1
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Linn JD, Rodriguez FA, Calabrese MA. Cosolvent incorporation modulates the thermal and structural response of PNIPAM/silyl methacrylate copolymers. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:3322-3336. [PMID: 38536224 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00246f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/18/2024]
Abstract
Polymers functionalized with inorganic silane groups have been used in wide-ranging applications due to the silane reactivity, which enables formation of covalently-crosslinked polymeric structures. Utilizing stimuli-responsive polymers in these hybrid systems can lead to smart and tunable behavior for sensing, drug delivery, and optical coatings. Previously, the thermoresponsive polymer poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) functionalized with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMA) demonstrated unique aqueous self-assembly and optical responses following temperature elevation. Here, we investigate how cosolvent addition, particularly ethanol and N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF), impacts these transition temperatures, optical clouding, and structure formation in NIPAM/TMA copolymers. Versus purely aqueous systems, these solvent mixtures can introduce additional phase transitions and can alter the two-phase region boundaries based on temperature and solvent composition. Interestingly, TMA incorporation strongly alters phase boundaries in the water-rich regime for DMF-containing systems but not for ethanol-containing systems. Cosolvent species and content also alter the aggregation and assembly of NIPAM/TMA copolymers, but these effects depend on polymer architecture. For example, localizing the TMA towards one chain end in 'blocky' domains leads to formation of uniform micelles with narrow dispersities above the cloud point for certain solvent compositions. In contrast, polydisperse aggregates form in random copolymer and PNIPAM homopolymer solutions - the size of which depends on solvent composition. The resulting optical responses and thermoreversibility also depend strongly on cosolvent content and copolymer architecture. Cosolvent incorporation thus increases the versatility of inorganic-functionalized responsive polymers for diverse applications by providing a simple way to tune the structure size and optical response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason D Linn
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
| | - Fabian A Rodriguez
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA
| | - Michelle A Calabrese
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
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2
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Luo Z, Shu Z, Jiang Y, Wang B. Effect of Cosolvent on the Vesicle Formation Pathways under Solvent Exchange Process: A Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation. Molecules 2023; 28:5113. [PMID: 37446777 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28135113] [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: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The effective control over the vesicle formation pathways is vital for tuning its function. Recently, a liquid-liquid phase-separated intermediate (LLPS) is observed before a vesicular structure during the solvent exchange self-assembly of block copolymers. Though the understanding of polymer structures and chemical compositions on the competition between LLPS and micellization has made some progress, little is known about the role of cosolvent on it. In this study, the influence of cosolvent on the vesicle formation pathways is investigated by using dissipative particle dynamics. The results show that the range of water fraction within which the LLPS is favored will be highly dependent on the affinity difference of cosolvent to water and to polymer repeat units. The change of the cosolvent-water interaction and the water fraction impact the distribution of cosolvent in the polymer domain, the miscibility between the components in the system as well as the chain conformations, which finally induce different self-assembly behaviors. Our findings would be helpful for understanding the LLPS and controlling the morphologies of diblock polymers in solutions for further applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhonglin Luo
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovolatic Science and Engineering, National Experimental Demonstration Center for Materials Science and Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
| | - Zhou Shu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovolatic Science and Engineering, National Experimental Demonstration Center for Materials Science and Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovolatic Science and Engineering, National Experimental Demonstration Center for Materials Science and Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
| | - Biaobing Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovolatic Science and Engineering, National Experimental Demonstration Center for Materials Science and Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
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3
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Zhang P, Wang Z, Wang ZG. Conformation Transition of a Homopolymer Chain in Binary Mixed Solvents. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, College of Material Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Zheng Wang
- School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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4
