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Gubała D, Slastanova A, Matthews L, Islas L, Wąsik P, Cacho-Nerin F, Ferreira Sanchez D, Robles E, Chen M, Briscoe WH. Effects of Erucamide on Fiber "Softness": Linking Single-Fiber Crystal Structure and Mechanical Properties. ACS NANO 2024. [PMID: 38334316 PMCID: PMC10883039 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c00114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Erucamide is known to play a critical role in modifying polymer fiber surface chemistry and morphology. However, its effects on fiber crystallinity and mechanical properties remain to be understood. Here, synchrotron nanofocused X-ray Diffraction (nXRD) revealed a bimodal orientation of the constituent polymer chains aligned along the fiber axis and cross-section, respectively. Erucamide promoted crystallinity in the fiber, leading to larger and more numerous lamellae crystallites. The nXRD nanostructual characterization is complemented by single-fiber uniaxial tensile tests, which showed that erucamide significantly affected fiber mechanical properties, decreasing fiber tensile strength and stiffness but enhancing fiber toughness, fracture strain, and ductility. To correlate these single-fiber nXRD and mechanical test results, we propose that erucamide mediated slip at the interfaces between crystallites and amorphous domains during stress-induced single-fiber crystallization, also decreasing the stress arising from the shear displacement of microfibrils and deformation of the macromolecular network. Linking the single-fiber crystal structure with the single-fiber mechanical properties, these findings provide the direct evidence on a single-fiber level for the role of erucamide in enhancing fiber "softness".
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Affiliation(s)
- Dajana Gubała
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
| | - Anna Slastanova
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
| | - Lauren Matthews
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
- Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL, U.K
| | - Luisa Islas
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
| | - Patryk Wąsik
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
- Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL, U.K
| | - Fernando Cacho-Nerin
- Diamond Light Source, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, U.K
| | | | - Eric Robles
- Procter & Gamble Newcastle Innovation Centre, Whitley Road, Longbenton, Newcastle NE12 9TS, U.K
| | - Meng Chen
- Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., 35 Yu'an Rd, Shunyi District, Beijing 101312, China
| | - Wuge H Briscoe
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
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Song X, Zhang Y, Tang Z, Du L. Advantages of nanocarriers for basic research in the field of traumatic brain injury. Neural Regen Res 2024; 19:237-245. [PMID: 37488872 PMCID: PMC10503611 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.379041] [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: 12/27/2022] [Revised: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023] Open
Abstract
A major challenge for the efficient treatment of traumatic brain injury is the need for therapeutic molecules to cross the blood-brain barrier to enter and accumulate in brain tissue. To overcome this problem, researchers have begun to focus on nanocarriers and other brain-targeting drug delivery systems. In this review, we summarize the epidemiology, basic pathophysiology, current clinical treatment, the establishment of models, and the evaluation indicators that are commonly used for traumatic brain injury. We also report the current status of traumatic brain injury when treated with nanocarriers such as liposomes and vesicles. Nanocarriers can overcome a variety of key biological barriers, improve drug bioavailability, increase intracellular penetration and retention time, achieve drug enrichment, control drug release, and achieve brain-targeting drug delivery. However, the application of nanocarriers remains in the basic research stage and has yet to be fully translated to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xingshuang Song
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Yizhi Zhang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Ziyan Tang
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Lina Du
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing, China
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Gubała D, Taylor N, Harniman R, Rawle J, Hussain H, Robles E, Chen M, Briscoe WH. Structure, Nanomechanical Properties, and Wettability of Organized Erucamide Layers on a Polypropylene Surface. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:6521-6532. [PMID: 34015220 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the nanostructure and nanomechanical properties of surface layers of erucamide, in particular the molecular orientation of the outermost layer, is important to its widespread use as a slip additive in polymer materials. Extending our recent observations of nanomorphologies of erucamide layers on a hydrophilic silica substrate, here we evaluate its nanostructure on a more hydrophobic polypropylene surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging revealed the molecular packing, thickness, and surface coverage of the erucamide layers, while peak force quantitative nanomechanical mapping (QNM) showed that erucamide reduced the adhesive response on polypropylene. Synchrotron X-ray reflectivity (XRR) was used to probe the out-of-plane structure of the surface layers. Static contact angle measurements further corroborated on the resulting wettability, also demonstrating the efficacy of erucamide physisorption in facilitating control over polypropylene surface wetting. The results show the formation of erucamide monolayers, bilayers and multilayers, depending on the concentration in the spin-cast solution. Correlation of AFM, XRR and wettability results consistently points to the molecular orientation in the outermost layer, i.e. with the erucamide tails pointing outward for the surface nanostructures with different morphologies (i.e., bilayers and multilayers). Rare occurrence of monolayers with exposed hydrophilic head groups were observed only at the lowest erucamide concentration. Compared with our previous observations on the hydrophilic surface, the erucamide surface coverage was much higher on the more hydrophobic propylene surface at similar erucamide concentrations in the spin-cast solution. Furthermore, the structure, molecular orientation and nanomechanical properties of the spin-cast erucamide multilayers atop polypropylene were also similar to those on industrially relevant polypropylene fibers coated with erucamide via blooming. These findings shed light on the nanostructural features of the erucamide surface layer underpinning its nanomechanical properties, relevant to many applications in which erucamide is commonly used as a slip additive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dajana Gubała
