fixation, but plasma reactors still require optimization to be considered industrially competitive to existing fossil fuel-based processes and emerging other electricity-based technologies. In this thesis I develop computational models to describe plasma reactors and identify key mechanisms in three different plasma reactors for three different gas conversion applications, i.e. N2 fixation, combined CO2-CH4 conversion and CO2 splitting. I first developed models to describe a new rotating gliding arc (GA) reactor operating in two arc modes, which, as revealed by my model, are characterized by distinct plasma chemistry pathways. Subsequently, my colleague and I study the quenching effect of an effusion nozzle to this rotating GA reactor, reaching the best results to date for N2 fixation into NOx at atmospheric pressure, i.e., NOx concentrations up to 5.9%, at an energy cost down to 2.1 MJ/mol. Afterwards, I investigate the possible improvement of N2 admixtures in plasma-based CO2 and CH4 conversion, as significant amounts of N2 are often found in industrial CO2 waste streams, and gas separations are financially costly. Through combining my models with the experiment from a fellow PhD student, we reveal that moderate amounts of N2 (i.e. around 20%) increase both the electron density and the gas temperature to yield an overall energy cost reduction of 21%. Finally, I model quenching nozzles for plasma-based CO2 conversion in a microwave reactor, to explain the enhancements in CO2 conversion that were demonstrated in experiments. Through computational modelling I reveal that the nozzle introduces fast gas quenching resulting in the suppression of recombination reactions, which have more impact at low flow rates, where recombination is the most limiting factor in the conversion process.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos Publication Date
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Additional Links UA library record
Impact Factor Times cited Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: NA
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:194811 Serial 7270
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Le Compte, M.; Cardenas De La Hoz, E.; Peeters, S.; Smits, E.; Lardon, F.; Roeyen, G.; Vanlanduit, S.; Prenen, H.; Peeters, M.; Lin, A.; Deben, C.
Title Multiparametric tumor organoid drug screening using widefield live-cell imaging for bulk and single-organoid analysis Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Jove-Journal Of Visualized Experiments Abbreviated Journal Jove-J Vis Exp
Volume Issue 190 Pages 1-18
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Antwerp Surgical Training, Anatomy and Research Centre (ASTARC); Center for Oncological Research (CORE)
Abstract Patient-derived tumor organoids (PDTOs) hold great promise for preclinical and translational research and predicting the patient therapy response from ex vivo drug screenings. However, current adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-based drug screening assays do not capture the complexity of a drug response (cytostatic or cytotoxic) and intratumor heterogeneity that has been shown to be retained in PDTOs due to a bulk readout. Live-cell imaging is a powerful tool to overcome this issue and visualize drug responses more in-depth. However, image analysis software is often not adapted to the three-dimensionality of PDTOs, requires fluorescent viability dyes, or is not compatible with a 384-well microplate format. This paper describes a semi-automated methodology to seed, treat, and image PDTOs in a high-throughput, 384-well format using conventional, widefield, live-cell imaging systems. In addition, we developed viability marker-free image analysis software to quantify growth rate-based drug response metrics that improve reproducibility and correct growth rate variations between different PDTO lines. Using the normalized drug response metric, which scores drug response based on the growth rate normalized to a positive and negative control condition, and a fluorescent cell death dye, cytotoxic and cytostatic drug responses can be easily distinguished, profoundly improving the classification of responders and non-responders. In addition, drug-response heterogeneity can by quantified from single-organoid drug response analysis to identify potential, resistant clones. Ultimately, this method aims to improve the prediction of clinical therapy response by capturing a multiparametric drug response signature, which includes kinetic growth arrest and cell death quantification. ,
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000928020400010 Publication Date 2022-12-24
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1940-087x ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 1.2 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 1.2
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:193168 Serial 7271
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Author Deben, C.; Cardenas De La Hoz, E.; Le Compte, M.; Van Schil, P.; Hendriks, J.M.H.; Lauwers, P.; Yogeswaran, S.K.; Lardon, F.; Pauwels, P.; van Laere, S.; Bogaerts, A.; Smits, E.; Vanlanduit, S.; Lin, A.