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Liu B, Yan X, Zhao Z, Wang J, Feng J. Distinctly different solvation behaviors of poly( N, N-diethylacrylamide) gels in water/acetone and water/DMSO mixtures. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:23893-23902. [PMID: 36165400 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp02144g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The solvation behaviors and intermolecular interactions of a poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide) (PDEA) gel network in water/DMSO and water/acetone mixtures have been investigated by variable-temperature high-resolution 1H MAS NMR. Unlike decreasing volume phase transition temperature (VPTT) of the typical thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) gel induced by both acetone and DMSO in a water-rich region, distinct phase transition behaviors are revealed for the PDEA gel. That is, acetone is found to increase the VPTT of PDEA directly in the water-rich region while DMSO is also found to increase the VPTT of PDEA at a very low concentration but then decrease the VPTT as the concentration further increases. The above distinctly different VPTT shifts of PDEA are attributed to the different polymer-cosolvent interactions in water/acetone and water/DMSO systems. DMSO molecules with a strong water affinity are preferentially excluded by the PDEA gel network, and can promote the volume phase transition by favoring the collapse of the PDEA gel network, while acetone molecules preferentially adsorbed on the polymer interact with PDEA via non-specific van der Waals interaction, which favors the swollen state of the PDEA gel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biaolan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic Molecular Physics, Wuhan Center for Magnetic Resonance, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
| | - Xiaoshuang Yan
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
| | - Zhihui Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic Molecular Physics, Wuhan Center for Magnetic Resonance, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China. .,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
| | - Jian Wang
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
| | - Jiwen Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic Molecular Physics, Wuhan Center for Magnetic Resonance, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
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5
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Equilibrium Swelling of Thermo-Responsive Gels in Mixtures of Solvents. CHEMISTRY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/chemistry4030049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Thermo-responsive (TR) gels of the LCST (lower critical solution temperature) type swell in water at temperatures below their volume phase transition temperature Tc and collapse above the critical temperature. When water is partially replaced with an organic liquid, these materials demonstrate three different types of equilibrium solvent uptake diagrams at temperatures below, above, in the close vicinity of Tc. A model is developed for equilibrium swelling of TR gels in binary mixtures of solvents. It takes into account three types of phase transitions in TR gels driven by (i) aggregation of hydrophobic side groups into clusters from which solvent molecules are expelled, (ii) replacement of water with cosolvent molecules in cage-like structures surrounding these groups, and (iii) replacement of water with cosolvent as the main element of hydration shells around backbone chains. The model involves a relatively small number of material constants that are found by matching observations on covalently cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) macroscopic gels and microgels. Good agreement is demonstrated between the experimental data and results of numerical analysis. Classification is provided of the phase transition points on equilibrium swelling diagrams.
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6
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Co-solvent and temperature effect on conformation and hydration of polypropylene and polyethylene oxides in aqueous solutions. J Mol Liq 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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7
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Buglakov AI, Vasilevskaya VV. Fibrillar gel self-assembly via cononsolvency of amphiphilic polymer. J Colloid Interface Sci 2022; 614:181-193. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.01.095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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8
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Bharadwaj S, Niebuur BJ, Nothdurft K, Richtering W, van der Vegt NFA, Papadakis CM. Cononsolvency of thermoresponsive polymers: where we are now and where we are going. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:2884-2909. [PMID: 35311857 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00146b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Cononsolvency is an intriguing phenomenon where a polymer collapses in a mixture of good solvents. This cosolvent-induced modulation of the polymer solubility has been observed in solutions of several polymers and biomacromolecules, and finds application in areas such as hydrogel actuators, drug delivery, compound detection and catalysis. In the past decade, there has been a renewed interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms which drive cononsolvency with a predominant emphasis on its connection to the preferential adsorption of the cosolvent. Significant efforts have also been made to understand cononsolvency in complex systems such as micelles, block copolymers and thin films. In this review, we will discuss some of the recent developments from the experimental, simulation and theoretical fronts, and provide an outlook on the problems and challenges which are yet to be addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swaminath Bharadwaj
- Technical University of Darmstadt, Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Computational Physical Chemistry Group, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
| | - Bart-Jan Niebuur
- Technical University of Munich, Physics Department, Soft Matter Physics Group, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Katja Nothdurft
- RWTH Aachen University, Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Landoltweg 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany, European Union
| | - Walter Richtering
- RWTH Aachen University, Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Landoltweg 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany, European Union
