Transfer Free Energies and Partitioning of Small Molecules in Collapsed PNIPAM Polymers

Product from sessile droplet evaporation of PNIPAM/water system above LCST: A block or micro/nano-particles?

PNIPAM as a stimuli-responsive polymer has generated extreme interests due to its versatile applications. However, there is no research report on whether PNIPAM micro/nano-particles can be extracted from its suspension after phase separation. In the present work, LCST-type phase separation in self-synthesized PNIPAM/water system was investigated in depth by dividing the DLS testing process into four stages. In addition to quenching duration, temperature rise process, quenching temperature and PNIPAM concentration all have a great influence on particle size of the suspension. Meanwhile, the steady-state rheology and dynamic viscoelasticity results show that PNIPAM micro/nano-particles in the suspension are "soft" that can deform. Finally, FE-SEM was used to observe the morphology of dehydrated PNIPAM extracted by sessile droplet evaporation under different conditions. The results indicate that these "soft" particles are easier to fuse together, do not have sufficient mechanical strength to maintain their spherical morphology after dehydration. But the above fusion can be suppressed by adjusting evaporation conditions to acquire smaller PNIPAM particles which have sufficient mechanical properties to keep their basic particle morphology. Further, by changing evaporation pressure to positive or negative pressure, dehydrated PNIPAM micro/nano-particles with excellent uniformity and separation can be obtained. This work will provide guidance for extracting micro/nano-particles from polymer/diluent systems with LCST.

Phenol release from pNIPAM hydrogels: scaling molecular dynamics simulations with dynamical density functional theory

We employed molecular dynamic simulations (MD) and the Bennett's acceptance ratio method to compute the free energy of transfer, ΔG_trans, of phenol, methane, and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), between bulk water and water-pNIPAM mixtures of different polymer volume fractions, ϕ_p. For this purpose, we first calculate the solvation free energies in both media to obtain ΔG_trans. Phenol and 5-FU (a medication used to treat cancer) attach to the pNIPAM surface so that they show negative values of ΔG_trans irrespective of temperature (above or below the lower critical solution temperature of pNIPAM, T_c). Conversely, methane switches the ΔG_trans sign when considering temperatures below (positive) and above (negative) T_c. In all cases, and contrasting with some theoretical predictions, ΔG_trans maintains a linear behavior with the pNIPAM concentration up to large polymer densities. We have also employed MD to compute the diffusion coefficient, D, of phenol in water-pNIPAM mixtures as a function of ϕ_p in the diluted limit. Both ΔG_trans and D as a function of ϕ_p are required inputs to obtain the release halftime of hollow pNIPAM microgels through Dynamic Density Functional Theory (DDFT). Our scaling strategy captures the experimental value of 2200 s for 50 μm radius microgels with no cavity, for ϕ_p ≃ 0.83 at 315 K.

How the Shape and Chemistry of Molecular Penetrants Control Responsive Hydrogel Permeability

The permeability of hydrogels for the selective transport of molecular penetrants (drugs, toxins, reactants, etc.) is a central property in the design of soft functional materials, for instance in biomedical, pharmaceutical, and nanocatalysis applications. However, the permeation of dense and hydrated polymer membranes is a complex multifaceted molecular-level phenomenon, and our understanding of the underlying physicochemical principles is still very limited. Here, we uncover the molecular principles of permeability and selectivity in hydrogel permeation. We combine the solution-diffusion model for permeability with comprehensive atomistic simulations of molecules of various shapes and polarities in a responsive hydrogel in different hydration states. We find in particular that dense collapsed states are extremely selective, owing to a delicate balance between the partitioning and diffusivity of the penetrants. These properties are sensitively tuned by the penetrant size, shape, and chemistry, leading to vast cancellation effects, which nontrivially contribute to the permeability. The gained insights enable us to formulate semiempirical rules to quantify and extrapolate the permeability categorized by classes of molecules. They can be used as approximate guiding ("rule-of-thumb") principles to optimize penetrant or membrane physicochemical properties for a desired permeability and membrane functionality.

Scaling Laws in the Diffusive Release of Neutral Cargo from Hollow Hydrogel Nanoparticles: Paclitaxel-Loaded Poly(4-vinylpyridine)

We study the nonequilibrium diffusive release of electroneutral molecular cargo encapsulated inside hollow hydrogel nanoparticles. We propose a theoretical model that includes osmotic, steric, and short-range polymer-cargo attractions to determine the effective cargo-hydrogel interaction, u_eff*, and the effective diffusion coefficient of the cargo inside the polymer network, D_eff*. Using dynamical density functional theory (DDFT), we investigate the scaling of the characteristic release time, τ_1/2, with the key parameters involved in the process, namely, u_eff*, D_eff*, and the swelling ratio. This effort represents a full study of the problem, covering a broad range of cargo sizes and providing predictions for repulsive and attractive polymer shells. Our calculations show that the release time through repulsive polymer networks scales with q²e^βu_eff*/D_eff* for βu_eff* ≫ 1. In this case, the cargo molecules are excluded from the shell of the hydrogel. For attractive shells, the polymer retains the cargo molecules on its internal surface and its interior, and the release time grows exponentially with the attraction strength. The DDFT calculations are compared to an analytical model for the mean first passage time, which provides an excellent quantitative description of the kinetics for both repulsive and attractive shells without fitting parameters. Finally, we apply the method to reproduce experimental results on the release of paclitaxel from hollow poly(4-vinylpyridine) nanoparticles and find that the slow release of the drug can be explained in terms of the strong binding attraction between the drug and the polymer.