Title OrBITS : label-free and time-lapse monitoring of patient derived organoids for advanced drug screening Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Cellular Oncology (2211-3428) Abbreviated Journal Cell Oncol
Volume Issue Pages 1-16
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Antwerp Surgical Training, Anatomy and Research Centre (ASTARC); Center for Oncological Research (CORE)
Abstract Background Patient-derived organoids are invaluable for fundamental and translational cancer research and holds great promise for personalized medicine. However, the shortage of available analysis methods, which are often single-time point, severely impede the potential and routine use of organoids for basic research, clinical practise, and pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Methods Here, we developed a high-throughput compatible and automated live-cell image analysis software that allows for kinetic monitoring of organoids, named Organoid Brightfield Identification-based Therapy Screening (OrBITS), by combining computer vision with a convolutional network machine learning approach. The OrBITS deep learning analysis approach was validated against current standard assays for kinetic imaging and automated analysis of organoids. A drug screen of standard-of-care lung and pancreatic cancer treatments was also performed with the OrBITS platform and compared to the gold standard, CellTiter-Glo 3D assay. Finally, the optimal parameters and drug response metrics were identified to improve patient stratification. Results OrBITS allowed for the detection and tracking of organoids in routine extracellular matrix domes, advanced Gri3D (R)-96 well plates, and high-throughput 384-well microplates, solely based on brightfield imaging. The obtained organoid Count, Mean Area, and Total Area had a strong correlation with the nuclear staining, Hoechst, following pairwise comparison over a broad range of sizes. By incorporating a fluorescent cell death marker, infra-well normalization for organoid death could be achieved, which was tested with a 10-point titration of cisplatin and validated against the current gold standard ATP-assay, CellTiter-Glo 3D. Using this approach with OrBITS, screening of chemotherapeutics and targeted therapies revealed further insight into the mechanistic action of the drugs, a feature not achievable with the CellTiter-Glo 3D assay. Finally, we advise the use of the growth rate-based normalised drug response metric to improve accuracy and consistency of organoid drug response quantification. Conclusion Our findings validate that OrBITS, as a scalable, automated live-cell image analysis software, would facilitate the use of patient-derived organoids for drug development and therapy screening. The developed wet-lab workflow and software also has broad application potential, from providing a launching point for further brightfield-based assay development to be used for fundamental research, to guiding clinical decisions for personalized medicine.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000898426100001 Publication Date 2022-12-12
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2211-3428; 2211-3436 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 6.6 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 6.6
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192698 Serial 7272
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Author Wang, J.
Title Plasma catalysis : study of CO2 reforming of CH4 in a DBD reactor Type Doctoral thesis
Year 2022 Publication Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages XVI, 232 p.
Keywords Doctoral thesis; Engineering sciences. Technology; Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract The plasma-based dry reforming in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor is important to achieve sustainable goals, but many challenges remain. For example, the conversion and energy yield of DBD reactors are relatively low, and the catalysts or packing materials used in existing studies cannot improve them, possibly due to the unsuitable properties and structures of catalysts or packing materials for plasma processes. In order to study the effect of catalyst structure on plasma-based dry reforming, a controllable synthesis of the catalyst supports or templates was explored. In Chapter 2, an initially immiscible synthesis method was proposed to synthesize uniform silica spheres, which can replace the organic solvent-based Stöber method to successfully synthesize silica particles with the same size ranges as the original Stöber process without addition of organic solvents. Using the silica spheres as templates, 3D porous Cu and CuO catalysts with different pore sizes were synthesized in Chapter 3 to study the effect of catalyst pore size on the plasma-catalytic dry reforming. In most cases, the smaller the pore size, the higher the conversion of CH4 and CO2 due to the reaction of radicals and ions formed in the plasma. An exception are the samples synthesized from 1 μm silica, which show better performance due to the electric field enhancement for pore sizes close to the Debye length. Besides the pore size, the particle diameter of the catalyst or packing is also one of the important factors affecting the interaction between plasma and catalyst. In Chapter 4, SiO2 spheres (with or without supported metal) were used to study the effect of different support particle sizes on plasma-based dry reforming. We found that a uniform SiO2 packing improves the conversion of plasma-based dry reforming. The conversion of plasma-based dry reforming first increases and then decreases with increasing particle size, due to the balance between the promoting and hindering effect of the particle filling on the plasma discharge. Chapter 5 is to improve the design of the DBD reactor itself, in order to try to increase its low energy yield. Some stainless steel rings were put over the inner electrode rod of the DBD reactor. The presence of rings increases the local electric field, the displaced charges and the discharge fraction, and also makes the discharge more stable and with more uniform intensity. The placement of the rings improves the performance of the reactor at 30 W supplied power.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos Publication Date
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Additional Links UA library record
Impact Factor Times cited Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: NA
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:194045 Serial 7273
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Author Tchakoua, T.; Gerrits, N.; Smeets, E.W.F.; Kroes, G.-J.
