Instant mucus dressing of PEO reinforced by chitosan nanofiber scaffold for open wound healing

Dressings seamlessly attached to the open wound bed are necessary for fully unleashing the dressing healing ability, as leaving the voids beneath the dressing poses infection hazards. The present study prepared an instant mucus dressing (IMD) of polyethylene oxide (PEO) reinforced by chitosan (CS) nanofiber scaffold, which formed by immersing PEO/CS nanofiber mat in water. The PEO/CS nanofiber mat were fabricated by the solution blow spinning (SBS) method using PEO and CS mixed solutions. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scan calorimetry (DSC) analyses indicate that PEO macromolecules formed the most of nanofiber shell due to their lower surface tension while CS macromolecules stayed mainly inside the fiber as the core. When such a PEO/CS nanofiber mat was immersed in water, PEO swelled to form mucus dressing reinforced by CS inside the nanofiber, which was fluidic and able to fully fill the voids on the wound. In vivo rat experiment verified that the dressing significantly accelerated the open wound healing through seamlessly attaching of mucus to the open wound and providing moist environment. The dressings exhibit good platelets and whole blood cells adhesion properties, excellent hemostasis function and no cytotoxicity. This instant mucus dressing provided a new perspective for manufacturing high performance open wound dressings.

Structure and Thermodynamics of Linear, Ring, and Catenane Polymers in Solutions and at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces

In recent decades, advances in the syntheses of mechanically interlocked macromolecules, such as catenanes, have led to much greater interest in the applications of these complexes, from molecular motors and actuators to nanoscale computational memory and nanoswitches. Much remains to be understood, however, regarding how catenated ring compounds behave as a result of the effects of different solvents as well as the effects of solvent/solvent interfaces. In this work, we have investigated, using molecular dynamics simulations, the effects of solvation of poly(ethylene oxide) chains of different topologies─linear, ring, and [2]catenane─in two solvents both considered favorable toward PEO (water, toluene) and at the water/toluene interface. Compared to ring and [2]catenane molecules, the linear PEO chain showed the largest increase in size at the water/toluene interface compared to bulk water or bulk toluene. Perhaps surprisingly, observations indicate that the tendency of all three topologies to extend at the water/toluene interface may have more to do with screening the interaction between the two solvents than with optimizing specific solvent-polymer contacts.

Microfluidic synthesis of multilayered lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles for the formulation of low solubility drugs

Hybrid phospholipid/block copolymer membranes where polymers and lipids are molecularly mixed or phase-separated into polymer-rich and lipid-rich domains are promising drug delivery materials. Harnessing the chemical diversity of polymers and the biocompatability of lipids is a compelling approach to design the next generation of drug carriers. Here, we report on the development of a microfluidics-based strategy analogous to produce lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for the nanomanufacturing of multilayered hybrid nanoparticles (HNPs). Using X-ray scattering, Cryo-electron, and polarized microscopy we show that phosphatidylcholine (PC) and PBD-b-PEO (poly(butadiene-block-ethylene oxide)) hybrid membranes can be nanomanufactured by microfluidics into HNPs with dense and multilayered cores which are ideal carriers of low-solubility drugs of the Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) II and IV such as antimalarial DSM265 and Paclitaxel, respectively.

Reversible Dehydration-Hydration of Poly(ethylene glycol) in Langmuir Monolayers of a Diblock Copolymer Inferred from Changes in Filament Curvature

We investigated changes in the hydration state of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) through morphological changes in Langmuir monolayers of a PEG-poly(l-lactide) (PlLA) (PEG-b-PlLA) diblock copolymer. When the PEG blocks were hydrated, we observed a remarkable morphology of bundles of ring-like filaments, arranged concentrically, yielding densely packed disk-like objects with a hollow center. We attribute the uniform curvature of these filaments to a strong mismatch between the molecular volumes occupied by PlLA blocks and hydrated PEG blocks. Under the constraint that each hydrated PEG block is attached to a hydrophobic PlLA block anchored to the air-water interface, this mismatch of molecular volumes caused strong repulsion within the PEG layer, in particular when the PlLA blocks packed tightly. Induced by a transition in the ordering of the PlLA blocks, the PEG blocks lost their hydration shell and packed into a dense polymer brush, accompanied by a reduction of the pressure within the PEG layer. During this packing process, the curvature of the filaments was eliminated and the ring-like filaments fractured into small linear pieces. Upon compression, the linear pieces coalesced and formed long filaments aligned in parallel. Importantly, upon expansion of the Langmuir film, these changes in morphology were reversible, and the PEG blocks could be rehydrated and bundles of concentrically arranged ring-like filaments were reformed. We conclude that the change in curvature of the filaments provides a means for distinguishing between the hydrated and dehydrated states of PEG.

