1
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Dai Y, Wang ZG, Zare RN. Unlocking the electrochemical functions of biomolecular condensates. Nat Chem Biol 2024:10.1038/s41589-024-01717-y. [PMID: 39327453 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-024-01717-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2024] [Indexed: 09/28/2024]
Abstract
Biomolecular condensation is a key mechanism for organizing cellular processes in a spatiotemporal manner. The phase-transition nature of this process defines a density transition of the whole solution system. However, the physicochemical features and the electrochemical functions brought about by condensate formation are largely unexplored. We here illustrate the fundamental principles of how the formation of condensates generates distinct electrochemical features in the dilute phase, the dense phase and the interfacial region. We discuss the principles by which these distinct chemical and electrochemical environments can modulate biomolecular functions through the effects brought about by water, ions and electric fields. We delineate the potential impacts on cellular behaviors due to the modulation of chemical and electrochemical environments through condensate formation. This Perspective is intended to serve as a general road map to conceptualize condensates as electrochemically active entities and to assess their functions from a physical chemistry aspect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Dai
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
| | - Richard N Zare
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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2
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Ma Y, Ivancic RJS, Obrzut J, Audus DJ, Prabhu VM. Effect of cosolvents on the phase separation of polyelectrolyte complexes. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:7512-7520. [PMID: 39268689 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00903g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/17/2024]
Abstract
Evidence is shown that cosolvent mixtures control the coacervation of mixtures of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Binary and ternary solvent mixtures lead to non-monotonic solubility as a function of the average dielectric constants of the solvent mixtures. These data are rationalized by considering both electrostatic-driven phase separation and solvophobic-driven phase separation using group contribution effects on solubility parameters. These estimates are introduced into an effective Flory-Huggins interaction parameter within the framework of Voorn-Overbeek theory with variable dielectric constants and temperature dependences. Despite its simplicity, the model recovers salient experimental observations not only on their coacervate stabilities, but also on their lower critical solution temperature behaviors. These observations highlight the importance of weak van der Waals interactions in determining the phase behaviors of polyelectrolyte complexes relative to electrostatic correlations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanchi Ma
- College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, China.
| | - Robert J S Ivancic
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
| | - Jan Obrzut
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
| | - Debra J Audus
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
| | - Vivek M Prabhu
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
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3
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Cho J. Two Methods Based on Integral Equation Approaches in Analyzing Polyelectrolyte Solutions: Macrophase Separation. Polymers (Basel) 2024; 16:2255. [PMID: 39204475 PMCID: PMC11360440 DOI: 10.3390/polym16162255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2024] [Revised: 08/02/2024] [Accepted: 08/06/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
To understand the phase behaviors of polyelectrolyte solutions, we provide two analytical methods to formulate a molecular equation of state for a system of fully charged polyanions (PAs) and polycations (PCs) in a monomeric neutral component, based on integral equation theories. The mixture is treated in a primitive and restricted manner. The first method utilizes Blum's approach to charged hard spheres, incorporating the chain connectivity contribution by charged spheres via Stell's cavity function method. The second method employs Wertheim's multi-density Ornstein-Zernike treatment of charged hard spheres with Baxter's adhesive potential. The pressures derived from these methods are compared to available molecular dynamics simulations data for a solution of PAs and monomeric counterions as a limiting case. Two-phase equilibrium for the system is calculated using both methods to evaluate the relative strength of phase segregation that leads to complex coacervation. Additionally, the scaling exponents for a selected solution near its critical point are examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhan Cho
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin 16890, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
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4
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Guo X, Farag M, Qian N, Yu X, Ni A, Ma Y, Yu W, King MR, Liu V, Lee J, Zare RN, Min W, Pappu RV, Dai Y. Biomolecular condensates can function as inherent catalysts. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.06.602359. [PMID: 39026887 PMCID: PMC11257451 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.06.602359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
We report the discovery that chemical reactions such as ATP hydrolysis can be catalyzed by condensates formed by intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), which themselves lack any intrinsic ability to function as enzymes. This inherent catalytic feature of condensates derives from the electrochemical environments and the electric fields at interfaces that are direct consequences of phase separation. The condensates we studied were capable of catalyzing diverse hydrolysis reactions, including hydrolysis and radical-dependent breakdown of ATP whereby ATP fully decomposes to adenine and multiple carbohydrates. This distinguishes condensates from naturally occurring ATPases, which can only catalyze the dephosphorylation of ATP. Interphase and interfacial properties of condensates can be tuned via sequence design, thus enabling control over catalysis through sequence-dependent electrochemical features of condensates. Incorporation of hydrolase-like synthetic condensates into live cells enables activation of transcriptional circuits that depend on products of hydrolysis reactions. Inherent catalytic functions of condensates, which are emergent consequences of phase separation, are likely to affect metabolic regulation in cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Guo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Mina Farag
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Naixin Qian
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
| | - Xia Yu
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Anton Ni
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Yuefeng Ma
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Wen Yu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Matthew R. King
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Vicky Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Joonho Lee
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Richard N. Zare
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Wei Min
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
| | - Rohit V. Pappu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Yifan Dai
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
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5
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Staňo R, van Lente J, Lindhoud S, Košovan P. Sequestration of Small Ions and Weak Acids and Bases by a Polyelectrolyte Complex Studied by Simulation and Experiment. Macromolecules 2024; 57:1383-1398. [PMID: 38370910 PMCID: PMC10867894 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Mixing of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes can result in phase separation into a polymer-poor supernatant and a polymer-rich polyelectrolyte complex (PEC). We present a new coarse-grained model for the Grand-reaction method that enables us to determine the composition of the coexisting phases in a broad range of pH and salt concentrations. We validate the model by comparing it to recent simulations and experimental studies, as well as our own experiments on poly(acrylic acid)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) complexes. The simulations using our model predict that monovalent ions partition approximately equally between both phases, whereas divalent ones accumulate in the PEC phase. On a semiquantitative level, these results agree with our own experiments, as well as with other experiments and simulations in the literature. In the sequel, we use the model to study the partitioning of a weak diprotic acid at various pH values of the supernatant. Our results show that the ionization of the acid is enhanced in the PEC phase, resulting in its preferential accumulation in this phase, which monotonically increases with the pH. Currently, this effect is still waiting to be confirmed experimentally. We explore how the model parameters (particle size, charge density, permittivity, and solvent quality) affect the measured partition coefficients, showing that fine-tuning of these parameters can make the agreement with the experiments almost quantitative. Nevertheless, our results show that charge regulation in multivalent solutes can potentially be exploited in engineering the partitioning of charged molecules in PEC-based systems at various pH values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Staňo
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Vienna
Doctoral School in Physics, University of
Vienna, Boltzmanngasse
