ACS Macro LettersPub Date : 2025-09-21DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00508
Hyunki Yeo,Anush Singhal,Alexandra Zele,Rachel A Segalman,Michael L Chabinyc
{"title":"Intrinsic Doping and Electrostatic Complexation of Sulfonated Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophenes) (PEDOTs).","authors":"Hyunki Yeo,Anush Singhal,Alexandra Zele,Rachel A Segalman,Michael L Chabinyc","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00508","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00508","url":null,"abstract":"Self-doped conjugated polymers represent a compelling strategy for forming conductive electrostatically complexed polymer blends without the need for additional processing steps for electronic doping. Although self-doped polymers simplify processing, fundamental questions remain about structure-property relationships and the role of doping in electrostatic complexation. A class of sulfonated PEDOT derivatives was investigated to study their self-doping behavior and the ability to form electrostatically mediated complexes with cationic polyelectrolytes. Remarkably, even a subtle change in side chain architecture (differing by only a single carbon) influenced the electrical conductivity, with the shorter side chain exhibiting values up to ≈500 S cm-1, roughly 1000 times higher than its longer-chain counterpart. Comprehensive spectroscopic and electrochemical analyses were performed to gain insight into the origin of the behavior. These self-doped conjugated polyelectrolytes maintain high electrical conductivity (≈300 S cm-1), even after complexation with an insulating polyelectrolyte. The phase behavior of complexation revealed the ability to define an effective charge fraction of ionic groups per monomer that can guide the design of electrostatically complex conjugated polyelectrolytes.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"26 1","pages":"1431-1438"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145093568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Macro LettersPub Date : 2025-09-19DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00422
Binoy Maiti,Mridula Nandi,Jaehyun Cho,Liang Yue,Kellie Stellmach,Blair Brettmann,Qi Jerry,Will Gutekunst,M G Finn
{"title":"Modulation of Depolymerizable Poly(thioether-thioester) Properties in Reversible Covalent Composites.","authors":"Binoy Maiti,Mridula Nandi,Jaehyun Cho,Liang Yue,Kellie Stellmach,Blair Brettmann,Qi Jerry,Will Gutekunst,M G Finn","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00422","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00422","url":null,"abstract":"We incorporated thiol-functionalized silica particles as macroinitiators for the construction of composites by ring-opening polymerization of thiolactones. A separate photochemical cross-linking step was employed to enhance the stability of the polymer composite material. The thermal and mechanical properties of the materials can be tuned by varying the amount of particles, and a representative formulation could be 3D printed. The polymer composite was depolymerized in the presence of a catalytic amount of thiol and 1,8-diazabicyclo(5.4.0)undec-7-ene (DBU) base to recover substantial amounts of monomer, which were repolymerized and photo-cross-linked to give a material very similar in mechanical properties to the virgin composite. The modular nature of this system and the reliability of the bond-forming and bond-breaking steps suggest that it may prove to be useful as a new type of recyclable plastic.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"37 1","pages":"1425-1430"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145083600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Macro LettersPub Date : 2025-09-19DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00549
Itsuki Miyaguni,Kenta Homma,Michiya Matsusaki
{"title":"Incorporation of Visible Light-Responsive Push-Pull Azobenzene into Polymer Networks toward the Construction of Photodynamic Hydrogel Scaffolds.","authors":"Itsuki Miyaguni,Kenta Homma,Michiya Matsusaki","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00549","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00549","url":null,"abstract":"Forces play vital roles in regulating cellular behavior, and integrins are prime examples that cells use to sense forces. Designer scaffolds have been developed to trigger integrin-mediated mechanotransduction to control cellular functions. However, current scaffolds lack spatiotemporal control of integrin mechanostimulation in a three-dimensional matrix. In this study, a photoresponsive hydrogel scaffold in which a cell-adhesive push-pull azobenzene was covalently loaded onto the hydrogel was synthesized. The cis-trans photoisomerization of azobenzene is expected to mechanostimulate the interaction of integrins with the cell-adhesive peptides (RGD peptide; arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) bound to azobenzene. The photoresponsive behavior of the synthesized azobenzene exhibited a photoresponse immediately after the on-off switching of blue light. The efficient cross-linking of azobenzene-bearing PEG through a click reaction allowed successful cell encapsulation in the azobenzene-bearing hydrogel. Taken together, the photoresponsive hydrogel scaffold is expected to find applications in controlling cellular behaviors in four dimensions via integrin-mediated mechanotransduction.