Soft Materials最新文献

{"title":"Effect of concentration and ionic strength on the lower critical solution temperature of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering","authors":"Bence Fehér, I. Varga, J. S. Pedersen","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1979041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1979041","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Thermoresponsive polymers, with special emphasis on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM) have been the focus of several investigations due to its potential applications in many fields of physical and polymer chemistry. PNIPAAM has a “lower critical solution temperature” at 32°C. The LCST can be finely tuned by copolymerization with hydrophobic or hydrophilic comonomers, and with a change of physical chemical parameters, such as ionic strength of the solution. We investigated the effect of polymer concentration on the LCST in two different solution environment, in pure water and in 50 mM NaCl solution with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) of relatively low molecular mass polymers. We showed that the radius of gyration of the pNIPAAM chains increases with the addition of NaCl to the system due to the low level of specific adsorption of chloride ions on the polymer, whilst increasing the temperature causes a shrinkage of the polymer chains. Furthermore, by increasing the temperature the attractive interaction between the individual polymer chains is enhanced which turns into aggregation at the LCST.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"S10 - S18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46879660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Self-assembly of multiple stimulus response copolymer by ATRP in different media","authors":"Xilai Zhou, Yazhen Wang, Han Xin, Shaobo Dong, Tianyu Lan, Liwu Zu, Chenglong Wang, Li Liu","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1945627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1945627","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The novel pH and thermo-sensitive amphiphilic triblock copolymer poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-block-poly[N,N-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate] (PMMA-b-PNIPAM-b-PDMAEMA) was synthesized by ATRP. We have prepared the AB amphiphilic copolymer (PMMA-b-PNIPAM) and ABC amphiphilic triblock copolymer (PMMA-b-PNIPAM-b-PDMAEMA) of expected molecular mass. It was characterized by GPC,1HNMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. The AB amphiphilic copolymer ability of temperature response and the morphology of self-assembly micelles different in toluene, THF, and DMF. ABC amphiphilic triblock copolymer self-assembled petal structure in alkaline aqueous solution, and lamellar structure in acidic aqueous solution. Moreover, the transmittance of micellar solution changes with the increase of temperature; these changes reflect the pH and thermo-sensitivity of the block copolymer. The micelles behavior and morphology of the system were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS).","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"193 - 206"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44172488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Facile synthesis and high volumetric capacitance of holey graphene film for supercapacitor electrodes with optimizing preparation conditions","authors":"Benshuo Zhu, Hua Li, Yujie Chen, Hezhou Liu","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1928703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1928703","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT For miniaturized portable energy storage devices with limited space, electrode materials are needed to be developed in the direction of reducing the occupied volume without compromising high specific capacitance and stable cycling ability. Herein, a facile strategy was developed to fabricate a free-standing binder-free holey graphene film as a supercapacitor electrode. In this material mechanism, holey structure in graphene sheets provides abundant ion transport channels and accelerates ion diffusion efficiency, which could guarantee that this film performs a high packing density without compromising electrochemical performance. After being properly optimized on the amount of H2O2 added and the mechanical pressure while preparing, this electrode film could consequently perform a high volumetric capacitance of 406 F cm−3 and excellent cycle stability with a packing density of 1.34 g cm−3. Therefore, this kind of densely packed electrode film with excellent electrochemical performance is of great significance for the development of miniaturized portable energy storage devices.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"137 - 148"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43083324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biomolecules of Similar Charge Polarity Form Hybrid Gel","authors":"P. Pandey, V. Aswal, J. Kohlbrecher, H. Bohidar","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1964527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1964527","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We report intermolecular gelation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and folic acid (FA, 1% (w/v) and DNA, 0.1–0.5% (w/v)) in Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO)-water solution despite both having similar net charge. Zeta potential ζ of the biopolymers was, ζDNA = −58 and ζFA = −18 mV, therefore, formation of a self-organized hybrid network structure to assign sufficient rigidity to the gel must happen in the environment of electrostatic repulsion persisting between the inter and intra polymer segments. Regardless, a stable supramolecular hydrogel was formed at room temperature of 25° C with the DNA–FA complex displaying a zeta potential of ζcomplex = −21 mV. The gel strength (low frequency storage modulus, G 0) was tunable from ≈ 500 to 50 Pa, and gelation temperature T gel from 70 to 60° C, decreasing with DNA content. These soft gels were systematically characterized over several decades of time (dynamic light scattering), and length scales (small angle neutron scattering), rheology and scanning electron microscopy to obtain a deeper understanding of the self-assembly of the DNA in the FA-dominant solution. These gels formed of same polarity biopolymers, and in a milieu of strong electrostatic repulsion, make these belong to a special class of soft matter not well studied in the past.