Dilational viscoelasticity of PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer films at the air-water interface in the range of high surface pressures

Transport of Flexible, Oil-Soluble Diblock and BAB Triblock Copolymers to Oil/Water Interfaces

The connection between block copolymer architecture and adsorption at fluid/fluid interfaces is poorly understood. We characterize the interfacial properties of a well-defined series of polyethylene oxide/polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) diblock and BAB triblock copolymers at the dodecane/water interface. They are oil-soluble and quite flexible because of their hydrophobic PDMS block. Rather than relying on equilibrium interfacial measurements for which it is difficult to mitigate experimental uncertainty during adsorption, we combine measurements of steady-state adsorption, dilatational rheology, and adsorption/desorption dynamics. Steady-state interfacial pressure is insensitive to interfacial curvature and mostly agrees with theory. Adsorption does not occur in the diffusive limit as is the case for many aqueous, small-molecule surfactants. Dilatational rheology reveals differences in behavior between the diblocks and triblocks, and all interfaces possess elasticities below the thermodynamic limit. Desorption dynamics show that material exchange between the interface and the neighboring fluid occurs too slowly to relax dilatational stresses. The mechanism of relaxation occurs at the interface, likely from the reorientation of adsorbed chains.

Adsorption layer formation in dispersions of protein aggregates

The review discusses recent results on the adsorption of amyloid fibrils and protein microgels at liquid/fluid interfaces. The application of the shear and dilational surface rheology, atomic force microscopy and passive particle probe tracking allowed for elucidating characteristic features of the protein aggregate adsorption while some proposed hypothesis still must be examined by special methods for structural characterization. Although the distinctions of the shear surface properties of dispersions of protein aggregates from the properties of native protein solutions are higher than the corresponding distinctions of the dilational surface properties, the latter ones give a possibility to obtain new information on the formation of fibril aggregates at the water/air interface. Only the adsorption of BLG microgels and fibrils was studied in some details. The kinetic dependencies of the dynamic surface tension and dilational surface elasticity for aqueous dispersions of protein globules, protein microgels and purified fibrils are similar if the system does not contain flexible macromolecules or flexible protein fragments. In the opposite case the kinetic dependencies of the dynamic surface elasticity can be non-monotonic. The solution pH influences strongly the dynamic surface properties of the dispersions of protein aggregates indicating that the adsorption kinetics is controlled by an electrostatic adsorption barrier if the pH deviates from the isoelectric point. A special section of the review considers the possibility to apply kinetic models of nanoparticle adsorption to the adsorption of protein aggregates.

Relaxation Behavior and Nonlinear Surface Rheology of PEO-PPO-PEO Triblock Copolymers at the Air-Water Interface

Surface dilatational viscoelasticity of adsorbed layers of pluronics triblock copolymers at the air-water interface was measured using the oscillating barrier technique. The effect of molecular architecture and concentration on surface viscoelasticity was explored for two different types of pluronics with different degrees of hydrophobicity, Pluronic F-108 (M_w ≈ 14 600 g/mol) and Pluronic P-123 (M_w ≈ 5800 g/mol), the former exhibiting a larger hydrophilic to hydrophobic block length ratio. Frequency sweeps in the linear regime suggested that interfacial films of F-108 have higher surface limiting elasticity and larger in-plane and out-of-plane relaxation times at the same bulk concentration (the former possibly related to in-plane microstructure rearrangements, the latter to surface/bulk diffusion). Increasing the bulk concentration of pluronics from 1 to 100 μM led to a decrease in both in- and out-of-plane relaxation times. Large amplitude oscillatory dilatation (LAOD) tests were performed to capture nonlinear behavior of these interfacial films by means of elastic and viscous Lissajous plots. Nonlinearities in elastic responses were quantified through calculation of the strain-stiffening indices in extension S_E and compression S_C. Both pluronics exhibited strain softening in extension. In compression, P-123 showed strain-hardening and F-108 displayed a relatively linear response. Apparent strain hardening in extension was observed for the P-123 adsorbed film, at high strain, at a bulk concentration of 100 μM. However, at these strains, the response was dominated by the viscous contribution and calculation of strain rate-thickening factors in extension and compression showed that the overall response was strain rate-thinning in extension and strain rate-thickening in compression.