5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jéré
J. van Lente
- Department
of Molecules & Materials, University
of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Saskia Lindhoud
- Department
of Molecules & Materials, University
of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Košovan
- Department
of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, 128 40 Prague 2, Czech Republic
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6
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Joshi P, Decker C, Zeng X, Sathyavageeswaran A, Perry SL, Heldt CL. Design Rules for the Sequestration of Viruses into Polypeptide Complex Coacervates. Biomacromolecules 2024; 25:741-753. [PMID: 38103178 PMCID: PMC10866146 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Encapsulation is a strategy that has been used to facilitate the delivery and increase the stability of proteins and viruses. Here, we investigate the encapsulation of viruses via complex coacervation, which is a liquid-liquid phase separation resulting from the complexation of oppositely charged polymers. In particular, we utilized polypeptide-based coacervates and explored the effects of peptide chemistry, chain length, charge patterning, and hydrophobicity to better understand the effects of the coacervating polypeptides on virus incorporation. Our study utilized two nonenveloped viruses, porcine parvovirus (PPV) and human rhinovirus (HRV). PPV has a higher charge density than HRV, and they both appear to be relatively hydrophobic. These viruses were compared to characterize how the charge, hydrophobicity, and patterning of chemistry on the surface of the virus capsid affects encapsulation. Consistent with the electrostatic nature of complex coacervation, our results suggest that electrostatic effects associated with the net charge of both the virus and polypeptide dominated the potential for incorporating the virus into a coacervate, with clustering of charges also playing a significant role. Additionally, the hydrophobicity of a virus appears to determine the degree to which increasing the hydrophobicity of the coacervating peptides can enhance virus uptake. Nonintuitive trends in uptake were observed with regard to both charge patterning and polypeptide chain length, with these parameters having a significant effect on the range of coacervate compositions over which virus incorporation was observed. These results provide insights into biophysical mechanisms, where sequence effects can control the uptake of proteins or viruses into biological condensates and provide insights for use in formulation strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pratik
U. Joshi
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, United States
- Health
Research Institute, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, United States
| | - Claire Decker
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, United States
| | - Xianci Zeng
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Arvind Sathyavageeswaran
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Sarah L. Perry
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
- Institute
for Applied Life Sciences, University of
Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Caryn L. Heldt
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, United States
- Health
Research Institute, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, United States
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7
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Celora GL, Blossey R, Münch A, Wagner B. Counterion-controlled phase equilibria in a charge-regulated polymer solution. J Chem Phys 2023; 159:184902. [PMID: 37942872 DOI: 10.1063/5.0169610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
We study phase equilibria in a minimal model of charge-regulated polymer solutions. Our model consists of a single polymer species whose charge state arises from protonation-deprotonation processes in the presence of a dissolved acid, whose anions serve as screening counterions. We explicitly account for variability in the polymers' charge states. Homogeneous equilibria in this model system are characterised by the total concentration of polymers, the concentration of counter-ions and the charge distributions of polymers which can be computed with the help of analytical approximations. We use these analytical results to characterise how parameter values and solution acidity influence equilibrium charge distributions and identify for which regimes uni-modal and multi-modal charge distributions arise. We then study the interplay between charge regulation, solution acidity and phase separation. We find that charge regulation has a significant impact on polymer solubility and allows for non-linear responses to the solution acidity: Re-entrant phase behaviour is possible in response to increasing solution acidity. Moreover, we show that phase separation can yield to the coexistence of local environments characterised by different charge distributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia L Celora
- Department of Mathematics, University College London, 25 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AY, United Kingdom
| | - Ralf Blossey
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 8576 - UGSF - Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Andreas Münch
- Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Andrew Wiles Building, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Barbara Wagner
- Weierstrass Institute, Mohrenstr. 39, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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8
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Biswas S, Hecht AL, Noble SA, Huang Q, Gillilan RE, Xu AY. Understanding the Impacts of Molecular and Macromolecular Crowding Agents on Protein-Polymer Complex Coacervates. Biomacromolecules 2023; 24:4771-4782. [PMID: 37815312 PMCID: PMC10646951 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
Complex coacervation refers to the liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) process occurring between charged macromolecules. The study of complex coacervation is of great interest due to its implications in the formation of membraneless organelles (MLOs) in living cells. However, the impacts of the crowded intracellular environment on the behavior and interactions of biomolecules involved in MLO formation are not fully understood. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the effects of crowding on a model protein-polymer complex coacervate system. Specifically, we examined the influence of sucrose as a molecular crowder and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a macromolecular crowder. Our results reveal that the presence of crowders led to the formation of larger coacervate droplets that remained stable over a 25-day period. While sucrose had a minimal effect on the physical properties of the coacervates, PEG led to the formation of coacervates with distinct characteristics, including higher density, increased protein and polymer content, and a more compact internal structure. These differences in coacervate properties can be attributed to the effects of crowders on individual macromolecules, such as the conformation of model polymers, and nonspecific interactions among model protein molecules. Moreover, our results show that sucrose and PEG have different partition behaviors: sucrose was present in both the coacervate and dilute phases, while PEG was observed to be excluded from the coacervate phase. Collectively, our findings provide insights into the understanding of crowding effects on complex coacervation, shedding light on the formation and properties of coacervates in the context of MLOs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanta Biswas
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States
| | - Alison L Hecht
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States
| | - Sadie A Noble
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States
| | - Qingqiu Huang
- Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Richard E Gillilan
- Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Amy Y Xu
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States
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9
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Dai Y, Zhou Z, Kim K, Rivera N, Mohammed J, Hsu-Kim H, Chilkoti A, You L. Global control of cellular physiology by biomolecular condensates through modulation of electrochemical equilibria. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.19.563018. [PMID: 37904914 PMCID: PMC10614965 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.19.563018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2023]
Abstract
Control of the electrochemical environment in living cells is typically attributed to ion channels. Here we show that the formation of biomolecular condensates can modulate the electrochemical environment in cells, which affects processes globally within the cell and interactions of the cell with its environment. Condensate formation results in the depletion or enrichment of certain ions, generating intracellular ion gradients. These gradients directly affect the electrochemical properties of a cell, including the cytoplasmic pH and hyperpolarization of the membrane potential. The modulation of the electrochemical equilibria between the intra- and extra-cellular environments by biomolecular condensates governs charge-dependent uptake of small molecules by cells, and thereby directly influences bacterial survival under antibiotic stress. The shift of the intracellular electrochemical equilibria by condensate formation also drives a global change of the gene expression profile. The control of the cytoplasmic environment by condensates is correlated with their volume fraction, which can be highly variable between cells due to the stochastic nature of gene expression at the single cell level. Thus, condensate formation can amplify cell-cell variability of the environmental effects induced by the shift of cellular electrochemical equilibria. Our work reveals new biochemical functions of condensates, which extend beyond the biomolecules driving and participating in condensate formation, and uncovers a new role of biomolecular condensates in cellular regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Dai
