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Vagias A, Nelson A, Wang P, Reitenbach J, Geiger C, Kreuzer LP, Saerbeck T, Cubitt R, Benetti EM, Müller-Buschbaum P. The Topology of Polymer Brushes Determines Their Nanoscale Hydration. Macromol Rapid Commun 2023; 44:e2300035. [PMID: 36815590 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202300035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Time-of-flight neutron reflectometry (ToF-NR) performed under different relative humidity conditions demonstrates that polymer brushes constituted by hydrophilic, cyclic macromolecules exhibit a more compact conformation with lower roughness as compared to linear brush analogues, due to the absence of dangling chain ends extending at the polymer-vapor interface. In addition, cyclic brushes feature a larger swelling ratio and an increased solvent uptake with respect to their linear counterparts as a consequence of the increased interchain steric repulsions. It is proposed that differences in swelling ratios between linear and cyclic brushes come from differences in osmotic pressure experienced by each brush topology. These differences stem from entropic constraints. The findings suggest that to correlate the equilibrium swelling ratios at different relative humidity for different topologies a new form of the Flory-like expression for equilibrium thicknesses of grafted brushes is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apostolos Vagias
- Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Andrew Nelson
- ANSTO, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW, 2234, Australia
| | - Peixi Wang
- Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics, Chair for Functional Materials, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Julija Reitenbach
- Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics, Chair for Functional Materials, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Christina Geiger
- Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics, Chair for Functional Materials, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Lucas Philipp Kreuzer
- Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany.,Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics, Chair for Functional Materials, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Thomas Saerbeck
- Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, 38000, France
| | - Robert Cubitt
- Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, 38000, France
| | - Edmondo Maria Benetti
- Polymer Surfaces Group, Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, Padova, 35122, Italy.,Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, Zürich, 8093, Switzerland
| | - Peter Müller-Buschbaum
- Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany.,Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics, Chair for Functional Materials, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
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Li B, Abel SM. Membrane-mediated interactions between hinge-like particles. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:2742-2749. [PMID: 35311882 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00094f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Adsorption of nanoparticles on a membrane can give rise to interactions between particles, mediated by membrane deformations, that play an important role in self-assembly and membrane remodeling. Previous theoretical and experimental research has focused on nanoparticles with fixed shapes, such as spherical, rod-like, and curved nanoparticles. Recently, hinge-like DNA origami nanostructures have been designed with tunable mechanical properties. Inspired by this, we investigate the equilibrium properties of hinge-like particles adsorbed on an elastic membrane using Monte Carlo and umbrella sampling simulations. The configurations of an isolated particle are influenced by competition between bending energies of the membrane and the particle, which can be controlled by changing adsorption strength and hinge stiffness. When two adsorbed particles interact, they effectively repel one another when the strength of adhesion to the membrane is weak. However, a strong adhesive interaction induces an effective attraction between the particles, which drives their aggregation. The configurations of the aggregate can be tuned by adjusting the hinge stiffness: tip-to-tip aggregation occurs for flexible hinges, whereas tip-to-middle aggregation also occurs for stiffer hinges. Our results highlight the potential for using the mechanical features of deformable nanoparticles to influence their self-assembly when the particles and membrane mutually influence one another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Li
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Steven M Abel
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, USA.
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Ahmadian Dehaghani Z, Chubak I, Likos CN, Ejtehadi MR. Effects of topological constraints on linked ring polymers in solvents of varying quality. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:3029-3038. [PMID: 32129365 DOI: 10.1039/c9sm02374g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We investigate the effects of topological constraints in catenanes composed of interlinked ring polymers on their size in a good solvent as well as on the location of their θ-point when the solvent quality is worsened. We mainly focus on poly[n]catenanes consisting of n ring polymers each of length m interlocked in a linear fashion. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study the scaling of the poly[n]catenane's radius of gyration in a good solvent, assuming in general that Rg∼mμnν and we find that μ = 0.65 ± 0.02 and ν = 0.60 ± 0.01 for the range of n and m considered. These findings are further rationalized with the help of a mean-field Flory-like theory yielding the values of μ = 16/25 and ν = 3/5, consistent with the numerical results. We show that individual rings within catenanes feature a surplus swelling due to the presence of NL topological links. Furthermore, we consider poly[n]catenanes in solvents of varying quality and we demonstrate that the presence of topological links leads to an increase of its θ-temperature in comparison to isolated linear and ring chains with the following ordering: T > T > T. Finally, we show that the presence of links similarly raises the θ-temperature of a single linked ring in comparison to an unlinked one, bringing its θ-temperature close to the one of a poly[n]catenane.
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Gartner TE, Haque FM, Gomi AM, Grayson SM, Hore MJA, Jayaraman A. Scaling Exponent and Effective Interactions in Linear and Cyclic Polymer Solutions: Theory, Simulations, and Experiments. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b00600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Farihah M. Haque
- Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Aila M. Gomi
- Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
| | - Scott M. Grayson
- Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Michael J. A. Hore
- Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
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