| | - Nico F A van der Vegt
- Technical University of Darmstadt, Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Computational Physical Chemistry Group, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
| | - Christine M Papadakis
- Technical University of Munich, Physics Department, Soft Matter Physics Group, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
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9
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Li S, Cui R, Yu C, Zhou Y. Coarse-Grained Model of Thiol-Epoxy-Based Alternating Copolymers in Explicit Solvents. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:1830-1841. [PMID: 35179028 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c09406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The cosolvent method has been widely used in the self-assembly of amphiphilic alternating copolymers (ACPs), but the role of good and selective solvents is rarely investigated. Here, we have developed a coarse-grained (CG) model for the widely studied thiol-epoxy-based amphiphilic ACPs and a three-bead CG model for tetrahydrofuran (THF) as the good solvent, which is compatible with the MARTINI water model. The accuracy of both the CG polymer and THF models was validated by reproducing the structural and thermodynamic properties obtained from experiments or atomistic simulation results. Density in bulk, the radius of gyration, and solvation free energy in water or THF showed a good agreement between CG and atomistic models. The CG models were further employed to explore the self-assembly of ACPs in THF/water mixtures with different compositions. Chain folding and liquid-liquid phase separation behaviors were found with increasing water fractions, which were the key steps of the self-assembly process. This work will provide a basic platform to explore the self-assembly of amphiphilic ACPs in solvent mixtures and to reveal the real role of different solvents in self-assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanlong Li
- School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Rui Cui
- School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Chunyang Yu
- School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Yongfeng Zhou
- School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
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10
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Lu J, Deng Y, Zhong K, Huang Z, Jin LY. Construction of nanoaggregates from amphiphilic supramolecules containing barbiturate and
Hamilton
wedge units. POLYM INT 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/pi.6318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jie Lu
- Department of Chemistry, National Demonstration Centre for Experimental Chemistry Education Yanbian University Yanji China
| | - Yingying Deng
- Department of Chemistry, National Demonstration Centre for Experimental Chemistry Education Yanbian University Yanji China
| | - Keli Zhong
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Food Safety, Bohai University Jinzhou China
| | - Zhegang Huang
- School of Chemistry, Sun Yat Sen University Guangzhou China
| | - Long Yi Jin
- Department of Chemistry, National Demonstration Centre for Experimental Chemistry Education Yanbian University Yanji China
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11
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Niebuur BJ, Lohstroh W, Ko CH, Appavou MS, Schulte A, Papadakis CM. Pressure Dependence of Water Dynamics in Concentrated Aqueous Poly( N-isopropylacrylamide) Solutions with a Methanol Cosolvent. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bart-Jan Niebuur
- Physik-Department, Fachgebiet Physik weicher Materie, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Wiebke Lohstroh
- Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Chia-Hsin Ko
- Physik-Department, Fachgebiet Physik weicher Materie, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Marie-Sousai Appavou
- Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Alfons Schulte
- Department of Physics and College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 4111 Libra Drive, Orlando, Florida 32816-2385, United States
| | - Christine M. Papadakis
- Physik-Department, Fachgebiet Physik weicher Materie, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
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12
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Servis MJ, Piechowicz M, Skanthakumar S, Soderholm L. Molecular-scale origins of solution nanostructure and excess thermodynamic properties in a water/amphiphile mixture. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:8880-8890. [PMID: 33876047 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp00082a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The molecular and nanoscale origins of nonideality in excess thermodynamic properties are essential to understanding cosolvent mixtures, yet they remain challenging to determine. Here, we consider a binary mixture of water and an amphiphile, N,N,N',N'-tetramethylmalonamide (TMMA), which is characterized by strong hydrogen bonding between the two components and no hydrogen bonding between amphiphiles. Using molecular dynamics simulation, validated with excess volume measurements and X-ray scattering, we identify three distinct solution regimes across the composition range of the binary mixture and find that the transition between two of these regimes, marked by the water percolation threshold, is closely correlated with minima in the excess volume and excess enthalpy. Structural analysis of the simulations reveals an interplay between local interactions and solution nanostructure, determined by the relative strength of the water-water and water-amphiphile hydrogen bonding interactions. By comparison with other amphiphiles, such as linear alcohols, the relative strength of like and unlike interactions between water and amphiphile affects the relationship between thermodynamics and structural regimes. This provides insight into how molecular forces of mutual solvation interact across length scales and how they manifest in excess thermodynamic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Servis
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA.