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas Taylor
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom
| | - Robert Harniman
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan Rawle
- Diamond Light Source, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - Hadeel Hussain
- Diamond Light Source, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - Eric Robles
- Household Care Analytical, Procter & Gamble Newcastle Innovation Centre, Whitley Road, Longbenton, Newcastle NE12 9TS, United Kingdom
| | - Meng Chen
- Procter & Gamble Beijing Innovation Centre, 35 Yu'an Rd, Shunyi District, Beijing 101312, China
| | - Wuge H Briscoe
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom
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Matthews L, Ruscigno S, Rogers SE, Bartlett P, Johnson AJ, Sochon R, Briscoe WH. Fracto-eutectogels: SDS fractal dendrites via counterion condensation in a deep eutectic solvent. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:11672-11683. [PMID: 33978002 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp01370j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Glyceline, a deep eutectic solvent comprising glycerol and choline chloride, is a green nonaqueous solvent with potential industrial applications. Molecular mechanisms of surfactant self-assembly in deep eutectic solvents are expected to differ from those in their constituent polar components and are not well understood. Here we report the observation of self-assembled SDS fractal dendrites with dimensions up to ∼mm in glyceline at SDS concentrations as low as cSDS ∼ 0.1 wt%. The prevalence of these dendritic fractal aggregates led to the formation of a gel phase at SDS concentrations above ≥1.9 wt% (the critical gelation concentration cCGC). The gel microscopic structure was visualised using polarised light microscopy (PLM); rheology measurements confirmed the formation of a colloidal gel, where the first normal stress difference was negative and the elastic modulus was dominant. Detailed nano-structural characterisation by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) further confirmed the presence of fractal aggregates. Such SDS aggregation or gelation has not been observed in water at such low surfactant concentrations, whereas SDS has been reported to form lamellar aggregates in glycerol (a component of glyceline). We attribute the formation of the SDS fractal dendrites to the condensation of counterions (i.e. the choline ions) around the SDS aggregates - a diffusion-controlled process, leading to the aggregate morphology observed. These unprecedented results shed light on the molecular mechanisms of surfactant self-assembly in deep eutectic solvents, important to their application in industrial formulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Matthews
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK. and Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
| | - Silvia Ruscigno
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.
| | - Sarah E Rogers
- ISIS Muon and Neutron Source, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK
| | - Paul Bartlett
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.
| | | | - Robert Sochon
- GlaxoSmithKline, St George's Avenue, Weybridge, KT13 0DE, UK
| | - Wuge H Briscoe
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.
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Heads or tails: Nanostructure and molecular orientations in organised erucamide surface layers. J Colloid Interface Sci 2021; 590:506-517. [PMID: 33567375 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.01.087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS Despite the widespread industrial usage of erucamide as a slip additive to modify polymer surface properties, a controversy appears to have persisted regarding the nanostructure of erucamide surface layers, particularly the molecular orientation at the outermost layer. The erucamide nanostructure and molecular orientation, along with its surface coverage, hydrophobicity, and adhesive response, can be tuned by simply varying the erucamide concentration in the solution from which the spin coated layer is prepared. EXPERIMENTS Synchrotron X-ray reflectivity (XRR) allowed a comprehensive characterisation of the out-of-plane structural parameters (e.g. molecular packing and thickness) of the erucamide layers prepared via spin coating from nonaqueous solution on silica. Complementary Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging with high lateral resolution revealed localised in-plane structures. Contact angle measurements provided information on the wettability of erucamide-coated surfaces. Peak Force Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping (QNM) allowed a correlation between the erucamide nanostructure with the surface nanomechanical properties (i.e. adhesive response). FINDINGS Our results reveal erucamide surface nanostructures on silica as patchy monolayers, isolated circular bilayers/rounded rectangle-like aggregates and overlapping plate-like multilayers as the erucamide concentration in the spin coating solution was varied. In all the cases, XRR and AFM results were consistent with the picture that the erucamide tails were oriented outwards. The QNM adhesion force mapping of all the observed morphologies also supported this molecular orientation at the outermost erucamide monolayer. The wettability study further confirmed this conclusion with the observed increase in the surface hydrophobicity and coverage upon increasing erucamide concentration, with the macroscopic water contact angle θ = 92.9° ± 2.9° at the highest erucamide concentration of 2 wt%.