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130
| | - Zhengqing Zhou
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
| | - Kyeri Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
| | - Nelson Rivera
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
| | - Javid Mohammed
- Department of Immunology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27705
| | - Heileen Hsu-Kim
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
| | - Ashutosh Chilkoti
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
- Center for Quantitative Biodesign, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Lingchong You
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
- Center for Quantitative Biodesign, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710
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10
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Debais G, Missoni LL, Perez Sirkin YA, Tagliazucchi M. Theoretical treatment of complex coacervate core micelles: structure and pH-induced disassembly. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:7602-7612. [PMID: 37756111 DOI: 10.1039/d3sm01047c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/28/2023]
Abstract
Complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms) are supramolecular soft nanostructures formed by the assembly of a block copolymer and an oppositely charged homopolymer. The coacervation of the charged segments in both macromolecules drives the formation of the core of the C3M, while the neutral block of the copolymer forms the corona. This work introduces a molecular theory (MOLT) that predicts the internal structure and stimuli-responsive properties of C3Ms and explicitly considers the chemical architecture of the polyelectrolytes, their acid-based equilibria and electrostatic and non-electrostatic interactions. In order to accurately predict complex coacervation, the correlations between charged species are incorporated into MOLT as ion-pairing processes, which are modeled using a coupled chemical equilibrium formalism. Very good agreement was observed between the experimental results in the literature and MOLT predictions for the scaling relationships that relate the dimensions of the micelle (aggregation number and sizes of the micelle and the core) to the lengths of the different blocks. MOLT was used to study the disassembly of the micelles when the solution pH is driven away from the value that guarantees the charge stoichiometry of the core. This study reveals that very sharp disassembly transitions can be obtained by tuning the length or architecture of the copolymer component, thereby suggesting potential routes to design C3Ms capable of releasing their components at very precise pH values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Debais
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física y CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, C1428, Argentina.
| | - Leandro L Missoni
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física y CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, C1428, Argentina.
| | - Yamila A Perez Sirkin
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física y CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, C1428, Argentina.
| | - Mario Tagliazucchi
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física y CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, C1428, Argentina.
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11
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Coria-Oriundo LL, Debais G, Apuzzo E, Herrera SE, Ceolín M, Azzaroni O, Battaglini F, Tagliazucchi M. Phase Behavior and Electrochemical Properties of Highly Asymmetric Redox Coacervates. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:7636-7647. [PMID: 37639479 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c03680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
This work reports the phase behavior and electrochemical properties of liquid coacervates made of ferricyanide and poly(ethylenimine). In contrast to the typical polyanion/polycation pairs used in liquid coacervates, the ferricyanide/poly(ethylenimine) system is highly asymmetric because poly(ethylenimine) has approximately 170 charges per molecule, while ferricyanide has only 3. Two types of phase diagrams were measured and fitted with a theoretical model. In the first type of diagram, the stability of the coacervate was studied in the plane given by the concentration of poly(ethylenimine) versus the concentration of ferricyanide for a fixed concentration of added monovalent salt (NaCl). The second type of diagram involved the plane given by the concentration of poly(ethylenimine) vs the concentration of the added monovalent salt for a fixed poly(ethyleneimine)/ferricyanide ratio. Interestingly, these phase diagrams displayed qualitative similarities to those of symmetric polyanion/polycation systems, suggesting that coacervates formed by a polyelectrolyte and a small multivalent ion can be treated as a specific case of polyelectrolyte coacervate. The characterization of the electrochemical properties of the coacervate revealed that the addition of monovalent salt greatly enhances charge transport, presumably by breaking ion pairs between ferricyanide and poly(ethylenimine). This finding highlights the significant influence of added salt on the transport properties of coacervates. This study provides the first comprehensive characterization of the phase behavior and transport properties of asymmetric coacervates and places these results within the broader context of the better-known symmetric polyelectrolyte coacervates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy L Coria-Oriundo
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), CONICET─Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriel Debais
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), CONICET─Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Eugenia Apuzzo
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA-CONICET), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 64 y Diag. 113, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
| | - Santiago E Herrera
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), CONICET─Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marcelo Ceolín
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA-CONICET), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 64 y Diag. 113, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
| | - Omar Azzaroni
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA-CONICET), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 64 y Diag. 113, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
| | - Fernando Battaglini
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), CONICET─Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mario Tagliazucchi
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), CONICET─Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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12
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Herrera SE, Agazzi ML, Apuzzo E, Cortez ML, Marmisollé WA, Tagliazucchi M, Azzaroni O. Polyelectrolyte-multivalent molecule complexes: physicochemical properties and applications. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:2013-2041. [PMID: 36811333 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01507b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The complexation of polyelectrolytes with other oppositely charged structures gives rise to a great variety of functional materials with potential applications in a wide spectrum of technological fields. Depending on the assembly conditions, polyelectrolyte complexes can acquire different macroscopic configurations such as dense precipitates, nanosized colloids and liquid coacervates. In the past 50 years, much progress has been achieved to understand the principles behind the phase separation induced by the interaction of two oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions, especially for symmetric systems (systems in which both polyions have similar molecular weight and concentration). However, in recent years, the complexation of polyelectrolytes with alternative building blocks such as small charged molecules (multivalent inorganic species, oligopeptides, and oligoamines, among others) has gained attention in different areas. In this review, we discuss the physicochemical characteristics of the complexes formed by polyelectrolytes and multivalent small molecules, putting a special emphasis on their similarities with the well-known polycation-polyanion complexes. In addition, we analyze the potential of these complexes to act as versatile functional platforms in various technological fields, such as biomedicine and advanced materials engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago E Herrera
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, INQUIMAE, CONICET. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina.
| | - Maximiliano L Agazzi
- Instituto para el Desarrollo Agroindustrial y de la Salud (IDAS), (UNRC, CONICET), Ruta Nacional 36 KM 601, 5800 Río Cuarto, Argentina.
| | - Eugenia Apuzzo
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), (UNLP, CONICET), Sucursal 4, Casilla de Correo 16, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
| | - M Lorena Cortez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), (UNLP, CONICET), Sucursal 4, Casilla de Correo 16, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
| | - Waldemar A Marmisollé
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), (UNLP, CONICET), Sucursal 4, Casilla de Correo 16, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
| | - Mario Tagliazucchi
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, INQUIMAE, CONICET. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina.