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13
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Bharadwaj S, Nayar D, Dalgicdir C, van der Vegt NFA. An interplay of excluded-volume and polymer-(co)solvent attractive interactions regulates polymer collapse in mixed solvents. J Chem Phys 2021; 154:134903. [PMID: 33832270 DOI: 10.1063/5.0046746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Cosolvent effects on the coil-globule transitions in aqueous polymer solutions are not well understood, especially in the case of amphiphilic cosolvents that preferentially adsorb on the polymer and lead to both polymer swelling and collapse. Although a predominant focus in the literature has been placed on the role of polymer-cosolvent attractive interactions, our recent work has shown that excluded-volume interactions (repulsive interactions) can drive both preferential adsorption of the cosolvent and polymer collapse via a surfactant-like mechanism. Here, we further study the role of polymer-(co)solvent attractive interactions in two kinds of polymer solutions, namely, good solvent (water)-good cosolvent (alcohol) (GSGC) and poor solvent-good cosolvent (PSGC) solutions, both of which exhibit preferential adsorption of the cosolvent and a non-monotonic change in the polymer radius of gyration with the addition of the cosolvent. Interestingly, at low concentrations, the polymer-(co)solvent energetic interactions oppose polymer collapse in the GSGC solutions and contrarily support polymer collapse in the PSGC solutions, indicating the importance of the underlying polymer chemistry. Even though the alcohol molecules are preferentially adsorbed on the polymer, the trends of the energetic interactions at low cosolvent concentrations are dominated by the polymer-water energetic interactions in both the cases. Therefore, polymer-(co)solvent energetic interactions can either reinforce or compensate the surfactant-like mechanism, and it is this interplay that drives coil-to-globule transitions in polymer solutions. These results have implications for rationalizing the cononsolvency transitions in real systems such as polyacrylamides in aqueous alcohol solutions where the understanding of microscopic driving forces is still debatable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swaminath Bharadwaj
- Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Divya Nayar
- Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Cahit Dalgicdir
- Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Nico F A van der Vegt
- Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
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14
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Qin H, Ma C, Gärtner S, Headen TF, Zuo T, Jiao G, Han Z, Imberti S, Han CC, Cheng H. Neutron total scattering investigation on the dissolution mechanism of trehalose in NaOH/urea aqueous solution. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS (MELVILLE, N.Y.) 2021; 8:014901. [PMID: 33644253 PMCID: PMC7889297 DOI: 10.1063/4.0000065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Trehalose is chosen as a model molecule to investigate the dissolution mechanism of cellulose in NaOH/urea aqueous solution. The combination of neutron total scattering and empirical potential structure refinement yields the most probable all-atom positions in the complex fluid and reveals the cooperative dynamic effects of NaOH, urea, and water molecules in the dissolution process. NaOH directly interacts with glucose rings by breaking the inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen bonding. Na+, thus, accumulates around electronegative oxygen atoms in the hydration shell of trehalose. Its local concentration is thereby 2-9 times higher than that in the bulk fluid. Urea molecules are too large to interpenetrate into trehalose and too complex to form hydrogen bonds with trehalose. They can only participate in the formation of the hydration shell around trehalose via Na+ bridging. As the main component in the complex fluid, water molecules have a disturbed tetrahedral structure in the presence of NaOH and urea. The structure of the mixed solvent does not change when it is cooled to -12 °C. This indicates that the dissolution may be a dynamic process, i.e., a competition between hydration shell formation and inter-molecule hydrogen bonding determines its dissolution. We, therefore, predict that alkali with smaller ions, such as LiOH, has better solubility for cellulose.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Changli Ma
- Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: and
| | - Sabrina Gärtner
- STFC ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas F. Headen
- STFC ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | - Silvia Imberti
- STFC ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - Charles C. Han
- Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 508060, China
| | - He Cheng
- Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: and
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15
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Nandakumar A, Ito Y, Ueda M. Solvent Effects on the Self-Assembly of an Amphiphilic Polypeptide Incorporating α-Helical Hydrophobic Blocks. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:20994-21003. [PMID: 33272014 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c03425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The self-assembly of biological molecules is an important pathway to understanding the molecular basis of complex metabolic events. The presence of a cosolvent in an aqueous solution during the self-assembly process can promote the formation of kinetically trapped metastable intermediates. In nature, a category of cosolvents termed osmolytes can work to strengthen the hydrogen-bond network of water such that the native states of certain proteins are favored, thus modulating their function and stability. However, identifying cosolvents that act as osmolytes in biomimetic applications, such as the self-assembly of soft materials, remains challenging. The present work examined the effects of ethanol (EtOH) and acetonitrile (ACN) as cosolvents on the self-assembly of the amphiphilic polypeptide PSar30-(l-Leu-Aib)6 (S30L12), which incorporates α-helical hydrophobic blocks, in aqueous solution. The results provided a direct observation of morphological behavior of S30L12 as a function of solvent composition. Morphological transitions were investigated using transmission electron microscopy, while the packing of peptide molecules was assessed using circular dichroism analyses and evaluations of membrane fluidity. In the EtOH/H2O mixtures, the EtOH strengthened the hydrogen-bond network of the water, thus limiting the hydrophobic hydration of S30L12 assemblies and enhancing hydrophobic interactions between assemblies. In contrast, ACN formed self-associated nanoclusters in water and at the hydrophobic cores of peptide assemblies to stabilize the edges exposed to bulk water and enhance the assembly kinetics. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis indicated that both EtOH and ACN can modify the self-assembly of biomaterials in the same manner as osmolyte protectants or denaturants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avanashiappan Nandakumar
