Bottom-Up Approach to Assess the Molecular Structure of Aqueous Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) at Room Temperature via Infrared Spectroscopy

Vibrational frequency fluctuations of poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide) in the vicinity of coil-to-globule transition studied by two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations

Poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide) (PdEA), one of the thermoresponsive polymers, in aqueous solutions has attracted much attention because of its characteristic properties, such as coil-to-globule (CG) transition. We performed two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to understand the hydration dynamics in the vicinity of the CG transition at the molecular level via vibrational frequency fluctuations of the carbonyl stretching modes in the side chains of PdEA. Furthermore, N,N-diethylpropionamide, a repeating monomer unit of PdEA, is also investigated for comparison. From decays of the frequency-frequency time correlation functions (FFTCFs) of the carbonyl stretching modes, we consider that inhomogeneity of the hydration environments originates from various backbone configurations of PdEA. The degree of the inhomogeneity depends on temperature. Hydration water molecules near the carbonyl groups are influenced by the confinements of the polymers. The restricted reorientation of the embedded water, the local torsions of the backbone, and the rearrangement of the whole structure contribute to the slow spectral diffusion. By performing MD simulations, we calculated the FFTCFs and dynamical quantities, such as fluctuations of the dihedral angles of the backbone and the orientation of the hydration water molecules. The simulated FFTCFs match well with the experimental results, indicating that the retarded water reorientations via the excluded volume effect play an important role in the vibrational frequency fluctuations of the carbonyl stretching mode. It is also found the embedded water molecules are influenced by the local torsions of the backbone structure within the time scales of the spectral diffusion.

Rationally designed chitosan-interpenetrated cryobeads functionalized with polyacrylamide chains: Comparative analysis by Hertzian model and rubber elasticity

Optimization of the synthesis of polymer microspheres and millimeter-sized gel beads has gained importance due to efficiency and design advantages in applications. A systematic study is presented to allow for a molecular-based understanding of elasticity of crosslinked-chitosan (CS) beads. Unique results were obtained examining the effect of polymerization temperature and gel-preparation form on physico-mechanical properties of CS-incorporated poly (N-isopropylacrylamide‑sodium acrylate)/polyacrylamide, PNIPA/PAAm-CS, beads. ATR-FTIR, and thermogravimetric analysis results confirmed the successful preparation and enhanced thermal stability of CS-based gel beads in the form of semi-IPN. The structural changes of semi-IPN gels were studied based on powder X-ray diffraction analysis. After being incorporated with CS, the cryopolymerization was carried out under cryo-conditions, and PNIPA/PAAm structure became much more resistant to mechanical load. Addition of CS to semi-IPN structure caused a 2-fold increase in compressive elastic modulus, while the gel preparation under cryoconditions also improved the mechanical properties considerably by lowering the polymerization temperature. The scaling parameter calculations estimated by Hertz model for PNIPA/PAAm-CS semi-IPN cryobeads are related to displacement of compression force with an exponent of 1.63 ± 0.19. As cryobead diameter increased, swelling degree tendency increased, while a decrease in modulus was observed with increasing swelling. The presence of CS in semi-IPNs improved pH-response in an acidic environment, but stiffness of CS reduced the shrinkage ability of cryobeads upon increasing swelling temperature. Based on the interaction between semi-IPN structure and salt solutions, an improvement in elastic modulus was observed in various ammonium salts and sodium tripolyphosphate solution. On-off switching of cryobeads was a reversible process that was consistent with changes in ammonium salt concentration. Qualitative comparisons with experimental results showed that the prepared cryobeads can be designed as drug release carriers by ionic strength-switching modulation.

Effect of the N-Alkyl Side Chain on the Amide-Water Interactions

Amide-water interactions influence the structure and functions of amide-based systems, such as proteins and homopolymers. In particular, the N-alkylation of the amide unit appears to play a critical role in defining the interactions of the amide group. Previous studies have linked the thermal behavior of amide-based polymers to the nature of their N-alkyl side chain. However, the connection between the chemical structure of the N-alkyl and the hydration of the amide remains elusive. In this study, the solvation structure and dynamics of amides, having differing N-alkyl groups, are investigated using a combination of linear and nonlinear infrared spectroscopies and computational methods. Interestingly, the dynamics of the amide local environment do not slow down as the N-alkyl side chain becomes bulkier, but rather speeds up. Computational calculations confirm the hydration dynamics and assign the effect to smaller amplitude and faster rotations of the bulkier group. It is also observed experimentally that the hydrogen-bond making and breaking between water and the amide carbonyl do not directly relate to the size of the N-alkyl side chain. The bulkier N-isopropyl substituent presents significantly slower chemical exchange dynamics than smaller chains (ethyl and methyl), but the two small groups do not present a major difference. The hydrogen-bond making and breaking disparities and similarities among groups are well modeled by the theory demonstrating that the N-alkyl group affects the amide hydration structure and dynamics via a steric effect. In summary, the results presented here show that the size of the N-substituted alkyl group significantly influences the hydration dynamics of amides and stress the importance of considering this effect on much larger systems, such as polymers.