| | - Omar Azzaroni
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), (UNLP, CONICET), Sucursal 4, Casilla de Correo 16, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
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13
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Mitra S, Kundagrami A. Polyelectrolyte complexation of two oppositely charged symmetric polymers: A minimal theory. J Chem Phys 2023; 158:014904. [PMID: 36610965 DOI: 10.1063/5.0128904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Interplay of Coulomb interaction energy, free ion entropy, and conformational elasticity is a fascinating aspect in polyelectrolytes (PEs). We develop a theory for complexation of two oppositely charged PEs, a process known to be the precursor to the formation of complex coacervates in PE solutions, to explore the underlying thermodynamics of complex formation, at low salts. The theory considers general degrees of solvent polarity and dielectricity within an implicit solvent model, incorporating a varying Coulomb strength. Explicit calculation of the free energy of complexation and its components indicates that the entropy of free counterions and salt ions and the Coulomb enthalpy of bound ion-pairs dictate the equilibrium of PE complexation. This helps decouple the self-consistent dependency of charge and size of the uncomplexed parts of the polyions, derive an analytical expression for charge, and evaluate the free energy components as functions of chain overlap. Complexation is observed to be driven by enthalpy gain at low Coulomb strengths, driven by entropy gain of released counterions but opposed by enthalpy loss due to reduction of ion-pairs at moderate Coulomb strengths, and progressively less favorable due to enthalpy loss at even higher Coulomb strengths. The total free energy of the system is found to decrease linearly with an overlap of chains. Thermodynamic predictions from our model are in good quantitative agreement with simulations in literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soumik Mitra
- Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, India
| | - Arindam Kundagrami
- Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, India
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14
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Chen X, Chen EQ, Yang S. Multiphase Coacervation of Polyelectrolytes Driven by Asymmetry of Charged Sequence. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xu Chen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Er-Qiang Chen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Shuang Yang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
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15
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Structure and Flocculation of Ion Associates of Carrageenan and Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) Depending on the Component Ratio. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 27:molecules27228075. [PMID: 36432178 PMCID: PMC9699330 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27228075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Carrageenan is a polysaccharide of a plant origin, commonly used as a thickening and gelling agent in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Due to the negative charges of its sulfate groups, carrageenan macromolecules strongly interact with oppositely charged polyions. The ionic complexes of carrageenan with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) were obtained at the molar ratios 4:1, 2;1, 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4. The structure and characteristics of the polyanion-polycation associates were studied by XRD, IR, optical microscopy, and via sedimentation and particle size measurements. It was found that the suspended particles flocculate and settle fastest when the molar ratio of the polyions is near 1:1. Turbidimetric titration experiments enabled us to measure the molar ratio of cationic to anionic groups at the onset of flocculation, and the value in question was found to be 1:1.32. In other words, a mass of 511 mg carrageenan corresponds to one millimole of ester sulfate (monobasic) groups. The measurement of the onset of flocculation has been employed for the accurate determination of carrageenan in real samples of food products. The color and turbidity of the sample do not interfere with the determination results.
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16
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Nguyen M, Sherck N, Shen K, Edwards CER, Yoo B, Köhler S, Speros JC, Helgeson ME, Delaney KT, Shell MS, Fredrickson GH. Predicting Polyelectrolyte Coacervation from a Molecularly Informed Field-Theoretic Model. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- My Nguyen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Nicholas Sherck
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Kevin Shen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Chelsea E. R. Edwards
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Brian Yoo
- BASF Corporation, Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | | | - Joshua C. Speros
- California Research Alliance (CARA) by BASF, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Matthew E. Helgeson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Kris T. Delaney
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - M. Scott Shell
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Glenn H. Fredrickson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
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17
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Phase Behavior of Ion-Containing Polymers in Polar Solvents: Predictions from a Liquid-State Theory with Local Short-Range Interactions. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14204421. [PMID: 36297998 PMCID: PMC9612006 DOI: 10.3390/polym14204421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The thermodynamic phase behavior of charged polymers is a crucial property underlying their role in biology and various industrial applications. A complete understanding of the phase behaviors of such polymer solutions remains challenging due to the multi-component nature of the system and the delicate interplay among various factors, including the translational entropy of each component, excluded volume interactions, chain connectivity, electrostatic interactions, and other specific interactions. In this work, the phase behavior of partially charged ion-containing polymers in polar solvents is studied by further developing a liquid-state (LS) theory with local shortrange interactions. This work is based on the LS theory developed for fully-charged polyelectrolyte solutions. Specific interactions between charged groups of the polymer and counterions, between neutral segments of the polymer, and between charged segments of the polymer are incorporated into the LS theory by an extra Helmholtz free energy from the perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT). The influence of the sequence structure of the partially charged polymer is modeled by the number of connections between bonded segments. The effects of chain length, charge fraction, counterion valency, and specific short-range interactions are explored. A computational App for salt-free polymer solutions is developed and presented, which allows easy computation of the binodal curve and critical point by specifying values for the relevant model parameters.