Insight into the use of ionic liquid-based polymer electrolyte for super capacitor application (RAFM-2022)

In this study, we are presenting the recent progress toward PEO-based polymer electrolytes doped with low viscosity ionic liquids with a strong emphasis on ionic liquid doped-in polymer electrolytes for energy storage applications, particularly towards electric double layer capacitors. The reliable transmission mechanism suggested by previous researchers to address the increasing trend in transport properties is ascertained with a sharp sense of the presence of different concentrations of interaction, i.e. polymer ionic liquid was also presented in detail.

Coarse-Grained Model of Thiol-Epoxy-Based Alternating Copolymers in Explicit Solvents

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.

Hydrogen Bonding Sequence Directed Coil-Globule Transition in Water Soluble Thermoresponsive Polymers

The origin of the coil-globule transition for water-soluble thermoresponsive polymers frequently used in nanomaterials remains elusive. Using polypropylene oxide as an example we demonstrate by means of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations that temperature-induced increase in the sequence length of monomers that are not hydrogen bonded to water drives the coil-globule transition. Longer chains statistically exhibit longer sequences which serve as nucleation sites for hydrophobic cluster formation, facilitating chain collapse at lower temperature in agreement with experimental data.

Flow-Induced Formation of Thin PEO Fibers in Water and Their Stability After the Strain Release

Recently, we have shown that a tensile stress applied to chains of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in water reduces the solubility and leads to phase separation of PEO chains from water with the formation of a two-phase region. In this work, we further elucidate the generic mechanism behind strain-induced phase transitions in aqueous PEO solutions with concentrations of 50-60 wt % by performing all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. In particular, we study the stability of oriented PEO fibers after removing stretching forces. We found that the size of the PEO bundle increased with time, which is associated with the dissolution of PEO chains on the fiber surface due to the reformation of hydrogen bonds between the outer PEO molecules and water. For precise characterization of the fibers, the scattering patterns (small- and wide-angle X-ray spectra) for configurations taken at different relaxation times are calculated. The tendency of the oligomer chains to be peeled off from the surface of the bundle eventually might lead to a complete dissolution of the PEO fiber. We conclude that either entanglement constraints or a quick drying process are necessary to conserve the fiber structure in a quiescent state. The scattering results show that external strain induced a liquid-liquid phase separation first. On long time scales, this can be a precursor for crystallization of the fiber.

Flow-induced crystallisation of polymers from aqueous solution

Synthetic polymers are thoroughly embedded in the modern society and their consumption grows annually. Efficient routes to their production and processing have never been more important. In this respect, silk protein fibrillation is superior to conventional polymer processing, not only by achieving outstanding physical properties of materials, such as high tensile strength and toughness, but also improved process energy efficiency. Natural silk solidifies in response to flow of the liquid using conformation-dependent intermolecular interactions to desolvate (denature) protein chains. This mechanism is reproduced here by an aqueous poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) solution, which solidifies at ambient conditions when subjected to flow. The transition requires that an energy threshold is exceeded by the flow conditions, which disrupts a protective hydration shell around polymer molecules, releasing them from a metastable state into the thermodynamically favoured crystalline state. This mechanism requires vastly lower energy inputs and demonstrates an alternative route for polymer processing.

Electrokinetic Behavior of Laponite RD in Aqueous Suspensions Containing Poly(ethylene oxide) and Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide

The aqueous suspensions of Laponite RD (Lap) platelets demonstrate rich phase diagrams. Both poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) molecules competitively adsorb on the surface of Lap, and strong interactions between PEO and CTAB exist. The stability of ternary systems Lap + PEO + CTAB can be finely regulated by changing the balance of these interactions. The electrokinetic technique was used to study 0.065 and 2% wt Lap suspensions in the presence of different amounts of PEO of various molecular masses M_w (400-20,000 g/mol) and CTAB (0-1 mM). For 0.065% wt Lap suspension, the additives of PEO did not affect the position of the isoelectric point (IEP), but the impact of PEO in the regions below or above the IEP was significant, especially for a large M_w. The observed effects were explained, accounting the model for the adsorption of PEO in the form of loops and tails as well as for the changes in the packing balance of CTAB and PEO on the surface of Lap. For 2% wt suspension, the strong effects of M_w on the ζ-potential and aggregation of particles were explained by screening the repulsive double layers by PEO chains, by bridging the Lap particles via PEO molecules, and by the impact of CTAB molecules on the bridging between Lap aggregates.