- Emergent Bioengineering Materials Research Team, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Ito
- Emergent Bioengineering Materials Research Team, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.,Nano Medical Engineering Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Motoki Ueda
- Emergent Bioengineering Materials Research Team, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.,Nano Medical Engineering Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
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16
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Mochizuki K. On-Off of Co-non-solvency for Poly( N-vinylcaprolactam) in Alcohol-Water Mixtures: A Molecular Dynamics Study. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:9951-9957. [PMID: 33086006 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c07188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL) exhibits co-non-solvency in aqueous solutions of 2-propanol but not in methanol. What distinguishes the impact of these two cosolvents on the polymer conformational stability? We report a molecular dynamics simulation study on PVCL 50-mer and monomers dissolved in methanol-water and 2-propanol-water mixtures. We show that the alcohol-concentration dependence of the effective attraction between a pair of PVCL monomers closely resembles the conformational changes in a single PVCL 50-mer as well as the experimentally observed behavior for PVCL chains. We also found that, at the co-non-solvency maximum, the monomer-monomer attraction works over a long-range beyond the solvent-separated distance. Then, we correlate the long-range attraction to the appearance of a dense alcohol concentration accumulated between the monomers. Furthermore, we distinctly demonstrate that the co-non-solvency of PVCL monomers can be switched on/off by artificially tuning the alcohol size while keeping the energetic parameters. Thus, we conclude that the magnitude of the excluded volume effect in alcohol accompanying the gain in translational entropy of the solvent is crucial to the occurrence of PVCL polymer co-non-solvency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenji Mochizuki
- Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, 148 Tianmushan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310028, P. R. China
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17
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Drozdov AD, deClaville Christiansen J. The effect of saccharides on equilibrium swelling of thermo-responsive gels. RSC Adv 2020; 10:30723-30733. [PMID: 35547557 PMCID: PMC9088206 DOI: 10.1039/d0ra05845a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Mechanical and optical properties of thermo-responsive (TR) gels change drastically at their volume phase transition temperature. As the critical temperature is strongly affected by the presence of small amounts of additives in aqueous solutions, TR gels can be employed as sensors for detection and recognition of multiple analytes (from specific ions to hazardous biochemicals to pathogenic proteins) and actuators for biomedical applications. A simplified mean-field model is developed for equilibrium swelling of TR gels in aqueous solutions of additives. Its advantage is that the model involves a relatively small (compared with the conventional approaches) number of material constants and accounts for changes in the thermo-mechanical response at transition from the swollen to collapsed state. The ability of the model to describe experimental swelling diagrams and to predict the influence of additives on the equilibrium degree of swelling and the volume phase transition temperature of TR gels is confirmed by comparison of observations on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel in aqueous solutions of saccharides (glucose, sucrose and galactose) with results of numerical analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- A D Drozdov
- Department of Materials and Production, Aalborg University Fibigerstraede 16 Aalborg 9220 Denmark
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Molecular description of the coil-to-globule transition of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) in water/ethanol mixture at low alcohol concentration. J Mol Liq 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2019.111928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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19
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Yong H, Bittrich E, Uhlmann P, Fery A, Sommer JU. Co-Nonsolvency Transition of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Brushes in a Series of Binary Mixtures. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Huaisong Yong
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Eva Bittrich
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Petra Uhlmann
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., 01069 Dresden, Germany
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Hamilton Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Andreas Fery
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Jens-Uwe Sommer
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., 01069 Dresden, Germany
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20
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Affiliation(s)
- Swaminath Bharadwaj
- Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Nico F. A. van der Vegt
- Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
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21
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Nothdurft K, Müller DH, Brands T, Bardow A, Richtering W. Enrichment of methanol inside pNIPAM gels in the cononsolvency-induced collapse. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:22811-22818. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cp04383g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
From Raman, we determined an enrichment of methanol inside the polymer in the cononsolvency-induced collapse and donor-type hydrogen-bonding of methanol with pNIPAM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja Nothdurft
- Institute of Physical Chemistry
- RWTH Aachen University
- 52056 Aachen
- Germany
| | - David H. Müller
- Institute of Technical Thermodynamics
- RWTH Aachen University
- 52062 Aachen
- Germany
| | - Thorsten Brands
- Institute of Technical Thermodynamics
- RWTH Aachen University
- 52062 Aachen
- Germany
| | - André Bardow
- Institute of Technical Thermodynamics
- RWTH Aachen University
- 52062 Aachen
- Germany
| | - Walter Richtering
- Institute of Physical Chemistry
- RWTH Aachen University
- 52056 Aachen
- Germany
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