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18
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Alsaifi NM, Elliott JR. Avoiding Artifacts in Noncubic Equations of State. Ind Eng Chem Res 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.2c01923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nayef M. Alsaifi
- Center for Refining and Advanced Chemicals, Chemical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - J. Richard Elliott
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio44325-3906, United States
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19
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Chen S, Wang ZG. Driving force and pathway in polyelectrolyte complex coacervation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2209975119. [PMID: 36037377 PMCID: PMC9457374 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2209975119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
There is notable discrepancy between experiments and coarse-grained model studies regarding the thermodynamic driving force in polyelectrolyte complex coacervation: experiments find the free energy change to be dominated by entropy, while simulations using coarse-grained models with implicit solvent usually report a large, even dominant energetic contribution in systems with weak to intermediate electrostatic strength. Here, using coarse-grained, implicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulation combined with thermodynamic analysis, we study the potential of mean force (PMF) in the two key stages on the coacervation pathway for symmetric polyelectrolyte mixtures: polycation-polyanion complexation and polyion pair-pair condensation. We show that the temperature dependence in the dielectric constant of water gives rise to a substantial entropic contribution in the electrostatic interaction. By accounting for this electrostatic entropy, which is due to solvent reorganization, we find that under common conditions (monovalent ions, room temperature) for aqueous systems, both stages are strongly entropy-driven with negligible or even unfavorable energetic contributions, consistent with experimental results. Furthermore, for weak to intermediate electrostatic strengths, this electrostatic entropy, rather than the counterion-release entropy, is the primary entropy contribution. From the calculated PMF, we find that the supernatant phase consists predominantly of polyion pairs with vanishingly small concentration of bare polyelectrolytes, and we provide an estimate of the spinodal of the supernatant phase. Finally, we show that prior to contact, two neutral polyion pairs weakly attract each other by mutually induced polarization, providing the initial driving force for the fusion of the pairs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shensheng Chen
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
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20
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Balzer C, Zhang P, Wang ZG. Wetting behavior of polyelectrolyte complex coacervates on solid surfaces. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:6326-6339. [PMID: 35976083 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00859a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The wetting behavior of complex coacervates underpins their use in many emerging applications of surface science, particularly wet adhesives and coatings. Many factors dictate if a coacervate phase will condense on a solid surface, including solution conditions, the nature of the polymer-substrate interaction, and the underlying supernatant-coacervate bulk phase behavior. In this work, we use a simple inhomogeneous mean-field theory to study the wetting behavior of complex coacervates on solid surfaces both off-coexistence (wetting transitions) and on-coexistence (contact angles). We focus on the effects of salt concentration, the polycation/polyanion surface affinity, and the applied electrostatic potential on the wettability. We find that the coacervate generally wets the surface via a first order wetting transition with second order transitions possible above a surface critical point. Applying an electrostatic potential to a solid surface always improves the surface wettability when the polycation/polyanion-substrate interaction is symmetric. For asymmetric surface affinity, the wettability has a nonmonotonic dependence with the applied potential. We use simple scaling and thermodynamic arguments to explain our results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Balzer
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
| | - 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
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
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21
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Zhao M, Zhang X, Cho J. Phase Behaviors of a Binary Blend of Oppositely Charged Polyelectrolytes: A Weak Segregation Approach. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mingge Zhao
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 16890, Korea
| | - Xinyue Zhang
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 16890, Korea
| | - Junhan Cho
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 16890, Korea
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22
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Rumyantsev AM, Johner A, Tirrell MV, de Pablo JJ. Unifying Weak and Strong Charge Correlations within the Random Phase Approximation: Polyampholytes of Various Sequences. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Artem M. Rumyantsev
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Albert Johner
- Institut Charles Sadron, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS UPR22, Strasbourg 67034, France
| | - Matthew V. Tirrell
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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23
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Debais G, Tagliazucchi M. Two Sides of the Same Coin: A Unified Theoretical Treatment of Polyelectrolyte Complexation in Solution and Layer-by-Layer Films. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Debais
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1053ABH Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE)CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1053ABH Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mario Tagliazucchi
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1053ABH Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE)CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1053ABH Buenos Aires, Argentina
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24
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Chen S, Zhang P, Wang ZG. Complexation between Oppositely Charged Polyelectrolytes in Dilute Solution: Effects of Charge Asymmetry. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shensheng Chen
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Pengfei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, College of Materials and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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25
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Zhang P, Wang ZG. Supernatant Phase in Polyelectrolyte Complex Coacervation: Cluster Formation, Binodal, and Nucleation. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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26
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Lin C, Wei H, Li H, Duan X. Structures of cationic and anionic polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions: the sign effect. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:1603-1616. [PMID: 35080232 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm01700d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we use molecular dynamics simulation to explore the structures of anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions. We first confirm the significantly stronger solvation effects of single anions compared to cations in water at the fixed ion radii, due to the reversal orientations of asymmetric dipolar H2O molecules around the ions. Based on this, we demonstrate that the solvation discrepancy of cations/anions and electrostatic correlations of ionic species can synergistically cause the nontrivial structural difference between single anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes. The cationic polyelectrolyte shows an extended structure whereas the anionic polyelectrolyte exhibits a collapsed structure, and their structural differences decline with increasing the counterion size. Furthermore, we corroborate that multiple cationic polyelectrolytes or multiple anionic polyelectrolytes can exhibit largely differential molecular architectures in aqueous solutions. In the solvation dominant regime, the polyelectrolyte solutions exhibit uniform structures; whereas, in the electrostatic correlation dominant regime, the polyelectrolyte solutions exhibit heterogeneous structures, in which the likely charged chains microscopically aggregate through counterion condensations. Increasing the intrinsic chain rigidity causes polyelectrolyte extension and hence moderately weakens the inter-chain clustering. Our work highlights the various, unique structures and molecular architectures of polyelectrolytes in solutions caused by the multi-body correlations between polyelectrolytes, counterions and asymmetric dipolar solvent molecules, which provides insights into the fundamental understanding of ion-containing polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengjiang Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.
- School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China
| | - Hao Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.
| | - Hongfei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.
- School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China
| | - Xiaozheng Duan
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.
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27
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Ghasemi M, Larson RG. Future Directions in Physiochemical Modeling of the Thermodynamics of Polyelectrolyte Coacervates (
PECs
). AIChE J 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.17646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mohsen Ghasemi
- Department of Chemical Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA
| | - Ronald G. Larson
- Department of Chemical Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA
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28
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Bobbili SV, Milner ST. Closed-Loop Phase Behavior of Nonstoichiometric Coacervates in Coarse-Grained Simulations. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sai Vineeth Bobbili
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Scott T. Milner
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
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29
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Ylitalo AS, Balzer C, Zhang P, Wang ZG. Electrostatic Correlations and Temperature-Dependent Dielectric Constant Can Model LCST in Polyelectrolyte Complex Coacervation. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S. Ylitalo
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Christopher Balzer
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - 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
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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30
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Ma Y, Ali S, Prabhu VM. Enhanced Concentration Fluctuations in Model Polyelectrolyte Coacervate Mixtures along a Salt Isopleth Phase Diagram. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuanchi Ma
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Samim Ali
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Vivek M. Prabhu
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
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31