Designing Solute-Tailored Selectivity in Membranes: Perspectives for Water Reuse and Resource Recovery

Treatment of nontraditional source waters (e.g., produced water, municipal and industrial wastewaters, agricultural runoff) offers exciting opportunities to expand water and energy resources via water reuse and resource recovery. While conventional polymer membranes perform water/ion separations well, they do not provide solute-specific separation, a key component for these treatment opportunities. Herein, we discuss the selectivity limitations plaguing all conventional membranes, which include poor removal of small, neutral solutes and insufficient discrimination between ions of the same valence. Moreover, we present synthetic approaches for solute-tailored selectivity including the incorporation of single-digit nanopores and solute-selective ligands into membranes. Recent progress in these areas highlights the need for fundamental studies to rationally design membranes with selective moieties achieving desired separations.

Thermo-responsive adsorption-desorption of perfluoroorganics from water using PNIPAm hydrogels and pore functionalized membranes

Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are emerging contaminants in various water sources. Responsive polymers provide a new avenue for PFC adsorption/desorption from water. Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide's (PNIPAm's) temperature-responsive behavior and hydrophilic/hydrophobic transition is leveraged for reversible adsorption and desorption of PFCs. Adsorption of PFOA (perfluoro-octanoic acid) onto PNIPAm hydrogels yielded Freundlich distribution coefficients (K_d) of 0.073 L/g at 35 °C (above LCST) and 0.026 L/g at 22°C. Kinetic studies yielded second order rate constants (k₂) of 0.012 g/mg/h for adsorption and 12.6 g/mg/h for desorption, with initial rates of 28 mg/g/h and 41 mg/g/h, respectively. Interaction parameters of PNIPAm's functional groups in its different conformational states, as well as the hydrophobic fluorinated carbon tails and hydrophilic head groups of PFOA are used to describe relative adsorption. Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) provides a robust membrane structure for the commercial viability of polymeric adsorbents. Temperature swing adsorption of PFOA using PNIPAm functionalized PVDF membrane pores showed consistent adsorption and desorption capacity over 5 cycles. PFOA desorption percentage of 60% was obtained in pure water at temperatures below PNIPAm's lower critical solution temperature (LCST) while 13% desorption was obtained at temperatures above the LCST, thus showing the importance of the LCST on desorption performance.

Aqueous Nanoclusters Govern Ion Partitioning in Dense Polymer Membranes

The uptake and sorption of charged molecules by responsive polymer membranes and hydrogels in aqueous solutions is of key importance for the development of soft functional materials. Here, we investigate the partitioning of simple monatomic (Na⁺, K⁺, Cs⁺, Cl^-, I^-) and one molecular ion (4-nitrophenolate; NP^-) within a dense, electroneutral poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) membrane using explicit-water molecular dynamics simulations. Inside the predominantly hydrophobic environment, water distributes in a network of polydisperse water nanoclusters. The average cluster size determines the mean electrostatic self-energy of the simple ions, which preferably reside deeply inside them; we therefore find substantially larger partition ratios K ≃10^-1 than expected from a simple Born picture using a uniform dielectric constant. Despite their irregular shapes, we observe that the water clusters possess a universal negative electrostatic potential with respect to their surroundings, as is known for aqueous liquid-vapor interfaces. This potential, which we find concealed in cases of symmetric monatomic salts, can dramatically impact the transfer free energies of larger charged molecules because of their weak hydration and increased affinity to interfaces. Consequently, and in stark contrast to the simple ions, the molecular ion NP^- can have a partition ratio much larger than unity, K ≃10-30 (depending on the cation type) or even 10³ in excess of monovalent salt, which explains recent observations of enhanced reaction kinetics of NP^- reduction catalyzed within dense polymer networks. These results also suggest that ionizing a molecule can even enhance the partitioning in a collapsed, rather hydrophobic gel, which strongly challenges the traditional simplistic reasoning.

Cross-linker effect on solute adsorption in swollen thermoresponsive polymer networks

Molecular dynamics study on the solute adsorption to thermoresponsive polymers estimating the cross-link impact on particle partitioning in swollen hydrogels.

P-NIPAM in water–acetone mixtures: experiments and simulations

The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (p-NIPAM) diminishes when a small volume of acetone is added to the aqueous polymer solution, and then increases for further additions, producing a minimum at a certain acetone concentration.