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"207 - 218"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45194483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The ensemble of immobilized superparamagnetic nanoparticles: the role of the spatial distribution in the sample","authors":"A. Solovyova, S. Sokolsky, E. Elfimova","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1957933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1957933","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this work, static, thermodynamic and magnetic properties of interacting superparamagnetic nanoparticles have been studied using theory and computer simulation. Two types of particles’ distributions in the sample have been considered: (a) at the nodes of the simple cubic lattice and (b) by the random way. It was assumed that the directions of the easy axes for all particles were parallel to each other and directed at an angle to the external magnetic field. The theoretical approach is based on the expanding of the Helmholtz free energy into the classical virial series up to the second virial coefficient. The analytical expressions of the Helmholtz free energy for both textures allow us to obtain theoretical predictions for the static magnetization and the isochoric heat capacity. These characteristics turned out in a good agreement with the Monte-Carlo simulation data in the broad range of considered system parameters. In a zero and moderate external magnetic fields, the new theory allows to describe the numerical calculations much more efficient than the ideal approximations, for which the interparticle dipole-dipole interactions were neglected.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"S1 - S9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45091427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydroxyapatite incorporated bacterial cellulose hydrogels as a cost-effective 3D cell culture platform","authors":"S. S. Athukorala, Chathudina J. Liyanage, A. Jayasundera","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1944208","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1944208","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT For cell and tissue physiology research, drug discovery, and growing replacement tissues for regenerative medicine, accurate and cost-efficient in vitro techniques are increasingly demanded. The conventional model for in vitro cell culture is the two-dimensional (2D) culture. Yet, cells have been found to be more native when they are grown in 3D conditions. We present here the development and evaluation of biological properties of bacterial cellulose/hydroxyapatite (BC/HA) nanocomposite hydrogel as a potential 3D cell-culture platform. The synthesized composites were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Swelling measurements and Celltiter 96® Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay (MTS) using mouse fibroblast cell line (L – 929). The arrangement of composites shown in SEM and AFM images closely resembles the native extracellular matrices (ECM) showing the potential to act as a viable substrate for cell culture. The composites exhibited high swelling ratio (5.31–5.81), indicating enhanced moisture absorption and potential for nutrient exchange. The in vitro biocompatibility results indicated significantly high percentage cell proliferation (85.20%-88.30%). These findings indicate that the BC/HA composites are potential candidates for 3D cell-culture applications.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"183 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1944208","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48609100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Structure and dynamics in active matter systems","authors":"S. Das","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1938609","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1938609","url":null,"abstract":"Active matter systems are made of self-propelling particles and make ideal ground for studies of out-ofequilibrium phenomena. The self-propulsion is fueled by continuous drawing of energy from the environment at the single-particle scale. Examples of such systems are common, covering a wide range of lengths, from molecular level biological systems to large societies of animals. It is, however, not necessary that the constituents should only be living objects. These systems often exhibit fascinating patterns and dynamics. Understanding such collective phenomena is of importance from fundamental as well as practical points of view. Despite conceptual difficulties, [4–7] e.g., with respect to the definition of temperature, significant advancement has been made at the theoretical level. In the domain of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, there exist simple models that are helpful in capturing interesting experimental facts. A primary interest in the area of active matter is in the understanding of fundamental aspects of nonequilibrium-phase transitions. Studies along this direction are motivated by observations of structures and dynamics in assemblies like a colony of bacteria or a flock of birds, [1,27] resembling those concerning phase transitions in passive matter systems. Model dynamical systems having Vicsek-like simple velocity alignment rules or possessing active Brownian particles (ABP) as constituents have been useful in realizing many of the observed structural and dynamical features spanning wide scales of length and time. In the passive case anomalous behavior of various thermodynamic and transport properties, [28,38,42,44] upon approach of the state point toward the criticality, have been quantified experimentally and are captured by combinations of analytical theories and computer simulations. A