Dual-Responsive Polypropylene Meshes Actuating as Thermal and SERS Sensors

Polypropylene (PP) surgical meshes, with different knitted architectures, were chemically functionalized with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and 4-mercaptothiazole (4-MB) to transform their fibers into a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detectable plastic material. The application of a thin layer of poly[N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N,N'-methylene bis(acrylamide)] (PNIPAAm-co-MBA) graft copolymer, covalently polymerized to the mesh-gold substrate, caused the conversion of the inert plastic into a thermoresponsive material, resulting in the first PP implantable mesh with both SERS and temperature stimulus responses. AuNPs were homogeneously distributed over the PP yarns, offering a clear SERS recognition together with higher PNIPAAm lower critical solution temperature (LCST ∼ 37 °C) than without the metallic particles (LCST ∼ 32 °C). An infrared thermographic camera was used to observe the polymer-hydrogel folding-unfolding process and to identify the new value of the LCST, connected with the heat generation by plasmonic-resonance gold NPs. The development of SERS PP prosthesis will be relevant for the bioimaging and biomarker detection of the implant by using the plasmonic effect and Raman vibrational spectroscopy for minimally invasive interventions (such as laparoscopy), to prevent patient inflammatory processes. Furthermore, Raman sources have been proved to not damage the cells, like happens with near-infrared irradiation, representing another advantage of moving to SERS approaches. The findings reported here offer unprecedented application possibilities in the biomedical field by extrapolating the material functionalization to other nonabsorbable polymer made devices (e.g., surgical sutures, grapes, wound dressings, among others).

Monitoring early-stage β-amyloid dimer aggregation by histidine site-specific two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy in a simulation study

Monitoring early-stage β-amyloid (Aβ) dimerization is a formidable challenge for understanding neurological diseases. We compared β-sheet formation and histidine site-specific two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopic signatures of Aβ dimers with different histidine states (δ; N^δ1-H, ε; N^ε2-H, or π; both protonated). Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that β-sheet formation is favored for the δδδ:δδδ and πππ:πππ tautomeric isomers showing strong couplings and frequent contacts between the central hydrophobic core and C-terminus compared with the εεε:εεε isomer. Characteristic blue-shifts in the 2D IR central bands were observed upon monomer-dimer transformation. The εεε:εεε dimer exhibited larger frequency shifts than δδδ:δδδ and πππ:πππ implying that the red-shift may have a correlation with N^δ1-H(δ) protonation. Our results support the tautomerization/protonation hypothesis that attributes Aβ misfolding to histidine tautomers as a possible primary initiator for Aβ aggregation and facilitates the application of histidine site-specific 2D IR spectroscopy for studying early-stage Aβ self-assembly.

Tunable Anion Exchange Membrane Conductivity and Permselectivity via Non-Covalent, Hydrogen Bond Cross-Linking

Ion exchange membranes (IEMs) are a key component of electrochemical processes that purify water, generate clean energy, and treat waste. Most conventional polymer IEMs are covalently cross-linked, which results in a challenging tradeoff relationship between two desirable properties─high permselectivity and high conductivity─in which one property cannot be changed without negatively affecting the other. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, in this work we synthesized a series of anion exchange membranes containing non-covalent cross-links formed by a hydrogen bond donor (methacrylic acid) and a hydrogen bond acceptor (dimethylacrylamide). We show that these monomers act synergistically to improve both membrane permselectivity and conductivity relative to a control membrane without non-covalent cross-links. Furthermore, we show that the hydrogen bond donor and acceptor loading can be used to tune permselectivity and conductivity relatively independently of one another, escaping the tradeoff observed in conventional membranes.

Implementation of the Freely Jointed Chain Model to Assess Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Thermosensitive Coil-Globule Transition by Markov States

We revived and implemented a method developed by Kuhn in 1934, originally only published in German, that is, the so-called “freely jointed chain” model. This approach turned out to be surprisingly useful for analyzing state-of-the-art computer simulations of the thermosensitive coil–globule transition of N-Isopropylacrylamide 20-mer. Our atomistic computer simulations are orders of magnitude longer than those of previous studies and lead to a reliable description of thermodynamics and kinetics at many different temperatures. The freely jointed chain model provides a coordinate system, which allows us to construct a Markov state model of the conformational transitions. Furthermore, this guarantees a reliable reconstruction of the kinetics in back-and-forth directions. In addition, we obtain a description of the high diversity and variability of both conformational states. Thus, we gain a detailed understanding of the coil–globule transition. Surprisingly, conformational entropy turns out to play only a minor role in the thermodynamic balance of the process. Moreover, we show that the radius of gyration is an unexpectedly unsuitable coordinate to comprehend the transition kinetics because it does not capture the high conformational diversity within the different states. Consequently, the approach presented here allows for an exhaustive description and resolution of the conformational ensembles of arbitrary linear polymer chains.