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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
| | - Zhen-Gang Wang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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32
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Bobbili SV, Milner ST. A simple simulation model for complex coacervates. SOFT MATTER 2021; 17:9181-9188. [PMID: 34585705 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm00881a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
When oppositely charged polyelectrolytes mix in an aqueous solution, associative phase separation gives rise to coacervates. Experiments reveal the phase diagram for such coacervates, and determine the impact of charge density, chain length and added salt. Simulations often use hybrid MC-MD methods to produce such phase diagrams, in support of experimental observations. We propose an idealized model and a simple simulation technique to investigate coacervate phase behavior. We model coacervate systems by charged bead-spring chains and counterions with short-range repulsions, of size equal to the Bjerrum length. We determine phase behavior by equilibrating a slab of concentrated coacervate with respect to swelling into a dilute phase of counterions. At salt concentrations below the critical point, the counterion concentration in the coacervate and dilute phases are nearly the same. At high salt concentrations, we find a one-phase region. Along the phase boundary, the total concentration of beads in the coacervate phase is nearly constant, corresponding to a "Bjerrum liquid''. This result can be extended to experimental phase diagrams by assigning appropriate volumes to monomers and salts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sai Vineeth Bobbili
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
| | - Scott T Milner
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
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33
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Friedowitz S, Qin J. Reversible ion binding for polyelectrolytes with adaptive conformations. AIChE J 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.17426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sean Friedowitz
- Department of Chemical Engineering Stanford University Stanford California USA
| | - Jian Qin
- Department of Chemical Engineering Stanford University Stanford California USA
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34
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Le ML, Rawlings D, Danielsen SPO, Kennard RM, Chabinyc ML, Segalman RA. Aqueous Formulation of Concentrated Semiconductive Fluid Using Polyelectrolyte Coacervation. ACS Macro Lett 2021; 10:1008-1014. [PMID: 35549124 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.1c00354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs), which combine π-conjugated backbones with ionic side chains, are intrinsically soluble in polar solvents and have demonstrated tunability with respect to solution processability and optoelectronic performance. However, this class of polymers often suffers from limited solubility in water. Here, we demonstrate how polyelectrolyte coacervation can be utilized for aqueous processing of conjugated polymers at extremely high polymer loading. Sampling various mixing conditions, we identify compositions that enable the formation of complex coacervates of an alkoxysulfonate-substituted PEDOT (PEDOT-S) with poly(3-methyl-1-propylimidazolylacrylamide) (PA-MPI). The resulting coacervate is a viscous fluid containing 50% w/v polymer and can be readily blade-coated into films of 4 ± 0.5 μm thick. Subsequent acid doping of the film increased the electrical conductivity of the coacervate to twice that of a doped film of neat PEDOT-S. This higher conductivity of the doped coacervate film suggests an enhancement in charge carrier transport along PEDOT-S backbone, in agreement with spectroscopic data, which shows an enhancement in the conjugation length of PEDOT-S upon coacervation. This study illustrates the utilization of electrostatic interactions in aqueous processing of conjugated polymers, which will be useful in large-scale industrial processing of semiconductive materials using limited solvent and with added enhancements to optoelectronic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- My Linh Le
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Dakota Rawlings
- Chemical Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Scott P. O. Danielsen
- Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Rhiannon M. Kennard
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Michael L. Chabinyc
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Rachel A. Segalman
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Chemical Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
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35
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Chen X, Chen EQ, Shi AC, Yang S. Multiphase Coacervates Driven by Electrostatic Correlations. ACS Macro Lett 2021; 10:1041-1047. [PMID: 35549117 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.1c00282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The liquid-liquid phase separation of a polyelectrolyte solution containing one type of negatively and two types of positively charged polymers with different charge densities is studied theoretically by random phase approximation (RPA). It is predicted that multicoacervate phases could coexist, driven purely by electrostatic correlations. The asymmetry of the linear charge density could induce an effective immiscibility between two positively charged polyelectrolytes, leading to the multiphase separation. Adding salt will induce the disappearance of the dilute phase, forming two coexisting complex phases, instead of fusion between coacervates. Raising temperature could either induce a two coexisting complex phase, or a dilute phase coexisting with a coacervate phase, depending on the bulk concentration. Our predictions are in good agreement with experiments and provide insights in the further designing of the multiphase coacervation system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Chen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Mater Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Er-Qiang Chen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Mater Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - An-Chang Shi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada
| | - Shuang Yang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Mater Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
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36
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Knoerdel AR, Blocher McTigue WC, Sing CE. Transfer Matrix Model of pH Effects in Polymeric Complex Coacervation. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:8965-8980. [PMID: 34328340 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c03065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Oppositely charged polyelectrolytes can undergo an associative phase separation, in a process known as polymeric complex coacervation. This phenomenon is driven by the electrostatic attraction between polyanion and polycation species, leading to the formation of a polymer-dense coacervate phase and a coexisting polymer-dilute supernatant phase. There has been significant recent interest in the physical origin and features of coacervation; yet notably, experiments often use weak polyelectrolytes the charge state of which depends on solution pH, while theoretical or computational efforts typically assume strong polyelectrolytes that remain fully charged. There have been only a few efforts to address this limitation, and thus there has been little exploration of how pH can affect complex coacervation. In this paper, we modify a transfer matrix theory of coacervation to account for acid-base equilibria, taking advantage of its ability to directly account for some local ion correlations that will affect monomer charging. We show that coacervation can stabilize the charged state of a weak polyelectrolyte via the proximity of oppositely charged monomers, and can lead to asymmetric phase diagrams where the positively and negatively charged polyelectrolytes exhibit different behaviors near the pKa of either chain. Specifically, there is a partitioning of one of the salt species to a coacervate to maintain electroneutrality when one of the polyelectrolytes is only partially charged. This results in the depletion of the same salt species in the supernatant, and overall can suppress phase separation. We also demonstrate that, when one of the species is only partially charged, mixtures that are off-stoichiometric in volume fraction but stoichiometric in charge exhibit the greatest propensity to form coacervate phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley R Knoerdel
- Program in Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Whitney C Blocher McTigue
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Charles E Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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37
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Queirós MVA, Loh W. Preparation of Poly(acrylate)/Poly(diallyldimethylammonium) Coacervates without Small Counterions and Their Phase Behavior upon Salt Addition towards Poly-Ions Segregation. Polymers (Basel) 2021; 13:2259. [PMID: 34301019 PMCID: PMC8309331 DOI: 10.3390/polym13142259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In this work, we report the phase behavior of polyelectrolyte complex coacervates (PECs) of poly(acrylate) (PA-) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium) (PDADMA+) in the presence of inorganic salts. Titrations of the polyelectrolytes in their acidic and alkaline forms were performed to obtain the coacervates in the absence of their small counterions. This approach was previously applied to the preparation of polymer-surfactant complexes, and we demonstrate that it also succeeded in producing complexes free of small counterions with a low extent of Hofmann elimination. For phase behavior studies, two different molar masses of poly(acrylate) and two different salts were employed over a wide concentration range. It was possible to define the regions at which associative and segregative phase separation take place. The latter one was exploited in more details because the segregation phenomenon in mixtures of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes is scarcely reported. Phase composition analyses showed that there is a strong segregation for both PA- and PDADMA+, who are accompanied by their small counterions. These results demonstrate that the occurrence of poly-ion segregation in these mixtures depends on the anion involved: in this case, it was observed with NaCl, but not with Na2SO4.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Watson Loh
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), P.O. Box 6154, Campinas 13083-970, SP, Brazil;
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38
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Zheng B, Avni Y, Andelman D, Podgornik R. Phase Separation of Polyelectrolytes: The Effect of Charge Regulation. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:7863-7870. [PMID: 34232047 PMCID: PMC8389888 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c01986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Complex
coacervation, known as the liquid–liquid phase separation
of solutions with oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, has attracted
substantial interest in recent years. We study the effect of the charge
regulation (CR) mechanism on the complex coacervation by including
short-range interactions between the charged sites on the polymer
chains as well as an association–dissociation energy parameter
in the CR mechanism. We investigate the phase diagrams of two CR models:
(i) the hopping CR model (HCR) and (ii) the asymmetric CR model (ACR).