major drive in this area has been in the understanding of universality in the exponents of power-law singularities. Analogous questions have been asked in the context of kinetics of phase transitions as well. In this area, following quench of a homogeneous system, inside the coexistence region, as the new equilibrium is approached, investigations have focused on learning universality in the evolution dynamics. There the primary interest has been in the exponent for the power-law time dependence of average size of domains that are either rich or poor in constituents of a specific type. Among other interests in this sub-branch two important ones are in understanding scaling properties associated with pattern and aging in the coarsening systems. Both critical and coarsening phenomena are of importance in the active matter context as well and have been receiving attention. In critical phenomena there exist debates on universality. Unlike for the passive systems here the universality may be weak and different types of transport, e.g., presence or absence of hydrodynamic interactions, [40,45] may change critical properties that will remain unaltere","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"19 1","pages":"263 - 266"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48205565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Poiseuille flow on the dynamics of active vesicle","authors":"Prabha Chuphal, S. Sahoo, S. Thakur","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1937222","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1937222","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The influence of an external flow on the dynamics of active deformable particles demands a detailed understanding of the involved mechanism due to their prominent applications in medical and industrial fields. In this regard, we have investigated the effect of an external Poiseuille flow on the motion of an active deformable vesicle using a hybrid coarse-grained computational method. The activity of the vesicle is maintained through the concentration gradient of the solvent across its surface. Such a deformable active object, when exposed to the Poiseuille flow, exhibits a range of dynamical modes, which are greatly influenced by the size of the vesicle. For smaller external flow strength, we have observed the competition between propulsion force and external flow for various vesicle sizes. An interesting tank-treading motion is found for stronger flow strength in the case of a large vesicle. With appropriate physical quantification, we have explained that the key factors affecting the translational and rotational motions of the vesicle are its surface fluidity and its resistance to the external flow.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"19 1","pages":"359 - 372"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1937222","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48877388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synthesis of carboxymethyl Xanthan/ double-walled carbon nanotube hybrid hydrogel nanocomposite for transdermal release of drug","authors":"Maroua Stasaid, K. Boutemak, Lahcene Ibtissem, E. Flahaut, Amel Hadj-Ziane- Zafour","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1943682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1943682","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The inclusion of double-walled carbon nanotubes in carboxymethyl xanthan-based hydrogels was developed in order to improve both mechanical and drug release (diclofenac) properties of these nanocomposites for potential application in the biomedical field. The synthesis of carboxymethyl xanthan was carried out by an esterification reaction between xanthan gum and monochloroacetic acid, and the grafting was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The obtained carboxymethyl derivatives exhibited higher hydrophilicity degrees of substitution compared to the native xanthan gum. The nanocomposites prepared using either raw or modified xanthan gum were characterized in terms of physical properties, and we evidenced both an increase in viscoelasticity by one order of magnitude and an improved distribution of the nanotubes within the hydrogel matrix in the case of the carboxymethyl xanthan. The trapping efficiency of diclofenac was improved by the addition of the nanotubes, reaching up to 74 wt %. While the nanotubes also allowed a slower release of the molecule. An in-vitro study was carried out to ensure that the CNTs grafted onto the modified CMX were not released during the diffusion of the active ingredient.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"168 - 182"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1943682","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45167110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Formation and tribological properties of octacosanoic acid monomolecular Langmuir–Blodgett films","authors":"V. Akulova, A. Salamianski, I. Chishankov, V. Agabekov","doi":"10.1080/1539445X.2021.1933034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1933034","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Tribological properties of monomolecular Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films of octacosanoic acid (OCA) fabricated on silicon substrates by horizontal precipitation (HP) method are studied. The wear resistance of OCA coatings was studied and compared with the stability of both octadecanoic acid (OA) and octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) monolayers. It was found that OCA films increase the wear stability of silicon surfaces by 7.5 and 27 times as compared to OA and OTS monolayers, and reduce the coefficient of friction of an initial surface from 0.25 to 0.07. Monomolecular OCA films can be used for the protection of silicon micro-electro-mechanical systems from wear and friction.","PeriodicalId":22140,"journal":{"name":"Soft Materials","volume":"20 1","pages":"161 - 167"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1539445X.2021.1933034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41988628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}