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Smith AJ, Alcock SG, Davidson LS, Emmins JH, Hiller Bardsley JC, Holloway P, Malfois M, Marshall AR, Pizzey CL, Rogers SE, Shebanova O, Snow T, Sutter JP, Williams EP, Terrill NJ. I22: SAXS/WAXS beamline at Diamond Light Source - an overview of 10 years operation. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2021; 28:939-947. [PMID: 33950002 PMCID: PMC8127364 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577521002113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Beamline I22 at Diamond Light Source is dedicated to the study of soft-matter systems from both biological and materials science. The beamline can operate in the range 3.7 keV to 22 keV for transmission SAXS and 14 keV to 20 keV for microfocus SAXS with beam sizes of 240 µm × 60 µm [full width half-maximum (FWHM) horizontal (H) × vertical (V)] at the sample for the main beamline, and approximately 10 µm × 10 µm for the dedicated microfocusing platform. There is a versatile sample platform for accommodating a range of facilities and user-developed sample environments. The high brilliance of the insertion device source on I22 allows structural investigation of materials under extreme environments (for example, fluid flow at high pressures and temperatures). I22 provides reliable access to millisecond data acquisition timescales, essential to understanding kinetic processes such as protein folding or structural evolution in polymers and colloids.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. J. Smith
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - S. G. Alcock
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - L. S. Davidson
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - J. H. Emmins
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - J. C. Hiller Bardsley
- King’s College London, Guy’s Campus, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 1UL, United Kingdom
| | - P. Holloway
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - M. Malfois
- ALBA Synchrotron, Carrer de la Llum 2-26, 08290 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - A. R. Marshall
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - C. L. Pizzey
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - S. E. Rogers
- ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - O. Shebanova
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - T. Snow
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - J. P. Sutter
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - E. P. Williams
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
| | - N. J. Terrill
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
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Interactions between PAMAM dendrimers and DOPC lipid multilayers: Membrane thinning and structural disorder. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2020; 1865:129542. [PMID: 31987955 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2020.129542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Revised: 01/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding the structure of hybrid nanoparticle-lipid multilayers is of fundamental importance to their bioanalytical applications and nanotoxicity, where nanoparticle-membrane interactions play an important role. Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers are branched polymeric nanoparticles with potential biomedical applications due to precise tunability of their physicochemical properties. Here, the effect of PAMAM dendrimers (2.9-4.5 nm) with either a hydrophilic amine (NH2) or a hydrophobic C12 chain surface termination on the 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) multilayers has been studied for the first time. METHODS DOPC multilayers were created by the liposome-rupture method via drop-casting dendrimer-liposome dispersions with the dendrimers added at different concentrations and at three different stages. The multilayer structure was evaluated via the analysis of the synchrotron X-ray reflectivity (XRR) curves, obtaining the bilayer d-spacing, the coherence length from the Scherrer (Ls) analysis of the Bragg peaks, and the paracrystalline disorder parameter (g). RESULTS Dendrimer addition led to lipid bilayer thinning and more disordered multilayer structures. Larger hydrophobic dendrimers caused greater structural disruption to the multilayers compared to the smaller dendrimers. The smallest, positively charged dendrimers at their highest concentration caused the most pronounced bilayer thinning. The dendrimer-liposome mixing method also affected the multilayer structure due to different dendrimer aggregation involved. CONCLUSIONS These results show the complexity of the effect of dendrimer physicochemical properties and the addition method of dendrimers on the structure of mixed dendrimer-DOPC multilayers. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE These insights are useful for fundamental understanding of nanotoxicity and future biomedical application of nanocomposite multilayer materials in which nanoparticles are added for enhanced properties and functionality.
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