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"79 1","pages":"1418-1424"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145083601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wrapping of Nano- and Microgels by Lipid-Bilayer Membranes.","authors":"Tanwi Debnath,Jiarul Midya,Thorsten Auth,Gerhard Gompper","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00424","url":null,"abstract":"The wrapping of nano- and microparticles is a fundamentally important pathway for their cellular uptake and depends on the physicochemical properties of both particle and membrane. Polymeric gels are a versatile class of materials whose elastic properties can be tuned in a wide range from ultrasoft to hard by changing the density of cross-linkers. Using spring networks for the microgels and triangulated surfaces for the membranes, we study microgel wrapping with computer simulations. The interplay of microgel and membrane deformation is controlled by the competition between microgel elasticity and membrane bending rigidity. Compared with hard particles, the range of adhesion strengths for which partial-wrapped states are stable is enlarged. Volume and surface area of partial-wrapped microgels can be significantly reduced compared with those of free microgels. Understanding microgel wrapping can help us to design polymeric particles for biomedical applications, e.g., as membrane markers and targeted drug delivery vectors.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"126 1","pages":"1412-1417"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145083602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Macro LettersPub Date : 2025-09-17DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00527
Casey A. Morrison, Timothy J. Deming
{"title":"Shape Transformation of Poly(l-methionine sulfoxide)-b-poly(dehydroalanine) Vesicles","authors":"Casey A. Morrison, Timothy J. Deming","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00527","url":null,"abstract":"The controlled transformation of polymeric vesicles into stable nonspherical morphologies is of interest as a means to mimic cells, create nanoreactors, and improve their potential for therapeutic delivery applications. We have found that the poly(dehydroalanine) segments in poly(<span>l</span>-methionine sulfoxide)<sub><i>x</i></sub>-<i>b</i>-poly(dehydroalanine)<sub><i>y</i></sub>, <b>M</b><sup><b>O</b></sup><sub><b>x</b></sub><b>A</b><sup><b>DH</b></sup><sub><b>y</b></sub>, copolypeptides form membranes that provide plasticity and selective permeability in DMSO/water mixtures, which allow the predictable control of vesicle shape by the variation of dialysis conditions. The findings of this study expand vesicle shape transformation methods to these biodegradable block copolypeptide vesicles, which are amenable to development for applications in therapeutic delivery.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"38 1","pages":"1408-1411"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145072208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ultraviolet-Shielding Recyclable Polymer Film Fabricated via Knoevenagel Condensation.","authors":"Jiayi Chen,Yaowei Zhu,Keyu Chang,Xiaonong Zhang,Li Chen,Chunsheng Xiao","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00423","url":null,"abstract":"Ultraviolet (UV) radiation presents serious risks to human health, materials, and the environment. UV-shielding materials play a vital role in health, industry, and environmental protection. Previously, we have developed a facile method to construct recyclable thermosetting polymer through the Knoevenagel condensation (KC) reaction. Herein, an ultraviolet-shielding recyclable film, P-TFMBTC-PCL, was fabricated through the KC reaction by introducing dynamic covalent bonds into the cross-linking network. We initially developed a cross-linking agent using vanillin and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl chloride as starting materials. Subsequently, P-TFMBTC-PCL was synthesized through KC reaction of the cross-linking agent with polycaprolactone (PCL). In cyanoacetic acid end-modified PCL, active methylene groups react with aldehyde groups from the cross-linking agent to create dynamic C═C bonds. Consequently, this film exhibits an exceptionally tensile strength of 18.78 MPa and an elongation at break of 959.11%. Also, the dynamic exchange of dynamic C═C bonds confers both reprocessability and recyclability to the obtained thermosetting materials. Additionally, the C═C bonds expand the conjugation domain of the aromatic ring, endowing the film with ultraviolet resistance that blocks 100% of the ultraviolet rays from 200 to 432 nm. Overall, this dynamic networked film exhibits significant potential in the packaging, agriculture, and automotive industry.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"24 1","pages":"1402-1407"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145059224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dynamics of Polymer Rings in Ring-Linear Blends by Neutron Spin Echo Spectroscopy.","authors":"Margarita Kruteva,Jürgen Allgaier,Michael Monkenbusch,Peter Falus,Katerina Peponaki,Dimitris Vlassopoulos,Dieter Richter","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00507","url":null,"abstract":"We present a microscopic investigation of the polyethylene-oxide (PEO) ring dynamics in symmetric ring-linear blends with a molecular weight of 40 kg/mol over the full concentration range. Applying neutron spin echo (NSE) spectroscopy on samples containing a fraction of labeled rings, we observe the internal ring dynamics and its modifications as a function of ring volume fraction ϕR. With increasing linear composition, a dynamic cross over from self-similar ring-like relaxation to local reptation-like dynamics is observed. At ϕR = 0.5, where the blend viscosity exhibits its maximum, the spectral shapes change from ring- to local reptation-type dynamics, even though the enacted constraints are weaker than those in the linear melt. For ϕR ≤ 0.35, the ring motion is completely enslaved by the linear host.