Title SBH17 : benchmark database of barrier heights for dissociative chemisorption on transition metal surfaces Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Journal of chemical theory and computation Abbreviated Journal
Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 245-270
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Accurate barriers for rate controlling elementary reactions on metal surfaces are key to understanding, controlling, and predicting the rate of heterogeneously catalyzed processes. While barrier heights for gas phase reactions have been extensively benchmarked, dissociative chemisorption barriers for the reactions of molecules on metal surfaces have received much less attention. The first database called SBH10 and containing 10 entries was recently constructed based on the specific reaction parameter approach to density functional theory (SRP-DFT) and experimental results. We have now constructed a new and improved database (SBH17) containing 17 entries based on SRP-DFT and experiments. For this new SBH17 benchmark study, we have tested three algorithms (high, medium, and light) for calculating barrier heights for dissociative chemisorption on metals, which we have named for the amount of computational effort involved in their use. We test the performance of 14 density functionals at the GGA, GGA+vdW-DF, and meta-GGA rungs. Our results show that, in contrast with the previous SBH10 study where the BEEF-vdW-DF2 functional seemed to be most accurate, the workhorse functional PBE and the MS2 density functional are the most accurate of the GGA and meta-GGA functionals tested. Of the GGA+vdW functionals tested, the SRP32-vdW-DF1 functional is the most accurate. Additionally, we found that the medium algorithm is accurate enough for assessing the performance of the density functionals tested, while it avoids geometry optimizations of minimum barrier geometries for each density functional tested. The medium algorithm does require metal lattice constants and interlayer distances that are optimized separately for each functional. While these are avoided in the light algorithm, this algorithm is found not to give a reliable description of functional performance. The combination of relative ease of use and demonstrated reliability of the medium algorithm will likely pave the way for incorporation of the SBH17 database in larger databases used for testing new density functionals and electronic structure methods.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000903286100001 Publication Date 2022-12-19
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1549-9618 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 5.5 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 5.5; 2023 IF: 5.245
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:193426 Serial 7274
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Author Nematollahi, P.
Title Selectivity of Mo-NC sites for electrocatalytic N₂ reduction : a function of the single atom position on the surface and local carbon topologies Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Applied surface science Abbreviated Journal
Volume 612 Issue Pages 155908-155909
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Transition metal (TM) doped two-dimensional single-atom catalysts are known as a promising class of catalysts for electrocatalytic gas conversion. However, the detailed mechanisms that occur at the surface of these catalysts are still unknown. In the present work, we simulate three Mo-doped nitrogenated graphene structures. In each catalyst, the position of the Mo active site and the corresponding local carbon topologies are different, i.e. MoN4C10 with in-plane Mo atom, MoN4C8 in which Mo atom bridges two adjacent armchair-like graphitic edges, and MoN2C3 in which Mo is doped at the edge of the graphene sheet. Using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations we discuss the electrocatalytic activity of Mosingle bondNsingle bondC structures for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) with a focus on unraveling the corresponding mechanisms concerning different Mo site positions and C topologies. Our results indicate that the position of the active site centers has a great effect on its electrocatalytic behavior. The gas phase N2 efficiently reduces to ammonia on MoN4C8 via the distal mechanism with an onset potential of −0.51 V. We confirm that the proposed pyridinic structure, MoN4C8, can catalyze NRR effectively with a low overpotential of 0.35 V.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000901469900003 Publication Date 2022-11-30
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0169-4332 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 6.7 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 6.7; 2023 IF: 3.387
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192430 Serial 7275
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Author Kovács, A.