Probing the adsorption/desorption of amphiphilic polymers at the air-water interface during large interfacial deformations

Hydrophobically modified polymers are good candidates for the stabilization of liquid interfaces thanks to the high anchoring energy of the hydrophobic parts. In this article we probe the interfacial anchoring of a series of home-made hydrophobically modified polymers with controlled degree of grafting by studying their behavior upon large area dilations and compressions. By comparing the measured interfacial tension to the one that we expect in the case of a constant number of adsorbed monomers, we are able to deduce whether desorption or adsorption occurs during area variations. We find that the polymer chains with the longest hydrophobic grafts desorb at larger compressions compared to the polymers with the shortest grafts, because of their larger desorption energy. Furthermore, for a given graft length, we observe more desorption for polymers with the highest grafting densities. We attribute this counter intuitive result to the fact that at high grafting densities, the length of the polymer loops is shorter, and hence the elastic penalty upon compression is larger for these layers, leading to a faster desorption. Comparing the elastic penalty to thermal energy, k_BT, enables deducing a critical grafting density above which desorption of grafts is expected upon compression, which is consistent with our experimental results. In the case of large area dilations, the experiments reveal that the number of adsorbed anchors remains constant in the case of chains with a low grafting density while chains with the highest degree of grafting seem to show some degree of adsorption during the dilatation. Therefore, in these highly grafted chains there may be unadsorbed grafts remaining in the vicinity of the interface, which may adsorb quickly at the interface upon dilatation.

Adsorption dynamics of hydrophobically modified polymers at an air-water interface

Using surface-tension measurements, we study the brush-limited adsorption dynamics of a range of amphiphilic polymers, PAAH-[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] composed of a poly(acrylic acid) backbone, PAAH, grafted with a fraction [Formula: see text] of alkyl moieties, containing either n = 8 or n = 12 carbon atoms, at pH conditions where the PAAH backbone is not charged. At short times, the surface tension decreases more sharply as the degree of grafting increases, while, at long times, the adsorption dynamics becomes logarithmic in time and is slower as the degree of grafting increases. This logarithmic behavior at long times indicates the building of a free-energy barrier which grows over time. To account for the observed surface tension evolution with the degree of grafting we propose a scenario, where the free-energy barrier results from both the deformation of the incoming polymer coils and the deformation of the adsorbed brush. Our model involves only two fitting parameters, the monomer size and the area needed for one molecule during adsorption and is in agreement with the experimental data. We obtain a reasonable value for the monomer size and find an area per adsorbed polymer chain of the order of 1 nm², showing that the polymer chains are strongly stretched as they adsorb.

Formation of protein/surfactant adsorption layer as studied by dilational surface rheology

The review discusses the mechanism of formation of protein/surfactant adsorption layers at the liquid - gas interface. The complexes of globular proteins usually preserve their compact structure a low surfactant concentrations. Therefore a simple kinetic model of the adsorption of charged compact nanoparticles is discussed first and compared with experimental data. The increase of surfactant concentrations results in various conformational transitions in the surface layer. One can obtain information on the changes of the adsorption layer structure using the dilational surface rheology. The kinetic dependencies of the dynamic surface elasticity are strongly different for the adsorption of unfolded macromolecules and compact globules, and have local maxima in the former case corresponding to different steps of the adsorption. These distinctions allow tracing the changes of the tertiary structure of protein/surfactant complexes in the surface layer. The adsorption from mixed solutions of ionic surfactants with β-casein, β-lactoglobulin, bovine serum albumin and myoglobin is discussed with some details.

