From multi-responsive tri- and diblock copolymers to diblock-copolymer-decorated gold nanoparticles: the effect of architecture on micellization behaviors in aqueous solutions

Dispersibility of TiO2 Nanoparticles in Less Polar Solvents: Role of Ligand Tail Structures

Nanoparticles (NPs) are inherently prone to aggregation and loss of their size-derived properties, thus it is essential to enhance their dispersibility for applications. In less polar solvents, organic ligands containing oleyl groups are known as good dispersants due to their inefficient shell packing and inhibition of chain-chain crystallization as well as interdigitation between adjacent NPs. However, reagents with oleyl structures, such as oleic acid and oleylamine, can contain trans double bonds and saturated impurities, which might affect the chemical and/or physical properties of the NPs. Nevertheless, the effect of slight differences in surface ligand structure, including isomers, on the dispersibility of NPs has been little studied. We have synthesized five phosphonic acid ligands to investigate the structure-dispersibility relationship in detail. Dynamic light scattering and visible light transmittance revealed that not only regio- but also the stereochemistries of the C=C double bond in the ligand molecule, as well as the choice of solvent, are key factors in enhancing dispersibility.

Multi-stimuli-responsive aggregation of nanoparticles driven by the manipulation of colloidal stability

The capacity to control the dispersed or aggregated state of colloidal particles is particularly attractive for facilitating a diverse range of smart applications. For this reason, stimuli-responsive nanoparticles have garnered much attention in recent years. Colloidal systems that exhibit multi-stimuli-responsive behaviour are particularly interesting materials due to the greater spatial and temporal control they display in terms of dispersion/aggregation status; such behaviour can be exploited for implant formation, easy separation of a previously dispersed material or for the blocking of unwanted pores. This review will provide an overview of the recent publications regarding multi-stimuli-responsive microgels and hybrid core-shell nanoparticles. These polymer-based nanoparticles are highly sensitive to environmental conditions and can form aggregated clusters due to a loss of colloidal stability, triggered by temperature, pH and ionic strength stimuli. We aim to provide the reader with a discussion of the recent developments in this area, as well as an understanding of the fundamental concepts which underpin the responsive behaviour, and an exploration of their applications.

Macroscopic Au@PANI Core/Shell Nanoparticle Superlattice Monolayer Film with Dual-Responsive Plasmonic Switches

The self-assembled gold nanoparticle (NP) superlattice displays unusual but distinctive features such as high mechanical and free-standing performance, electrical conductivity, and plasmonic properties, which are widely employed in various applications especially in biological diagnostics and optoelectronic devices. For a two-dimensional (2D) superlattice monolayer film composed of a given metal nanostructure, it is rather challenging to tune either its plasmonic properties or its optical properties in a reversible way, and it has not been reported. It is therefore of significant value to construct a free-standing 2D superlattice monolayer film of gold nanoparticles with an intelligent response and desired functions. Herein, we developed an easy and efficient approach to construct a gold nanoparticle superlattice film with a dual-responsive plasmonic switch. In this system, gold nanoparticles were coated by polyaniline (PANI) and then interracially self-assembled into a monolayer film at the air-liquid interface. The PANI shell plays two important roles in the superlattice monolayer film. First, the PANI shell acts as a physical spacer to provide a steric hindrance to counteract the van der Waals (vdW) attraction between densely packed nanoparticles (NPs), resulting in the formation of a superlattice by adjusting the thickness of the PANI shell. Second, the PANI shells provide the superlattice film with multiple stimuli such as electrical potential and pH change, leading to reversible optical and plasmonic responsiveness. The superlattice monolayer film can show a vivid color change from olive green to pink, or from olive green to violet by the change of the corresponding stimuli. Also, the localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) of the superlattice monolayer film can be reversibly modulated by both by changing the local pH and applying an electric potential. Notably, a significant plasmonic shift of 157 nm can be achieved in the superlattice monolayer film when the PANI shell with a thickness of 35 nm and gold nanorods as a core were used. The superlattice monolayer film with dual-responsive plasmonic switches is promising for a range of potential applications in optoelectronic devices, plasmonic and colorimetric sensors, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

Versatile fabrication of patchy nanoparticles via patterning of grafted diblock copolymers on NP surface

Patchy nanoparticle formation via the patterning of grafted diblock copolymers on NP surface.

Stimuli Responsive Polymeric Systems for Cancer Therapy

Nanoscale polymers systems have dominated the revolution of drug delivery advancement. Their potential in the fight against cancer is unrivalled with other technologies. Their functionality increase, targeting ability and stimuli responsive nature have led to a major boom in research focus. This review article concentrates on the use of these smart polymers in cancer therapy. Nanotechnologies have shown potential as drug carriers leading to increased drug efficacy and penetration. Multifunctional smart carriers which can release their payload upon an external or internal trigger such as pH or temperature are proving to be major frontrunners in the development of effective strategies to overcome this disease with minimal patient side effects.