Title A structured methodology for natural deep eutectic solvent selection and formulation for enzymatic reactions Type Doctoral thesis
Year 2023 Publication Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages viii, 216 p.
Keywords Doctoral thesis; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE); Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)
Abstract Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) show great promise as media for enzymatic reactions in areas where (bio)compatibility with natural or medicinal products is a must. While in theory they can be tailored to the intended reaction to ensure optimized yields, the knowledge to date is predominantly empirical, with some mechanistic reports providing a fragmented view at best. Therefore, it is not easy to explain experimental observations, let alone make predictions. The aim of this study was to develop a structured, holistic understanding of the effects of NADES media on enzymatic reactions, distinguishing between effects on solubility, solvation, viscosity, inhibition and denaturation. Experimental and computational chemistry methods were combined to separately study the interactions between enzyme, substrate, and NADES as reaction media. The initial enzyme activity and the final conversion of vinyl laurate transesterification by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase were studied experimentally. The direct effect of NADES on the same enzyme was modeled by molecular dynamics simulation. The effect of solubility was studied by both experimental and computational methods. To predict the solubility and viscosity of NADES, data-driven models were developed by combining group contribution and machine learning methods, based on the accumulated experimental knowledge on NADES found in the literature. Finally, the composed relationships and prediction models were applied to the practical example of deacetylation of mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs). The experimental findings show that the chosen NADES system has a significant effect on both the apparent initial activity and the final conversion. However, in the simulations, the enzyme retains its original structure; moreover, NADES has an additional stabilizing effect on the enzyme. In addition, changes in the molar ratio of the compounds in NADES do not show a significant effect on the stability of the enzyme. These results indicate that the main effect of NADES on the reaction is mainly related to the substrate-solvent interactions (solvation energy) and the viscosity of the system. On the other hand, the experimental results only confirmed the significance of solvation, viscosity did not show a clear correlation with the studied reaction parameters. The machine learning models built for solubility and viscosity gave quantitative predictions of these properties. The accumulated knowledge was used to optimize the yield in the deacetylation reaction of MELs. The combination of these methods provides fundamental knowledge about the effect of NADES on biocatalysis, but the results are also applicable to other uses of NADES.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos Publication Date
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Additional Links UA library record
Impact Factor Times cited Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: NA
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:194886 Serial 7276
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author De Backer, J.
Title The versatile nature of cytoglobin, the Swiss army knife among globins, with a preference for oxidative stress Type Doctoral thesis
Year 2023 Publication Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages XVIII, 232 p.
Keywords Doctoral thesis; Pharmacology. Therapy; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Proteinscience, proteomics and epigenetic signaling (PPES)
Abstract Since its discovery 20 years ago, many studies have been performed to gain insight into the functional role of cytoglobin (Cygb). However, Cygb has been proven to be a promiscuous protein. Yet, there is a consensus that Cygb is a cytoprotective protein involved in redox homeostasis. CYGB is a ubiquitously expressed hexacoordinated globin that is highly expressed in melanocytes and is often found to be downregulated during melanocyte-to-melanoma transition. In Chapter III, we investigated the molecular mechanism through which CYGB could be involved in redox regulation. Here, we showed that CYGB contains two redox-sensitive cysteine residues and that the formation of an intramolecular disulfide bridge resulted in the heme group becoming more accessible to external ligands. This supports the hypothesis that Cys38 and Cys83 serve as sensitive redox sensors. In Chapter IV we showed that CYGB mRNA and protein levels were elevated upon exposure to hypoxia. Interestingly, this upregulation was most likely HIF-2α-dependent. We propose that in melanoma, HIF-2α, rather than HIF-1α, positively regulates CYGB under hypoxic conditions in a cell type specific way. In Chapter V, the cytotoxic effect of indirect NTP treatment in two melanoma cell lines with divergent endogenous CYGB expression levels was investigated. We confirmed that NTP endows cytotoxicity that induces cell death through apoptosis and that this was mediated through the production of ROS. Moreover, we showed that CYGB protects melanoma cells from ROS-induced apoptosis by the scavenging of ROS. Interestingly, CYGB expression influenced the expression of NRF2 and HO-1. We identified the lncRNA MEG3 as a possible mechanism through which NRF2 expression and its downstream target HO-1 can be regulated by CYGB. In chapter VI, increased basal ROS levels and higher degree of lipid peroxidation upon RSL3 treatment contributed to the increased sensitivity of CYGB knockdown G361 cells to ferroptosis. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis demonstrates the enrichment of multiple cancer malignancy pathways upon CYGB knockdown, supporting a tumor-suppressive role for CYGB. Remarkably, CYGB expression regulation was identified as a critical determinant of the ferroptosis–pyroptosis therapy response. This suggests that CYGB is involved in the regulation of multiple modes of programmed cell death. FInally, we sought to delineate the RONS that are responsible for plasma-induced ICD. Our results highlight the importance of the short-lived species. Furthermore, we are first to demonstrate that NTP-created vaccine is safely prepared and offers complete protection. Moreover, we provide conclusive evidence that direct application of NTP induces ICD in melanoma.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos Publication Date
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Additional Links UA library record
Impact Factor Times cited Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: NA
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:193568 Serial 7277
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Baetens, D.; Schoofs, K.; Somers, N.; Denys, S.