It is shown that during the phase separation that the polymers in
the condensed phase are more charged than those in the dilute phase,
in accordance with Le Chatelier’s principle. In addition, secondary CR effects also influence the change in the volume
fraction of the two phases. The latter can cause the charge difference
between the two phases to change nonmonotonically as a function of
the CR parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Zheng
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yael Avni
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - David Andelman
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Rudolf Podgornik
- School of Physical Sciences and Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,Wenzhou Institute of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
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39
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Friedowitz S, Lou J, Barker KP, Will K, Xia Y, Qin J. Looping-in complexation and ion partitioning in nonstoichiometric polyelectrolyte mixtures. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabg8654. [PMID: 34330707 PMCID: PMC8324053 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg8654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
A wide variety of intracellular membraneless compartments are formed via liquid-liquid phase separation of charged proteins and nucleic acids. Understanding the stability of these compartments, while accounting for the compositional heterogeneity intrinsic to cellular environments, poses a daunting challenge. We combined experimental and theoretical efforts to study the effects of nonstoichiometric mixing on coacervation behavior and accurately measured the concentrations of polyelectrolytes and small ions in the coacervate and supernatant phases. For synthetic polyacrylamides and polypeptides/DNA, with unequal mixing stoichiometry, we report a general "looping-in" phenomenon found around physiological salt concentrations, where the polymer concentrations in the coacervate initially increase with salt addition before subsequently decreasing. This looping-in behavior is captured by a molecular model that considers reversible ion binding and electrostatic interactions. Further analysis in the low-salt regime shows that the looping-in phenomenon originates from the translational entropy of counterions that are needed to neutralize nonstoichiometric coacervates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Friedowitz
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Junzhe Lou
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | | | - Karis Will
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Yan Xia
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Jian Qin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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40
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Jiang J, Chen EQ, Yang S. The effect of ion pairs on coacervate-driven self-assembly of block polyelectrolytes. J Chem Phys 2021; 154:144903. [PMID: 33858167 DOI: 10.1063/5.0044845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The incorporation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes into a block copolymer system can lead to formation of microphase separated nanostructures driven by the electrostatic complex between two oppositely charged blocks. It is a theoretical challenge to build an appropriate model to handle such coacervate-driven self-assembly, which should capture the strong electrostatic correlations for highly charged polymers. In this paper, we develop the self-consistent field theory considering the ion paring effect to predict the phase behavior of block polyelectrolytes. In our model, two types of ion pairs, the binding between two oppositely charged monomers and the binding between charged monomers and counterions, are included. Their strength of formation is controlled by two parameters Kaa and Kac, respectively. We give a detailed analysis about how the binding strength Kac and Kaa and salt concentration affect the self-assembled nanostructure of diblock polyelectrolyte systems. The results show that the binding between two oppositely charged blocks provides driven force for microphase separation, while the binding between charged monomers and counterions competes with the polyion pairing and thus suppresses the microphase separation. The addition of salt has a shielding effect on the charges of polymers, which is a disadvantage to microphase separation. The phase diagrams as a function of polymer concentration and salt concentration at different situations are constructed, and the influence of Kaa, Kac, and charged block composition fa is analyzed in depth. The obtained phase diagrams are in good agreement with currently existing experimental and theoretical results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiadi Jiang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering and Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Er-Qiang Chen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering and Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Shuang Yang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering and Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
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41
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Zhao M, Li X, Cho J. Pressure Effects on Self-Assembly in Mixtures Containing Zwitterionic Amphiphiles. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:3882-3896. [PMID: 33754727 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
To understand the responses of self-assembly in mixtures containing zwitterionic amphiphilic chains to high pressure, we introduce a self-consistent field theory in combination with a molecular equation-of-state model for them in a primitive way. The free energy density for those in the bulk state is first formulated. Its locally equilibrated excess part is then incorporated into Edwards Hamiltonian along with the electrostatic energy contributions to elicit the saddle point approximation to the partition function with proper self-consistent field equations. It is shown that charge-charge correlations enhance self-assembling tendency for the amphiphiles with the opposite charges on one component side, as the medium dielectric constant εr decreases. Those with the opposite charges at the two chain ends respond in a more complicated way to εr. Densification by applied pressure strengthens the self-assembly for both at a moderate εr, similar to typical phospholipids, but pressure effects are strongly dependent on the position of charges along the chains at a lower εr. It is argued that the manipulation of the dielectric environment and disparity in component dispersion interactions can yield useful materials exhibiting various types of baroresponsivity or thermoresponsivity with re-entrant self-assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingge Zhao
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 16890, Korea
| | - Xiang Li
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 16890, Korea
| | - Junhan Cho
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 16890, Korea
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42
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Qiu Q, Xu X, Wang Y. Phase Behavior of Partially Charged Polyelectrolyte Solutions with Salt: A Theoretical Study. MACROMOL THEOR SIMUL 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/mats.202000098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Qiyuan Qiu
- School of Physical Science and Technology Soochow University Suzhou Jiangsu Province 215006 China
| | - Xiaofei Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and School of Chemical Engineering East China University of Science and Technology Shanghai 200237 China
| | - Yanwei Wang
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering School of Engineering and Digital Sciences Nazarbayev University Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53 Nur‐Sultan 010000 Kazakhstan
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43
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Subbotin AV, Semenov AN. The Structure of Polyelectrolyte Complex Coacervates and Multilayers. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrey V. Subbotin
- A.V. Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii prosp. 29, Moscow 119991, Russia
- A.N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii prosp. 31, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Alexander N. Semenov
- Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS - UPR 22, Université de Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France
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44
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Li L, Rumyantsev AM, Srivastava S, Meng S, de Pablo JJ, Tirrell MV. Effect of Solvent Quality on the Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Complexes. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lu Li
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Artem M. Rumyantsev
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Samanvaya Srivastava
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Siqi Meng
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Center for Molecular Engineering and Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Matthew V. Tirrell
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Center for Molecular Engineering and Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
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45