Effect of sodium gluconate on molecular conformation of polycarboxylate superplasticizer studied by the molecular dynamics simulation

Sodium gluconate (SG) has been accepted as one of the main additional components in polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PCE) system, due to its excellent retarding effect. While the negative effect on dispersion of PCE was reported in the literature, the reason was not completely revealed. In this study, molecular dynamics simulation was used to investigate the mutual influence between SG and PCE in calcium hydroxide (CH) solution. Radial distribution function (RDF) was used to analyze the effects of SG on the complexation of PCE with Ca²⁺. Radius of gyration (Rg) was adopted to characterize the conformations of the backbone and side chains of PCE in CH solution. Finally, several adsorption and dispersion models were proposed. The results showed that the presence of SG would perturb adsorption of PCE, which was one of the main reasons that affected the dispersion ability of PCE. SG could preferentially combine with Ca²⁺ so that less amount of Ca²⁺ is available for combination of PCE, and this could extend the main chain of PCE and show advantage for PCE adsorption. Besides, adding SG could squeeze the side chains of PCE, which would put a negative effect on the dispersion. These findings gave deeper insight into understanding the dispersion mechanism of PCE-SG system.

On the origin of the extremely different solubilities of polyethers in water

The solubilities of polyethers are surprisingly counter-intuitive. The best-known example is the difference between polyethylene glycol ([-CH₂-CH₂-O-]_n) which is infinitely soluble, and polyoxymethylene ([-CH₂-O-]_n) which is completely insoluble in water, exactly the opposite of what one expects from the C/O ratios of these molecules. Similar anomalies exist for oligomeric and cyclic polyethers. To solve this apparent mystery, we use femtosecond vibrational and GHz dielectric spectroscopy with complementary ab initio calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the dynamics of water molecules solvating polyethers is fundamentally different depending on their C/O composition. The ab initio calculations and simulations show that this is not because of steric effects (as is commonly believed), but because the partial charge on the O atoms depends on the number of C atoms by which they are separated. Our results thus show that inductive effects can have a major impact on aqueous solubilities.

Hydration of diblock copolymer micelles: Effects of hydrophobicity and co-solvent

Diblock polymer micelles dispersed in an aqueous environment are being actively investigated for various applications, but there is only a qualitative understanding of the effect of the chemical structure on the micelle hydration and water dynamics as these properties are difficult to assess experimentally. Using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate aqueous solutions of three comparable in size diblock copolymer micelles with core-forming blocks of different hydrophobicity: polybutadiene (PB), polycaprolactone (PCL), and polytetrahydrofuran (pTHF) with the same hydrophilic block, polyethylene oxide (PEO). We found that core-block hydrophobicity and ability to form hydrogen bonds with water strongly affect the water dynamics near the core: water molecules spend considerably less time in contact with the PB block than with PCL and pTHF blocks. We obtained polymer and solvent volume fraction profiles and determined that the interfacial width systematically increases with a decrease of core block hydrophobicity with water penetration into the core being negligible for PB-PEO and PCL-PEO micelles, while for pTHF-PEO micelles the interface is more diffuse and there is a noticeable penetration of water (17% by volume). For PCL-PEO micelles, which are commonly used in biomedical applications, we also investigated tetrahydrofuran (THF) penetration into the micelles from mixed THF:water solution at early stages of micelle dissolution. We found an inhomogeneous solvent distribution with a maximum of THF volume fraction in the interfacial core-corona region and partial exclusion from the PEO corona, which slows down micelle dissolution. These results can have important implications for micelle stability and use in biomedical applications.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Strain-Induced Phase Transition of Poly(ethylene oxide) in Water

We study the dilute aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) oligomers that are subject to an elongating force dipole acting on both chain ends using atomistic molecular dynamics. By increasing the force, liquid-liquid demixing can be observed at room temperature far below the lower critical solution temperature. For forces above 35 pN, fibrillar nanostructures are spontaneously formed related to a decrease in hydrogen bonding between PEO and water. Most notable is a rapid decrease in the bifurcated hydrogen bonds during stretching, which can also be observed for isolated single chains. The phase-segregated structures display signs of chain ordering, but a clear signature of the crystalline order is not obtained during the simulation time, indicating a liquid-liquid phase transition induced by chain stretching. Our results indicate that the solvent quality of the aqueous solution of PEO depends on the conformational state of the chains, which is most likely related to the specific hydrogen-bond-induced solvation of PEO in water. The strain-induced demixing of PEO opens the possibility to obtain polymer fibers with low energy costs because crystallization starts via the strain-induced demixing in the extended state only.