Surface Mechanical and Rheological Behaviors of Biocompatible Poly((D,L-lactic acid-ran-glycolic acid)-block-ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PEG) and Poly((D,L-lactic acid-ran-glycolic acid-ran-ε-caprolactone)-block-ethylene glycol) (PLGACL-PEG) Block Copolymers at the Air-Water Interface

Air-water interfacial monolayers of poly((D,L-lactic acid-ran-glycolic acid)-block-ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PEG) exhibit an exponential increase in surface pressure under high monolayer compression. In order to understand the molecular origin of this behavior, a combined experimental and theoretical investigation (including surface pressure-area isotherm, X-ray reflectivity (XR) and interfacial rheological measurements, and a self-consistent field (SCF) theoretical analysis) was performed on air-water monolayers formed by a PLGA-PEG diblock copolymer and also by a nonglassy analogue of this diblock copolymer, poly((D,L-lactic acid-ran-glycolic acid-ran-caprolactone)-block-ethylene glycol) (PLGACL-PEG). The combined results of this study show that the two mechanisms, i.e., the glass transition of the collapsed PLGA film and the lateral repulsion of the PEG brush chains that occur simultaneously under lateral compression of the monolayer, are both responsible for the observed PLGA-PEG isotherm behavior. Upon cessation of compression, the high surface pressure of the PLGA-PEG monolayer typically relaxes over time with a stretched exponential decay, suggesting that in this diblock copolymer situation, the hydrophobic domain formed by the PLGA blocks undergoes glass transition in the high lateral compression state, analogously to the PLGA homopolymer monolayer. In the high PEG grafting density regime, the contribution of the PEG brush chains to the high monolayer surface pressure is significantly lower than what is predicted by the SCF model because of the many-body attraction among PEG segments (referred to in the literature as the "n-cluster" effects). The end-grafted PEG chains were found to be protein resistant even under the influence of the "n-cluster" effects.

Phase transitions in polymer monolayers: Application of the Clapeyron equation to PEO in PPO-PEO Langmuir films

In this paper we investigate the application of the two-dimensional Clapeyron law to polymer monolayers. This is a largely unexplored area of research. The main problems are (1) establishing if equilibrium is reached and (2) if so, identifying and defining phases as functions of the temperature. Once this is validated, the Clapeyron law allows us to obtain the entropy and enthalpy differences between two coexisting phases. In turn, this information can be used to obtain insight into the conformational properties of the films and changes therein. This approach has a wide potential for obtaining additional information on polymer adsorption at interfaces and the structure of their monolayer films. The 2D Clapeyron law was applied emphasizing polyethylene oxide (PEO) in polypropylene oxide (PPO)-PEO block copolymers, based on new well-defined data for their Langmuir films. Values for enthalpy per monomer of 0.12 and 0.23 kT were obtained for the phase transition of two different PEO chains (Neo of 2295 and 409, respectively). This enthalpy was estimated to correspond to 1.2±0.4 kT per EO monomer present in train conformation at the air/water interface.

Surface dilational moduli of polymer and blended polymer monolayers spread at air-water interfaces

Surface dilational moduli of polymer monolayers, blended polymer monolayers, and polymer particle monolayers spread at air-water interfaces are reviewed, focusing on measurements using surface pressure isotherm, surface pressure relaxation, and oscillating barrier methods. Differences between the surface dilational moduli of condensed polymer monolayers and expanded polymer monolayers are explored. Moreover, the features of the surface dilational moduli in blended polymer monolayers are discussed in terms of their miscibility.

Design, synthesis, and cercaricidal activity of novel high-efficient, low-toxic self-spreading PEG-N-salicylanilide derivatives against cercariae larvae of Schistosome Japonicum floating on the water surface

Novel cercaricides of PEG-N-salicylanilide derivatives that could self-spread and float on the water surface were designed and synthesized according to the particular habit of cercariae larvae of Schistosome japonicum. The structures of the cercaricides were characterized by the infrared spectra (IR), magnetic resonance ((1) H NMR), and mass spectrum (MS). The images of the floating cercaricides on the water surface were investigated by the Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). When the cercaricides were dropped on the water surface, they could spread along the air-water interface automatically and form thin membranes floating on the water surface immediately. The lethality rate of cercariae for 5a and 6a was more than 90% in 120 min at a surface concentration of 0.008 mg/cm(2) . The non-ionic surfactant-cercaricides not only showed strong cercaricidal activities against the cercariae larvae but also exhibited low toxicities, which offered an effective and environment-friendly approach for the reduction of population infection rate and the realization of schistosome control.