Title A brief review on Multiphysics modelling of the various physical and chemical phenomena occurring in active oxidation reactors Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Current opinion in green and sustainable chemistry Abbreviated Journal
Volume 40 Issue Pages 100764-100766
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
Abstract Heterogeneous photocatalysis can be used as an advanced oxidation technology frequently studied for application in photoreactors for air and water treatment. Extensive experimental investigation entails high costs and is also time consuming. Multiphysics modelling, a relatively new numerical method, provides a cost-effective and valuable alternative. By reconstructing the reactor geometry in dedicated software, meshing it and solving for occurring physical and chemical phenomena, Multiphysics models can be used to evaluate the performance of different reactor designs, increase insight into the occurring phenomena and study the influence of operational parameters on reactor performance. Finally, Multiphysics models are also developed for various applications like optimising the operational parameters, creating the ideal reactor design or scaling up a lab-scale reactor to a realistic prototype.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000947344000001 Publication Date 2023-02-02
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2452-2236 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 9.3 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 9.3; 2023 IF: NA
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:195208 Serial 7278
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Author Shi, P.; Wang, L.; Quinn, B.K.K.; Gielis, J.
Title A new program to estimate the parameters of Preston's equation, a general formula for describing the egg shape of birds Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Symmetry Abbreviated Journal Symmetry-Basel
Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 231-10
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
Abstract Preston's equation is a general model describing the egg shape of birds. The parameters of Preston's equation are usually estimated after re-expressing it as the Todd-Smart equation and scaling the egg's actual length to two. This method assumes that the straight line through the two points on an egg's profile separated by the maximum distance (i.e., the longest axis of an egg's profile) is the mid-line. It hypothesizes that the photographed egg's profile is perfectly bilaterally symmetrical, which seldom holds true because of photographic errors and placement errors. The existing parameter estimation method for Preston's equation considers an angle of deviation for the longest axis of an egg's profile from the mid-line, which decreases prediction errors to a certain degree. Nevertheless, this method cannot provide an accurate estimate of the coordinates of the egg's center, and it leads to sub-optimal parameter estimation. Thus, it is better to account for the possible asymmetry between the two sides of an egg's profile along its mid-line when fitting egg-shape data. In this paper, we propose a method based on the optimization algorithm (optimPE) to fit egg-shape data and better estimate the parameters of Preston's equation by automatically searching for the optimal mid-line of an egg's profile and testing its validity using profiles of 59 bird eggs spanning a wide range of existing egg shapes. We further compared this method with the existing one based on multiple linear regression (lmPE). This study demonstrated the ability of the optimPE method to estimate numerical values of the parameters of Preston's equation and provide the theoretical egg length (i.e., the distance between two ends of the mid-line of an egg's profile) and the egg's maximum breadth. This provides a valuable approach for comparing egg shapes among conspecifics or across different species, or even different classes (e.g., birds and reptiles), in future investigations.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000927531000001 Publication Date 2023-01-13
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2073-8994 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 2.7 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 2.7; 2023 IF: 1.457
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:195347 Serial 7279
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Author Zeegers, M.T.; Kadu, A.; van Leeuwen, T.; Batenburg, K.J.
