Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Atomically Defined Templates for Epitaxial Growth of Complex Oxide Thin Films
Published on: December 4, 2014
Epitaxial Crystallization of Insulin on an Ordered 2D Polymer Template
Wester de Poel1, Johannes A A W Elemans1, Willem J P van Enckevort1
1Solid State Chemistry, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, Nijmegen, 6525AJ, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Two-dimensional polymers (2DP) are a new class of materials that consist of a monolayer of ordered molecular building blocks, which have been covalently linked. One of these monomers was self-assembled on a flat muscovite mica scaffold and subsequently the organic layer was polymerized. The resulting flat and stable 2DP layer was used as a template for protein crystallization. Crystals of insulin were epitaxially grown on the template, whereas insulin crystals grown on clean muscovite mica had a random orientation. The template was selective, considering that no epitaxially ordered crystals formed of hen egg white lysozyme, bovine serum albumin, or talin.
More Related Videos
08:21Sample Preparation in Quartz Crystal Microbalance Measurements of Protein Adsorption and Polymer Mechanics
Published on: January 22, 2020
08:50Preparation of Large-area Vertical 2D Crystal Hetero-structures Through the Sulfurization of Transition Metal Films for Device Fabrication
Published on: November 28, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Polymers
Polymers
DNA as a Genetic Template
DNA as a Genetic Template
Ionic Crystal Structures
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
Crystal Growth: Principles of Crystallization
Initiating crystallization involves manipulating the concentration of the solute and the temperature of the solution. Since crystal growth occurs when the ratio of concentration and solubility of the solute in the solvent...