Protein conformational transitions at the liquid-gas interface as studied by dilational surface rheology

Experimental results on the dynamic dilational surface elasticity of protein solutions are analyzed and compared. Short reviews of the protein behavior at the liquid-gas interface and the dilational surface rheology precede the main sections of this work. The kinetic dependencies of the surface elasticity differ strongly for the solutions of globular and non-globular proteins. In the latter case these dependencies are similar to those for solutions of non-ionic amphiphilic polymers and have local maxima corresponding to the formation of the distal region of the surface layer (type I). In the former case the dynamic surface elasticity is much higher (>60 mN/m) and the kinetic dependencies are monotonical and similar to the data for aqueous dispersions of solid nanoparticles (type II). The addition of strong denaturants to solutions of bovine serum albumin and β-lactoglobulin results in an abrupt transition from the type II to type I dependencies if the denaturant concentration exceeds a certain critical value. These results give a strong argument in favor of the preservation of the protein globular structure in the course of adsorption without any denaturants. The addition of cationic surfactants also can lead to the non-monotonical kinetic dependencies of the dynamic surface elasticity indicating destruction of the protein tertiary and secondary structures. The addition of anionic surfactants gives similar results only for the protein solutions of high ionic strength. The influence of cationic surfactants on the local maxima of the kinetic dependencies of the dynamic surface elasticity for solutions of a non-globular protein (β-casein) differs from the influence of anionic surfactants due to the heterogeneity of the charge distribution along the protein chain. In this case one can use small admixtures of ionic surfactants as probes of the adsorption mechanism. The effect of polyelectrolytes on the kinetic dependencies of the dynamic surface elasticity of protein solutions is weaker than the effect of conventional surfactants but exceeds the error limits.

Salt effects on the air/solution interfacial properties of PEO-containing copolymers: equilibrium, adsorption kinetics and surface rheological behavior

Lithium cations are known to form complexes with the oxygen atoms of poly(oxyethylene) chains. The effect of Li(+) on the surface properties of three block-copolymers containing poly(oxyethylene) (PEO) have been studied. Two types of copolymers have been studied, a water soluble one of the pluronic family, PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO, PPO being poly(propyleneoxyde), and two water insoluble ones: PEO-b-PS and PEO-b-PS-b-PEO, PS being polystyrene. In the case of the pluronic the adsorption kinetics, the equilibrium surface tension isotherm and the aqueous/air surface rheology have been measured, while for the two insoluble copolymers only the surface pressure and the surface rheology have been studied. In all the cases two different Li(+) concentrations have been used. As in the absence of lithium ions, the adsorption kinetics of pluronic solutions shows two processes, and becomes faster as [Li(+)] increases. The kinetics is not diffusion controlled. For a given pluronic concentration the equilibrium surface pressure increases with [Li(+)], and the isotherms show two surface phase transitions, though less marked than for [Li(+)]=0. A similar behavior was found for the equilibrium isotherms of PEO-b-PS and PEO-b-PS-b-PEO. The surface elasticity of these two copolymers was found to increase with [Li(+)] over the whole surface concentration and frequency ranges studied. A smaller effect was found in the case of the pluronic solutions. The results of the pluronic solutions were modeled using a recent theory that takes into account that the molecules can be adsorbed at the surface in two different states. The theory gives a good fit for the adsorption kinetics and a reasonably good prediction of the equilibrium isotherms for low and intermediate concentrations of pluronic. However, the theory is not able to reproduce the isotherm for [Li(+)]=0. Only a semi-quantitative prediction of the surface elasticity is obtained for [pluronic]≤1×10(-3) mM.

