On 2014 Nov 17, Raphael Levy commented:

Jackson et al 2004 Jackson AM, 2004 observed that the same particles (MPA/OT) "avoid non-specific adsorption of proteins [...] because of the unique subnanometre-ordered repetition of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions on the particles' ligand shell." No data were shown, but this scheme was provided: http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v3/n5/fig_tab/nmat1116_F5.html

It would be nice if the apparent discrepancy between Jackson et al and Huang et al were discussed?

More broadly, the article belongs to the “stripy nanoparticles” series. The evidence behind the structure and special properties of these nanoparticles has been challenged by Cesbron Y, 2012. The publication in 2012 of Cesbron Y, 2012 took three years and has been followed by post-publication peer review of the various existing and new stripy articles on my blog, PubPeer, etc.

A detailed analysis of this body of work is published today in PloS One by Stirling et al; from the abstract: “through a combination of an exhaustive re-analysis of the original data with new experimental measurements of a simple control sample comprising entirely unfunctionalised particles, we conclusively show that all of the STM evidence for striped nanoparticles published to date can instead be explained by a combination of well-known instrumental artefacts, strong observer bias, and/or improper data acquisition/analysis protocols.”

On 2014 Nov 17, Raphael Levy commented:

Jackson et al 2004 Jackson AM, 2004 observed that the same particles (MPA/OT) "avoid non-specific adsorption of proteins [...] because of the unique subnanometre-ordered repetition of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions on the particles' ligand shell." No data were shown, but this scheme was provided: http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v3/n5/fig_tab/nmat1116_F5.html

It would be nice if the apparent discrepancy between Jackson et al and Huang et al were discussed?

More broadly, the article belongs to the “stripy nanoparticles” series. The evidence behind the structure and special properties of these nanoparticles has been challenged by Cesbron Y, 2012. The publication in 2012 of Cesbron Y, 2012 took three years and has been followed by post-publication peer review of the various existing and new stripy articles on my blog, PubPeer, etc.

A detailed analysis of this body of work is published today in PloS One by Stirling et al; from the abstract: “through a combination of an exhaustive re-analysis of the original data with new experimental measurements of a simple control sample comprising entirely unfunctionalised particles, we conclusively show that all of the STM evidence for striped nanoparticles published to date can instead be explained by a combination of well-known instrumental artefacts, strong observer bias, and/or improper data acquisition/analysis protocols.”