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Fraccia TP, Jia TZ. Liquid Crystal Coacervates Composed of Short Double-Stranded DNA and Cationic Peptides. ACS NANO 2020; 14:15071-15082. [PMID: 32852935 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c05083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Phase separation of nucleic acids and proteins is a ubiquitous phenomenon regulating subcellular compartment structure and function. While complex coacervation of flexible single-stranded nucleic acids is broadly investigated, coacervation of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is less studied because of its propensity to generate solid precipitates. Here, we reverse this perspective by showing that short dsDNA and poly-l-lysine coacervates can escape precipitation while displaying a surprisingly complex phase diagram, including the full set of liquid crystal (LC) mesophases observed to date in bulk dsDNA. Short dsDNA supramolecular aggregation and packing in the dense coacervate phase are the main parameters regulating the global LC-coacervate phase behavior. LC-coacervate structure was characterized upon variations in temperature and monovalent salt, DNA, and peptide concentrations, which allow continuous reversible transitions between all accessible phases. A deeper understanding of LC-coacervates can gain insights to decipher structures and phase transition mechanisms within biomolecular condensates, to design stimuli-responsive multiphase synthetic compartments with different degrees of order and to exploit self-assembly driven cooperative prebiotic evolution of nucleic acids and peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommaso P Fraccia
- Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Chimie Biologie Innovation, ESPCI Paris, CNRS, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Tony Z Jia
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, 1001 Fourth Ave., Suite 3201, Seattle, Washington 98154, United States
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46
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Abstract
A scaling model for the structure of coacervates is presented for mixtures of oppositely-charged polyelectrolytes of both symmetric and asymmetric charge-densities for different degrees of electrostatic strength and levels of added salt. At low electrostatic strengths, weak coacervates, with the energy of electrostatic interactions between charges less than the thermal energy, k B T, are liquid. At higher electrostatic strengths, strong coacervates are gels with crosslinks formed by ion pairs of opposite charges bound to each other with energy higher than k B T. Charge-symmetric coacervates are formed for mixtures of oppositely-charged polyelectrolytes with equal and opposite charge-densities. While charge-symmetric weak coacervates form a semidilute polymer solution with a correlation length equal to the electrostatic blob size, charge-symmetric strong coacervates form reversible gels with a correlation length on the order of the distance between bound ion pairs. Charge-asymmetric coacervates are formed from mixtures of oppositely-charged polyelectrolytes with different charge-densities. While charge-asymmetric weak coacervates form double solutions with two correlation lengths and qualitatively different chain conformations of polycations and polyanions, charge-asymmetric strong coacervates form bottlebrush and star-like gels. Unlike liquid coacervates, for which an increase in the concentration of added salt screens electrostatic interactions, causing structural rearrangement and eventually leads to their dissolution, the salt does not affect the structure of strong coacervates until ion pairs dissociate and the gel disperses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott P O Danielsen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
| | - Sergey Panyukov
- P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117924, Russia
| | - Michael Rubinstein
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
- Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
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47
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Manoj Lalwani S, Eneh CI, Lutkenhaus JL. Emerging trends in the dynamics of polyelectrolyte complexes. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:24157-24177. [PMID: 33094301 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp03696j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) are highly tunable materials that result from the phase separation that occurs upon mixing oppositely charged polymers. Over the years, they have gained interest due to their broad range of applications such as drug delivery systems, protective coatings, food packaging, and surface adhesives. In this review, we summarize the structure, phase transitions, chain dynamics, and rheological and thermal properties of PECs. Although most literature focuses upon the thermodynamics and application of PECs, this review highlights the fundamental role of salt and water on mechanical and thermal properties impacting the PEC's dynamics. A special focus is placed upon experimental results and techniques. Specifically, the review examines phase behaviour and salt partitioning in PECs, as well as different techniques used to measure diffusion coefficients, relaxation times, various superpositioning principles, glass transitions, and water microenvironments in PECs. This review concludes with future areas of opportunity in fundamental studies and best practices in reporting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suvesh Manoj Lalwani
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA.
| | - Chikaodinaka I Eneh
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA.
| | - Jodie L Lutkenhaus
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA. and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA
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Adame-Arana O, Weber CA, Zaburdaev V, Prost J, Jülicher F. Liquid Phase Separation Controlled by pH. Biophys J 2020; 119:1590-1605. [PMID: 33010236 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2020.07.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 06/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a minimal model to study the effects of pH on liquid phase separation of macromolecules. Our model describes a mixture composed of water and macromolecules that exist in three different charge states and have a tendency to phase separate. This phase separation is affected by pH via a set of chemical reactions describing protonation and deprotonation of macromolecules, as well as self-ionization of water. We consider the simple case in which interactions are captured by Flory-Huggins interaction parameters corresponding to Debye screening lengths shorter than a nanometer, which is relevant to proteins inside biological cells under physiological conditions. We identify the conjugate thermodynamic variables at chemical equilibrium and discuss the effective free energy at fixed pH. First, we study phase diagrams as a function of macromolecule concentration and temperature at the isoelectric point of the macromolecules. We find a rich variety of phase diagram topologies, including multiple critical points, triple points, and first-order transition points. Second, we change the pH relative to the isoelectric point of the macromolecules and study how phase diagrams depend on pH. We find that these phase diagrams as a function of pH strongly depend on whether oppositely charged macromolecules or neutral macromolecules have a stronger tendency to phase separate. One key finding is that we predict the existence of a reentrant behavior as a function of pH. In addition, our model predicts that the region of phase separation is typically broader at the isoelectric point. This model could account for both in vitro phase separation of proteins as a function of pH and protein phase separation in yeast cells for pH values close to the isoelectric point of many cytosolic proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar Adame-Arana
- Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany
| | - Christoph A Weber
- Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany; Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Vasily Zaburdaev
- Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany; Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Jacques Prost
- Laboratoire Physico Chimie Curie, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, CNRS UMR168, Paris, France; Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Frank Jülicher
- Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany; Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
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Liu Y, Santa Chalarca CF, Carmean RN, Olson RA, Madinya J, Sumerlin BS, Sing CE, Emrick T, Perry SL. Effect of Polymer Chemistry on the Linear Viscoelasticity of Complex Coacervates. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yalin Liu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Cristiam F. Santa Chalarca
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - R. Nicholas Carmean
- George & Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science & Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Rebecca A. Olson
- George & Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science & Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Jason Madinya
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Brent S. Sumerlin
- George & Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science & Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
| | - Charles E. Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Todd Emrick
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Sarah L. Perry
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
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Ghasemi M, Friedowitz S, Larson RG. Analysis of Partitioning of Salt through Doping of Polyelectrolyte Complex Coacervates. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mohsen Ghasemi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Sean Friedowitz
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Ronald G. Larson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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