Title ADJUST : a dictionary-based joint reconstruction and unmixing method for spectral tomography Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Inverse problems Abbreviated Journal Inverse Probl
Volume 38 Issue 12 Pages 125002-125033
Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Abstract Advances in multi-spectral detectors are causing a paradigm shift in x-ray computed tomography (CT). Spectral information acquired from these detectors can be used to extract volumetric material composition maps of the object of interest. If the materials and their spectral responses are known a priori, the image reconstruction step is rather straightforward. If they are not known, however, the maps as well as the responses need to be estimated jointly. A conventional workflow in spectral CT involves performing volume reconstruction followed by material decomposition, or vice versa. However, these methods inherently suffer from the ill-posedness of the joint reconstruction problem. To resolve this issue, we propose 'A Dictionary-based Joint reconstruction and Unmixing method for Spectral Tomography' (ADJUST). Our formulation relies on forming a dictionary of spectral signatures of materials common in CT and prior knowledge of the number of materials present in an object. In particular, we decompose the spectral volume linearly in terms of spatial material maps, a spectral dictionary, and the indicator of materials for the dictionary elements. We propose a memory-efficient accelerated alternating proximal gradient method to find an approximate solution to the resulting bi-convex problem. From numerical demonstrations on several synthetic phantoms, we observe that ADJUST performs exceedingly well compared to other state-of-the-art methods. Additionally, we address the robustness of ADJUST against limited and noisy measurement patterns. The demonstration of the proposed approach on a spectral micro-CT dataset shows its potential for real-world applications. Code is available at https://github.com/mzeegers/ADJUST.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000868885200001 Publication Date 2022-09-20
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0266-5611 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 2.1 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 2.1
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:191536 Serial 7280
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Skorikov, A.; Batenburg, K.J.; Bals, S.
Title Analysis of 3D elemental distribution in nanomaterials : towards higher throughput and dose efficiency Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Journal of microscopy Abbreviated Journal
Volume 289 Issue 3 Pages 157-163
Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Abstract Many advanced nanomaterials rely on carefully designed morphology and elemental distribution to achieve their functionalities. Among the few experimental techniques that can directly visualise the 3D elemental distribution on the nanoscale are approaches based on electron tomography in combination with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Unfortunately, these highly informative methods are severely limited by the fundamentally low signal-to-noise ratio, which makes long experimental times and high electron irradiation doses necessary to obtain reliable 3D reconstructions. Addressing these limitations has been the major research question for the development of these techniques in recent years. This short review outlines the latest progress on the methods to reduce experimental time and electron irradiation dose requirements for 3D elemental distribution analysis and gives an outlook on the development of this field in the near future.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000910532600001 Publication Date 2022-12-26
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-2720 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 2 Times cited 2 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes ERC Consolidator Grant, Grant/Award Number: 815128 Approved Most recent IF: 2; 2023 IF: 1.692
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:193428 Serial 7281
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Author Orozco-Jimenez, A.J.; Pinilla-Fernandez, D.A.; Pugliese, V.; Bula, A.; Perreault, P.; Gonzalez-Quiroga, A.
Title Angular momentum based-analysis of gas-solid fluidized beds in vortex chambers Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Chemical engineering journal Abbreviated Journal
Volume 457 Issue Pages 141222-21
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
Abstract Gas-solid vortex chambers are a promising alternative for reactive and non-reactive processes requiring enhanced heat and mass transfer rates and order-of-milliseconds contact time. The conservation of angular momentum is instrumental in understanding how the interactions between gas, particulate solids, and chamber walls influence the formation of a rotating solids bed. Therefore, this work applies the conservation of angular momentum to derive a model that gives the average angular velocity of solids in terms of gas injection velocity, wall-solids bed drag coefficient, gas and particle properties, and chamber geometry. Three datasets from published studies, comprising 1 g-Geldart B- and d-type particles in different vortex chambers, validate the model results. Using a sensitivity analysis, we assessed the effect of input variables on the average angular velocity of solids, average void fraction, and average bed height. Results indicate that the top and bottom end-wall boundaries exert the most significant braking effect on the rotating solids bed compared with the cylindrical outer wall and gas injection boundaries. The wall-solids bed drag coefficient appears independent of the gas injection velocity for a wide range of operating conditions. The proposed model is a valuable tool for analyzing and comparing gas–solid vortex typologies, unraveling improvement opportunities, and scale-up.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000951011600001 Publication Date 2022-12-29
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1385-8947; 1873-3212 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 15.1; 2023 IF: 6.216
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192868 Serial 7282
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Tiwari, S.; Van de Put, M.L.; Temst, K.; Vandenberghe, W.G.; Sorée, B.
