Šindelka K, Limpouchová Z, Procházka K. Computer study of the solubilization of polymer chains in polyelectrolyte complex cores of polymeric nanoparticles in aqueous media.
Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018;
20:29876-29888. [PMID:
30468444 DOI:
10.1039/c8cp05907a]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The formation and structure of nanoparticles containing non-polar polymer chains solubilized in interpolyelectrolyte complex (IPC) cores and the partitioning of non-polar chains between bulk solvent and IPC cores were studied by coarse-grained computer simulations. The choice of the model system was inspired by experimental results published by van der Burgh et al. (Langmuir, 2004, 20, 1073-1084). The dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations reproduced the structure and basic features of co-assembled nanoparticles described by experimentalists well at the semi-quantitative coarse-grained level and revealed new properties of co-assembled particles. The simulated co-assemblies were used as reference systems for the solubilization studies. Their results show that non-polar polymers (electrically neutral and compatible with core-forming chains) solubilize easily in IPC cores. They intermix with polyelectrolyte blocks in cores and do not hinder, but, on the contrary, they slightly promote the electrostatic co-assembly.
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