Aggregation behaviors of PEO-PPO-ph-PPO-PEO and PPO-PEO-ph-PEO-PPO at an air/water interface: experimental study and molecular dynamics simulation

The block polyethers PEO-PPO-ph-PPO-PEO (BPE) and PPO-PEO-ph-PEO-PPO (BEP) are synthesized by anionic polymerization using bisphenol A as initiator. Compared with Pluronic P123, the aggregation behaviors of BPE and BEP at an air/water interface are investigated by the surface tension and dilational viscoelasticity. The molecular construction can influence the efficiency and effectiveness of block polyethers in decreasing surface tension. BPE has the most efficient ability to decrease surface tension of water among the three block polyethers. The maximum surface excess concentration (Γ(max)) of BPE is larger than that of BEP or P123. Moreover, the dilational modulus of BPE is almost the same as that of P123, but much larger than that of BEP. The molecular dynamics simulation provides the conformational variations of block polyethers at the air/water interface.

Interfacial rheology and conformations of triblock copolymers adsorbed onto the water-oil interface

The conformation and the dilatational properties of three non-ionic triblock PEO-PPO-PEO (where PEO is polyethyleneoxide and PPO is polypropyleneoxide) copolymers of different hydrophobicity and molecular weight were investigated at the water-hexane interface. The interfacial behavior of the copolymers was studied by combining dilatational rheology using the oscillating drop method and ellipsometry. From the dilatational rheology measurements the limiting elasticity values, E(0), of the Pluronics as function of surface pressure, Π, and adsorption time were obtained, i.e. E(0)(t) and E(0)(Π). Here, it is shown that E(0)(t) depends on the number of PEO units and on the bulk concentration, showing maximum and minimum surface elasticity values which indicate conformational changes in the interfacial layer. Furthermore, in the framework of the polymer scaling law theory, conformational transitions were discussed in E(0) vs. Π plots. In a dilute regime (Π<14 mN m(-1)) at the water-hexane interface, E(0)=2Π fits well all the data, which indicates a two-dimensional "stretched chain" conformation. Increasing Π, two other interfacial transitions could take place. The different behavior of Pluronic copolymers could be also described by the local minima of E(0), which depends on the hydrophobicity of the copolymers. Conformational transitions observed by interfacial rheology were compared to ellipsometric data. Experimental results were discussed and explained on the basis of two- and three-dimensional copolymer structure taking into account that PPO chains could be partially immersed in hexane and water.

Dynamics of amphiphilic diblock copolymers at the air-water interface

Two polyisoprene-polyethyleneoxide diblock copolymers with different block length ratios adsorbed to the water surface were investigated by multiple angle of incidence ellipsometry, evanescent wave light scattering, and surface tension experiments. In a semidilute interfacial regime, the transition from a two-dimensional to a "mushroom" regime, in which polymer chains form loops and tails in the subphase, was discussed. A diffusion mechanism parallel to the interface was probed by evanescent wave dynamic light scattering. At intermediate concentrations, the interfacial diffusion coefficient D(∥) scales with the surface concentration Γ, as D(∥) ~ Γ(0.77) in agreement with the scaling observed for polymer solutions in a semidilute regime. At relatively high concentrations a decreasing of D(∥) is discussed in terms of increasing friction due to interactions between polyisoprene chains.

Dynamic properties of cationic diacyl-glycerol-arginine-based surfactant/phospholipid mixtures at the air/water interface

In this Article, we study the binary surface interactions of 1,2-dimyristoyl-rac-glycero-3-O-(N(alpha)-acetyl-L-arginine) hydrochloride (1414RAc) with 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) on 0.1 M sodium chloride solutions. 1414RAc is a novel monocationic surfactant that has potential applications as an antimicrobial agent, is biodegradable, and shows a toxicity activity smaller than that of other commercial cationic surfactants. DPPC phospholipid was used as a model membrane component. The dynamic surface tension of 1414RAc/DPPC aqueous dispersions injected into the saline subphase was followed by tensiometry. The layer formation for the mixtures is always accelerated with respect to DPPC, and surprisingly, the surface tension reduction is faster and reaches lower surface tension values at surfactant concentration below its critical micellar concentration (cmc). Interfacial dilational rheology properties of mixed films spread on the air/water interface were determined by the dynamic oscillation method using a Langmuir trough. The effect of surfactant mole fraction on the rheological parameters of 1414RAc/DPPC mixed monolayers was studied at a relative amplitude of area deformation of 5% and a frequency of 50 mHz. The monolayer viscoelasticity shows a nonideal mixing behavior with predominance of the surfactant properties. This nonideal behavior has been attributed to the prevalence of electrostatic interactions.