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"53 1","pages":"1396-1401"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145059243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bond-Reversibility Effects on Self-Crowding of Unimacromolecular Nano-Objects.","authors":"Ainara Ruiz-Bardillo,Isabel Asenjo-Sanz,Ester Verde-Sesto,Lionel Porcar,Joachim Kohlbrecher,José A Pomposo,Angel J Moreno,Arantxa Arbe,Juan Colmenero","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00512","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00512","url":null,"abstract":"The scaling behavior of linear chains with reversible bonds and, in particular, its dependence on the concentration are fundamental problems of polymer physics that are not fully understood. By means of small-angle neutron scattering we investigate the conformations of reversibly bonding polymers from high dilution (where they form unimacromolecular nano-objects, usually known as single-chain nanoparticles) to crowded solutions and bulk state far above the overlap concentration (where they are expected to form a dynamic polymer network). Unlike the cases of simple linear chains with no bonds and of chains with strictly intramolecular irreversible bonds, no shrinkage is found, and the size and scaling exponent of the reversibly bonding polymers are essentially unperturbed by crowding. This is a relevant result that confirms the negligibility of many-body effects beyond the overlap concentration in crowded systems of reversibly bonding polymers and the validity of ultrasoft effective interactions for predicting their structural and phase behavior.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"67 1","pages":"1389-1395"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Macro LettersPub Date : 2025-09-09DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00511
Shujing Lei,Meng Huo
{"title":"Sulfone-Bond-Toughened Multifunctional Hydrogels with Ion-Modulated Fluorescence and Mechanical Properties.","authors":"Shujing Lei,Meng Huo","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00511","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00511","url":null,"abstract":"Sulfone bonding is an emerging dipole-dipole interaction between sulfone groups. Herein, sulfone bonding is used for the first time for engineering tough hydrogels. Sulfone-bond-toughened hydrogels are prepared by copolymerizing acrylamide with a sulfone-functionalized monomer. The integration of sulfone groups establishes cooperative supramolecular interactions between sulfone bonding and hydrogen bonding, endowing the hydrogels with tailorable mechanical properties, thermoresponsiveness, and clustering-induced fluorescence, which are readily modulated by varying the monomer composition. Moreover, the unique ion-responsiveness of sulfone bonding allows ion-responsive engineering of these hydrogel properties. Capitalizing on the ion-modulated fluorescence and thermal-responsive transitions of these hydrogels, we demonstrate their potential for rewritable information display applications. This work provides new insights into noncovalently toughened hydrogels and opens avenues for designing supramolecular networks based on sulfone bonding.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"11 1","pages":"1382-1388"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145017987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Macro LettersPub Date : 2025-09-09DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00456
Hojin Kim,Kexin Li,Alex E Crolais,Stuart J Rowan
{"title":"Short-Time Relaxation and Anomalous Diffusion in Dynamic Covalent Networks.","authors":"Hojin Kim,Kexin Li,Alex E Crolais,Stuart J Rowan","doi":"10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00456","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00456","url":null,"abstract":"Introducing dynamic covalent chemistries into polymer networks allows access to complex linear viscoelasticity, owing to the reversible nature of the dynamic bonds. While this macroscopic mechanical behavior is influenced by the dynamic exchange of these chemistries, connecting the microscopic dynamics to the bulk properties is hindered by the time scale conventional techniques can observe. Here, light scattering passive microrheology is applied to probe short-time dynamics of dynamic covalent networks that consist of telechelic benzalcyanoacetate (BCA) Michael acceptors and thiol-functionalized cross-linkers. The mean-squared displacement of probe particles embedded in the dynamic covalent networks is analyzed to explore the microscopic short-term dynamics and relaxation behavior. A series of Michael acceptors with varying equilibrium constants when reacted with thiols confirms that the observed microscopic relaxation arises from the bond dissociation. The data suggest the particles undergo local superdiffusivity, suggesting that bond breaking and bond reformation exert external force on the probe particles driving this non-Brownian anomalous diffusion.","PeriodicalId":18,"journal":{"name":"ACS Macro Letters","volume":"35 1","pages":"1375-1381"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145017988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}