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Gustavsson L, Lv ZP, Cherian T, Seppälä W, Liljeström V, Peng B, Huotari S, Rannou P, Ikkala O. Heating-Induced Switching to Hierarchical Liquid Crystallinity Combining Colloidal and Molecular Order in Zwitterionic Molecules. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:39345-39353. [PMID: 37901556 PMCID: PMC10601052 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c04914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023]
Abstract
Hierarchical self-assemblies of soft matter involving triggerable or switchable structures at different length scales have been pursued toward multifunctional behaviors and complexity inspired by biological matter. They require several and balanced competing attractive and repulsive interactions, which provide a grand challenge in particular in the "bulk" state, i.e., in the absence of plasticizing solvents. Here, we disclose that zwitterionic bis-n-tetradecylphosphobetaine, as a model compound, shows a complex thermally switchable hierarchical self-assembly in the solvent-free state. It shows polymorphism and heating-induced reversible switching from low-temperature molecular-level assemblies to high-temperature hierarchical self-assemblies, unexpectedly combining colloidal and molecular self-assemblies, as inferred by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The high-temperature phase sustains birefringent flow, indicating a new type of hierarchical thermotropic liquid crystallinity. The high-temperature colloidal-level SAXS reflections suggest indexation as a 2D oblique pattern and their well-defined layer separation in the perpendicular direction. We suggest that the colloidal self-assembled motifs are 2D nanoplatelets formed by the lateral packing of the molecules, where the molecular packing frustration between the tightly packed zwitterionic moieties and the coiled alkyl chains demanding more space limits the lateral platelet growth controlled by the alkyl stretching entropy. An indirect proof is provided by the addition of plasticizing ionic liquids, which relieve the ionic dense packings of zwitterions, thus allowing purely smectic liquid crystallinity without the colloidal level order. Thus, molecules with a simple chemical structure can lead to structural hierarchy and tunable complexity in the solvent-free state by balancing the competing long-range electrostatics and short-range nanosegregations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lotta Gustavsson
- Department
of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland
| | - Zhong-Peng Lv
- Department
of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland
| | - Tomy Cherian
- Department
of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland
| | - Wille Seppälä
- Department
of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland
| | - Ville Liljeström
- Nanomicroscopy
Center, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland
| | - Bo Peng
- Department
of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland
| | - Simo Huotari
- Department
of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Patrice Rannou
- Université
Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, CNRS, Grenoble
INP, LEPMI, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Olli Ikkala
- Department
of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland
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Gamarra A, Muñoz-Guerra S, Martínez de Ilarduya A, Thérien-Aubin H, Landfester K. Comblike Ionic Complexes of Hyaluronic Acid and Alkanoylcholine Surfactants as a Platform for Drug Delivery Systems. Biomacromolecules 2018; 19:3669-3681. [PMID: 30037226 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.8b00783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Nontoxic alkanoylcholine soaps ( nACh) were synthesized from choline and fatty acids with numbers of carbons n equal to 12, 14, 16, and 18, the latter including both saturated and 9- cis unsaturated alkanoyl chains. Coupling of nACh with hyaluronic acid (HyA) rendered comblike ionic complexes nACh·HyA that were non-water-soluble. The complexes were thermally stable up to temperatures above 200 °C but readily degraded by water, in particular when hyaluronidases were present in the aqueous medium. In the solid state, these complexes were self-assembled in a biphasic layered structure in which the surfactant and the polysaccharide phases were alternating regularly with a periodicity dependent on the length of the alkanoyl chain. The paraffinic phase was found to be crystallized in saturated complexes with n ≥ 14, but only 18ACh·HyA showed reversible melting crystallization when subjected to cyclic heating-cooling treatment. Nanoparticles with diameters in the 50-150 nm range were prepared by ionotropic gelation from unbalanced 18ACh·HyA complexes with surfactant:HyA ratios of 0.5 and 0.25. These nanoparticles were also structured in layers, swelled slowly in water, and shown to be noncytotoxic in in vitro assays against macrophages cells. It was also shown that the anticancer drug doxorubicin was efficiently encapsulated in both films and NPs of 18ACh·HyA, and its release was shown to be almost linear and complete after one day of incubation in physiological medium. The nACh·HyA complexes constitute a highly promising biocompatible/biodegradable platform for the design of systems suitable for drug transport and targeting delivery in anticancer chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Gamarra
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, ETSEIB, Diagonal 647 , 08028 Barcelona , Spain
| | | | | | | | - Katharina Landfester
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10 , 55128 Mainz , Germany