Interfacial properties of Pluronics and the interactions between Pluronics and cholesterol/DPPC mixed monolayers

Pluronics are triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) with wide range of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance. In order to investigate the relationship between the chemical structures of Pluronics and the interfacial properties at the air-water interface by monolayer techniques, Pluronics L61, P65, F68, P84, P123, L35, and P105 were selected. Since cholesterol influenced substantially the molecular packing stage and the characteristics of cell membranes, the interactions between Pluronics and model cell membranes in the absence and presence of cholesterol were compared. The results of pi-A isotherms and surface elasticities of Pluronic monolayers indicated that the first and second transition like stage were mainly affected by the numbers of EO and PO monomers, respectively. Pluronics with higher hydrophobicities demonstrated larger surface activities and penetration abilities to dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) monolayers, which might be due to hydrophobic interactions and van der Waals forces. In the presence of cholesterol, hydrogen bonding effects was supposed to exist between the 3beta-hydroxy group of cholesterol and ether oxygen of PEO chains, which led Pluronic F68, with the longest PEO chain herein, to exhibit significantly higher penetration ability. Our findings proposed a theoretical basis for selection of optimized drug carriers and the starting point for further investigations.

Adsorption of water-soluble polymers with surfactant character. Dilational viscoelasticity

A brief summary of dilational surface viscoelatic properties of spread and adsorbed surfactant polymer films at the air-water interface is reported. The viscoelastic moduli have been measured as a function of frequency and surface pressure. The combination of several techniques, oscillating drop and barrier experiments and electrocapillary waves (ECW), has allowed us to investigate a broad frequency range. The dynamic elasticity epsilon shows a slight change with frequency and a noticeable pressure dependence for both kinds of monolayers. In the spread films, elasticity increases steeply with surface pressure, and reaches a constant value before the polymer begins to dissolve into the bulk. On the other hand, the adsorbed films exhibit a pronounced elasticity maximum, followed by a considerable decay when a loose surface structure is formed. The position of the maximum depends on the polymer chemical composition and molecular weight. The results on the overlapping surface pressure range confirm the dynamic equivalence of spread and adsorbed monolayers. At low surface concentration, the agreement between static and dynamic elasticity is quite satisfactory, but the values diverge considerably at higher surface pressures. The loss modulus omegakappa decreases monotonically with increasing omega, becoming zero (it can even take apparent negative values) for the highest frequencies. The frequency dependence of the elasticity has been well described by the diffusive control model of Lucassen-van den Tempel (LVT). However, its predictions for omegakappa do not coincide with the experimental data. The differences between experimental and theoretical values increase at low frequencies.

Adsorption of water-soluble polymers with surfactant character

A comparative study between Langmuir and Gibbs monolayers of a hyperbranched polyol, poly(propylene glycol) homopolymers, and poly(propylene glycol)-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers with different structure and molecular weight, is reported. Dynamic surface tension (DST) and surface pressure measurements have been carried out to characterize these amphiphilic water-soluble polymers. The adsorption kinetics results are consistent with a rapid diffusion stage followed by a slow reorganization at the air-water interface. The characteristic times of these steps, calculated by the Joos model, point out differences among the polymers in the diffusion rate and rearrangement mechanisms for diluted solutions. Short time analysis of DST data leads to diffusion coefficients in qualitative agreement with the diffusion times calculated with Joos' model. Spread monolayers remain stable for long periods of time. The desorption process seems quite inoperative. As a consequence, the surface pressure of the spread monolayers can be studied over a broad surface concentration range. 2D first-order phase transitions have been evidenced from plateaux observed in Langmuir and Gibbs isotherms. It has been found that Gibbs monolayers lead to lower surface tension states than the Langmuir ones.