Title Atomistic modeling of spin and electron dynamics in two-dimensional magnets switched by two-dimensional topological insulators Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Physical review applied Abbreviated Journal
Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 014040-14049
Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)
Abstract To design fast memory devices, we need material combinations that can facilitate fast read and write operations. We present a heterostructure comprising a two-dimensional (2D) magnet and a 2D topological insulator (TI) as a viable option for designing fast memory devices. We theoretically model the spin-charge dynamics between 2D magnets and 2D TIs. Using the adiabatic approximation, we combine the nonequi-librium Green's function method for spin-dependent electron transport and a time-quantified Monte Carlo method for simulating magnetization dynamics. We show that it is possible to switch a magnetic domain of a ferromagnet using the spin torque from spin-polarized edge states of a 2D TI. We show further that the switching of 2D magnets by TIs is strongly dependent on the interface exchange (Jint), and an opti-mal interface exchange, is required for efficient switching. Finally, we compare experimentally grown Cr compounds and show that Cr compounds with higher anisotropy (such as CrI3) result in a lower switching speed but a more stable magnetic order.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000920227500002 Publication Date 2023-01-12
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2331-7019 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 4.6 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 4.6; 2023 IF: 4.808
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:194312 Serial 7283
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Peeters, H.; Lenaerts, S.; Verbruggen, S.W.
Title Benchmarking the photocatalytic self-cleaning activity of industrial and experimental materials with ISO 27448:2009 Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Materials Abbreviated Journal Materials
Volume 16 Issue 3 Pages 1119-13
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology
Abstract Various industrial surface materials are tested for their photocatalytic self-cleaning activity by performing the ISO 27448:2009 method. The samples are pre-activated by UV irradiation, fouled with oleic acid and irradiated by UV light. The degradation of oleic acid over time is monitored by taking water contact angle measurements using a contact angle goniometer. The foulant, oleic acid, is an organic acid that makes the surface more hydrophobic. The water contact angle will thus decrease over time as the photocatalytic material degrades the oleic acid. In this study, we argue that the use of this method is strongly limited to specific types of surface materials, i.e., only those that are hydrophilic and smooth in nature. For more hydrophobic materials, the difference in the water contact angles of a clean surface and a fouled surface is not measurable. Therefore, the photocatalytic self-cleaning activity cannot be established experimentally. Another type of material that cannot be tested by this standard are rough surfaces. For rough surfaces, the water contact angle cannot be measured accurately using a contact angle goniometer as prescribed by the standard. Because of these limitations, many potentially interesting industrial substrates cannot be evaluated. Smooth samples that were treated with an in-house developed hydrophilic titania thin film (PCT/EP2018/079983) showed a great photocatalytic self-cleaning performance according to the ISO standard. Apart from discussing the pros and cons of the current ISO standard, we also stress how to carefully interpret the results and suggest alternative testing solutions.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000930734100001 Publication Date 2023-01-30
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1996-1944 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.4; 2023 IF: 2.654
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:193337 Serial 7284
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Morsdorf, L.; Kashiwar, A.; Kübel, C.; Tasan, C.C.