Gold Nanoparticles Grafted with PLL-b-PNIPAM: Interplay on Thermal/pH Dual-Response and Optical Properties

Narrowly distributed poly(l-lysine-b-N-isopropylacrylamide) (PLL-b-PNIPAM) was prepared through ring-opening polymerization of ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-l-lysine N-carboxy-α-amino anhydride and atom transfer radical polymerization of NIPAM, followed with the removal of ε-benzyloxycarbonyl group. Then gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) grafted with PLL-b-PNIPAM (PNIPAM-PLL-AuNPs) were obtained by the reduction of chloroauric acid with sodium citrate in the presence of PLL-b-PNIPAM. PNIPAM-PLL-AuNPs and its precursors were thoroughly characterized by proton magnetic resonance spectroscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscope, UV-vis spectroscope, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, thermogravimetric analysis, and circular dichroism. The obtained PNIPAM-PLL-AuNPs exhibited high colloid stability even at strong alkaline (pH = 12) and acidic (pH = 2) conditions. The thermal and pH dual-responsive behaviors of the grafting PLL-b-PNIPAM chains was observed to be affected by AuNPs, while not for the secondary structure of PLL chains. Correspondingly, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of AuNPs was found to be sensitive to both pH value and temperature. A blue shift in the SPR happened both with increasing pH value and increasing temperature. The stimuli-response was reversible in heating-cooling cycles. The gold nanoparticles with both pH and temperature response may have potential applications in biomedical areas and biosensors.

A facile route towards PDMAEMA homopolymer amphiphiles

Well-defined poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) has been modified at low degrees of quaternization of the tertiary amine groups using alkyl halides with long alkyl chains as the quaternization agents. The resulting PDMAEMA-co-PQDMAEMA copolymers were studied in aqueous solution using potentiometric titrations, turbidimetry, surface tensiometry, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements. An increase of the hydrophilicity of the precursor polymer, leading to an increase or even elimination of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) for the quaternized copolymers was found; this extended the temperature range of the stable polymer solution. At the same time, it was shown that the hydrophobic character of the polymer increases upon quaternization, leading to higher surface activity compared to the precursor PDMAEMA homopolymer, and, thus, to more effective polymeric surfactants. This contradiction in the copolymer behavior was attributed to the interplay between the polymer self-assembly in the aqueous medium and the polymer adsorption at the air/water interface, which dominate the cloud point and the surface properties, respectively.

Dual Thermoresponsive Aggregation of Schizophrenic PDMAEMA-b-PSBMA Copolymer with an Unrepeatable pH Response and a Recycled CO2/N2 Response

A dual thermoresponsive block copolymer of poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]-block-poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PDMAEMA-b-PSBMA) exhibited reversible schizophrenic aggregation behavior in water because of the upper critical solution temperature (UCST) of the PSBMA block and the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the PDMAEMA block. Both the UCST and LCST shifted to lower values with increasing DMAEMA/SBMA block ratios, which was ascribed to the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance of both blocks. Because of the salt-sensitive PSBMA and pH-responsive PDMAEMA, the UCST and LCST values of PDMAEMA-b-PSBMA were codetermined by varying the salt concentrations and pH. Specifically, increasing the salt concentration resulted in a notable decrease in the UCST and a slight increase in the LCST due to the salt-induced screening of the electrostatic attractions of the PSBMA and salt-enhanced solubility of the PSBMA blocks, respectively. The LCST decreased with increasing pH because of the deprotonation of PDMAEMA, and the UCST first increased and then decreased with increasing pH. Besides, the copolymer with larger PDMAEMA content was more sensitive to pH. For the repetitive adjustment to thermoresponsive aggregation, repeated addition of acids and bases induced salt accumulation and diminished the switchability of pH, whereas repeated switching cycles were achieved by CO₂/N₂ bubbling without introducing salt enrichment. The difference in HCl/NaOH titration and CO₂/N₂ bubbling also existed in the switching cycles when PDMAEMA-b-PSBMA served as a stimulus-responsive emulsifier.

Double thermoresponsive pentablock copolymers: synthesis by one-pot RAFT polymerization and self-assembly in aqueous solutions

Pentablock copolymers synthesized by one-pot successive RAFT polymerization are double thermoresponsive and exhibit block sequence dependent aggregation in aqueous solutions.

Structural properties of polymer-brush-grafted gold nanoparticles at the oil-water interface: insights from coarse-grained simulations

In this work, the structural properties of amphiphilic polymer-brush-grafted gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) at the oil-water interface were investigated by coarse-grained simulations. The effects of grafting architecture (diblock, mixed and Janus brush-grafted AuNPs) and hydrophilicity of polymer brushes are discussed. Simulation results indicate that functionalized AuNPs present abundant morphologies including typical core-shell, Janus-type, jellyfish-like, etc., in a water or oil-water solvent environment. It is found that hydrophobic/weak hydrophilic polymer-brush-grafted AuNPs have better phase transfer performance, especially for AuNPs modified with hydrophobic chains as outer blocks and weak hydrophilic chains as inner blocks. This kind of AuNP can cross the interface region and move into the oil phase completely. For hydrophobic/strong hydrophilic polymer-brush-grafted AuNPs, they are trapped in the interface region instead of moving into any phase. The mechanism of phase transfer is ascribed to the flexibility and mobility of outer blocks. Besides, we study the desorption energy by PMF analysis. The results demonstrate that Janus brush-grafted AuNPs show the highest interfacial stability and activity, which can be further strengthened by increasing the hydrophilicity of grafted polymer brushes. This work will promote the industrial applications of polymer-brush-grafted NPs such as phase transfer catalysis and Pickering emulsion catalysis.