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Gamarra A, Urpí L, Martínez de Ilarduya A, Muñoz-Guerra S. Crystalline structure and thermotropic behavior of alkyltrimethylphosphonium amphiphiles. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2017; 19:4370-4382. [PMID: 28119974 DOI: 10.1039/c6cp08304h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Quaternary organophosphonium salts bearing long alkyl chains are cationic surfactants of interest owing to their physical and biological properties. In the present work, the crystal structure and thermotropic behavior of the homologous series of alkyltrimethylphosphonium bromides (nATMP·Br), with the alkyl chain containing an even number (n) of carbon atoms from 12 to 22, have been examined within the 0-300 °C range of temperatures. These compounds were shown to be resistant to heat up to ∼390 °C. The phases adopted at different temperatures were detected by DSC, and the structural changes involved in the phase transitions have been characterized by simultaneous WAXS and SAXS carried out in real-time, and by polarizing optical microscopy as well. Three or four phases were identified for n = 12 and 14 or n ≥ 16, respectively, in agreement with the heat exchange peaks observed by DSC. The phase existing at room temperature (Ph-I) was found to be fully crystalline and its crystal lattice was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Ph-II consisted of a semicrystalline structure that can be categorized as Smectic-B with the crystallized ionic pairs hexagonally arranged in layers and the molten alkyl chain confined in the interlayer space. Ph-II of 12ATMP·Br and 14ATMP·Br directly isotropicized upon heating at ∼220 °C, whereas for n ≥ 16, it converted into a Smectic-A phase (Ph-III) that needed to be heated above ∼240 °C to become isotropic (Ph-Is). The correlation existing between the thermal behavior, phase structure and length of the alkyl side chain has been demonstrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Gamarra
- Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, ETSEIB, Diagonal 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
| | - Lourdes Urpí
- Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, ETSEIB, Diagonal 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
| | - Antxon Martínez de Ilarduya
- Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, ETSEIB, Diagonal 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
| | - Sebastián Muñoz-Guerra
- Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, ETSEIB, Diagonal 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
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Goossens K, Lava K, Bielawski CW, Binnemans K. Ionic Liquid Crystals: Versatile Materials. Chem Rev 2016; 116:4643-807. [PMID: 27088310 DOI: 10.1021/cr400334b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 411] [Impact Index Per Article: 51.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
This Review covers the recent developments (2005-2015) in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of thermotropic ionic liquid crystals. It was designed to give a comprehensive overview of the "state-of-the-art" in the field. The discussion is focused on low molar mass and dendrimeric thermotropic ionic mesogens, as well as selected metal-containing compounds (metallomesogens), but some references to polymeric and/or lyotropic ionic liquid crystals and particularly to ionic liquids will also be provided. Although zwitterionic and mesoionic mesogens are also treated to some extent, emphasis will be directed toward liquid-crystalline materials consisting of organic cations and organic/inorganic anions that are not covalently bound but interact via electrostatic and other noncovalent interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karel Goossens
- Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), Institute for Basic Science (IBS) , Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea.,Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. Box 2404, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
| | - Kathleen Lava
- Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. Box 2404, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium.,Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281 S4, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Christopher W Bielawski
- Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), Institute for Basic Science (IBS) , Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea.,Department of Chemistry and Department of Energy Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) , Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea
| | - Koen Binnemans
- Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. Box 2404, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
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Lei L, Feng L, Song B, Zhai Z, Shang S, Song Z. Ionic liquid crystals with novel thermal properties formed by the gemini surfactants containing four hydroxyl groups. RSC Adv 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6ra23235c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The ionic liquid crystals formed by the gemini surfactants containing four hydroxyl groups show sustained-release behavior of phase enthalpy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lan Lei
- Key Laboratory of Food Colloids and Biotechnology
- Ministry of Education
- School of Chemical & Materials Engineering
- Jiangnan University
- Wuxi
| | - Lin Feng
- Key Laboratory of Food Colloids and Biotechnology
- Ministry of Education
- School of Chemical & Materials Engineering
- Jiangnan University
- Wuxi
| | - Binglei Song
- Key Laboratory of Food Colloids and Biotechnology
- Ministry of Education
- School of Chemical & Materials Engineering
- Jiangnan University
- Wuxi
| | - Zhaolan Zhai
- Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials
- Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products
- CAF
- Nanjing
- China
| | - Shibin Shang
- Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials
- Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products
- CAF
- Nanjing
- China
| | - Zhanqian Song
- Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials
- Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products
- CAF
- Nanjing
- China
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Tolentino A, Alla A, Martínez de Ilarduya A, Muñoz-Guerra S. Complexes of polyglutamic acid and long-chain alkanoylcholines: Nanoparticle formation and drug release. Int J Biol Macromol 2014; 66:346-53. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.02.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2013] [Revised: 02/17/2014] [Accepted: 02/19/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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