Title Carbon segregation and cementite precipitation at grain boundaries in quenched and tempered lath martensite Type A1 Journal article
Year 2023 Publication Materials science and engineering: part A: structural materials: properties, microstructure and processing Abbreviated Journal
Volume 862 Issue Pages 144369-21
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Abstract Tempering is widely applied to make carbon atoms beneficially rearrange in high strength steel microstructures after quenching; though the nano-scale interaction of carbon atoms with crystallographic defects is hard to experimentally observe. To improve, we investigate the redistribution of carbon atoms along martensite grain boundaries in a quenched and tempered low carbon steel. We observe the tempering-induced microstructural evolution by in-situ heating in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and by compositional analysis through atom probe tomography (APT). Probe volumes for APT originate from a single martensite packet but in different tempering conditions, which is achieved via a sequential lift-out with in-between tempering treatments. The complementary use of TEM and APT provides crystallographic as well as chemical information on carbon segregation and subsequent carbide precipitation at martensite grain boundaries. The results show that the amount of carbon segregation to martensite grain boundaries is influenced by the boundary type, e.g. low-angle lath or high-angle block boundaries. Also, the growth behavior of cementite precipitates from grain boundary nucleation sites into neighboring martensite grains differs at low- and high-angle grain boundaries. This is due to the crystallographic constraints arising from the semi-coherent orientation relationship between cementite and adjacent martensite. We also show that slower quenching stabilizes thin retained austenite films between martensite grains because of enhanced carbon segregation during cooling. Finally, we demonstrate the effect of carbon redistribution along martensite grain boundaries on the mechanical properties. Here, we compare micro-scale Vickers hardness results from boundary-containing probe volumes to nanoindentation results from pure bulk martensite (boundary-free) probe volumes.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000905165700001 Publication Date 2022-12-07
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0921-5093 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 6.4 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 6.4; 2023 IF: 3.094
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192279 Serial 7285
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Author McNaughton, B.; Pinto, N.; Perali, A.; Milošević, M.V.
Title Causes and consequences of ordering and dynamic phases of confined vortex rows in superconducting nanostripes Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Nanomaterials Abbreviated Journal Nanomaterials-Basel
Volume 12 Issue 22 Pages 4043-18
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)
Abstract Understanding the behaviour of vortices under nanoscale confinement in superconducting circuits is important for the development of superconducting electronics and quantum technologies. Using numerical simulations based on the Ginzburg-Landau theory for non-homogeneous superconductivity in the presence of magnetic fields, we detail how lateral confinement organises vortices in a long superconducting nanostripe, presenting a phase diagram of vortex configurations as a function of the stripe width and magnetic field. We discuss why the average vortex density is reduced and reveal that confinement influences vortex dynamics in the dissipative regime under sourced electrical current, mapping out transitions between asynchronous and synchronous vortex rows crossing the nanostripe as the current is varied. Synchronous crossings are of particular interest, since they cause single-mode modulations in the voltage drop along the stripe in a high (typically GHz to THz) frequency range.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000887683200001 Publication Date 2022-11-18
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2079-4991 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 5.3 Times cited 2 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 5.3
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192731 Serial 7286
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Author Bellizotti Souza, J.C.; Vizarim, N.P.; Reichhardt, C.J.O.; Reichhardt, C.; Venegas, P.A.
Title Clogging, diode and collective effects of skyrmions in funnel geometries Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication New journal of physics Abbreviated Journal New J Phys
Volume 24 Issue 10 Pages 103030-14
Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)
Abstract Using a particle-based model, we examine the collective dynamics of skyrmions interacting with a funnel potential under dc driving as the skyrmion density and relative strength of the Magnus and damping terms are varied. For driving in the easy direction, we find that increasing the skyrmion density reduces the average skyrmion velocity due to jamming of skyrmions near the funnel opening, while the Magnus force causes skyrmions to accumulate on one side of the funnel array. For driving in the hard direction, there is a critical skyrmion density below which the skyrmions become trapped. Above this critical value, a clogging effect appears with multiple depinning and repinning states where the skyrmions can rearrange into different clogged configurations, while at higher drives, the velocity-force curves become continuous. When skyrmions pile up near the funnel opening, the effective size of the opening is reduced and the passage of other skyrmions is blocked by the repulsive skyrmion-skyrmion interactions. We observe a strong diode effect in which the critical depinning force is higher and the velocity response is smaller for hard direction driving. As the ratio of Magnus force to dissipative term is varied, the skyrmion velocity varies in a non-linear and non-monotonic way due to the pile up of skyrmions on one side of the funnels. At high Magnus forces, the clogging effect for hard direction driving is diminished.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000873333400001 Publication Date 2022-10-04
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title (up)
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1367-2630 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.3 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.3
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:192178 Serial 7287
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