ACS Applied Polymer Materials最新文献

{"title":"Sustainable Self-Healing Gel Polymer Electrolyte Based on Water-in-Deep Eutectic Solvent for Flexible Supercapacitors","authors":"Mitra Najafloo,&nbsp; and ,&nbsp;Leila Naji*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0122410.1021/acsapm.4c01224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c01224https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c01224","url":null,"abstract":"<p >In this study, a durable fire-resistant and self-healing dual-network gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) comprising poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), sodium alginate (SA), NaCl, and a water-in-deep eutectic solvent (DES) system was prepared using a one-step freezing-thawing technique for flexible supercapacitors (FSCs). Various GPEs were synthesized to investigate the influences of choline chloride (ChCl) and ethylene glycol (EG) molar ratios, the comprising components of the DES, and the impact of NaCl. The developed DES-based GPEs were formed through noncovalent interactions, offering several advantages, including the absence of chemical initiators and binders, environmental compatibility, and a simple preparation process. The dual-network GPEs exhibited extraordinary ionic conductivity, mechanical strength, stretchability, and self-healing properties as a result of the synergistic interaction between DES and NaCl and the creation of physically entangled networks. The optimized GPE, which showed an impressive ionic conductivity of 104.27 mS cm^–1 at room temperature, was utilized in the fabrication of carbon-based FSC by sandwiching it between two same-size carbon cloth electrodes. The resulting device exhibited an energy density of 181.47 mWh cm^–2 at a power density of 350 mW cm^–2, and exceptional durability with a cycle life exceeding 10,000 cycles while providing approximately 93.32% capacitance retention throughout the testing period. Moreover, the prepared FSC maintained its electrochemical performance characteristics to an acceptable extent even under 90 and 180° bending deformation. Furthermore, the device prepared based on the self-healed GPE maintained 93.85 and 91.35% of its initial capacitance after the fifth and seventh cycles of cutting/healing, respectively, due to the remarkable self-repairing ability of the developed GPE. Our findings provide valuable insight into the development of flexible and leakproof GPEs for FSCs with potential applications in wearable electronic devices.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative Study on the Effect of Terthienyl-diphenylstyrene Type Organic Photocatalysts for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution","authors":"Lei Liu,&nbsp;Jiabin Qiu*,&nbsp;Zhenghui Xie,&nbsp;Chenxin Yang,&nbsp;Ting Huang,&nbsp;Yunjin Lu,&nbsp;Xinyi Zhang,&nbsp;Dongnai Ye and Shi-Yong Liu*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0195010.1021/acsapm.4c01950","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c01950https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c01950","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Donor–acceptor (D-A) type linear conjugated polymer is considered as a promising photocatalyst due to its facile adjustment of energy bands and spectral range. Herein, we designed a series of D-A linear conjugated polymers based on terthienyl-diphenylstyrene. The comparative effect was investigated via ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transient photocurrent response (TPR), cyclic voltammetry (CV), etc. The results demonstrated that incorporating styryl building blocks into the acceptor moiety can efficaciously enhance the photocatalysis hydrogen production (PHP) activities, surpassing the effect of incorporating cyano substituents into the acceptor moiety. Among them, <b>BTT-PPAN</b> (<b>BTT</b> is 2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene, <b>PPAN</b> is (2<i>Z</i>,2′<i>Z</i>)-3,3′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(2-phenylacrylonitrile)) exhibited an outstanding PHP rate (35.54 mmol g^–1 h^–1). The terpolymers (<b>PPAN</b>_{<b><i>x</i></b>}<b>PFN</b>_{<b><i>y</i></b>}; <b>PPAN</b> is (2<i>Z</i>,2′<i>Z</i>)-3,3′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(2-phenylacrylonitrile), <b>PFN</b> is 2,3-diphenylfumaronitrile) were subsequently constructed by changing the feed ratio of 2,3-<i>bis</i>(4-bromophenyl)fumaronitrile (<b>M3</b>) and (2<i>Z</i>,2′<i>Z</i>)-2,2′-(1,4-phenylene)<i>bis</i>(3-(4-bromophenyl)acrylonitrile) (<b>M4</b>) and polymerization with <b>BTT</b>. The investigation of terpolymers also demonstrates that the conjugation length plays a more critical role in the performance of PHP than the cyano substituent effect. The comparative impact result obtained in this investigation will provide an invaluable theoretical guideline for the future rational design of high PHP performance materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rapid One-Pot Synthesis of Hyper-Cross-Linked Polymers at Room Temperature for the Efficient Adsorption of VOCs","authors":"Huihao Jiang,&nbsp;Limin Duan,&nbsp;Wenhao Wu,&nbsp;Daohui Lin and Kun Yang*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0233810.1021/acsapm.4c02338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02338https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02338","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) represent a promising type of adsorbent for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), exhibiting ultrahigh porosity, excellent physicochemical stability, and superior cost-effectiveness. HCPs are typically prepared using solvothermal methods, which require at least 18 h at 80 °C, resulting in significant energy and time consumption, thus limiting large-scale production. Herein, we propose a rapid self-cross-linking synthesis strategy to prepare HCPs in one-pot within 5 min at room temperature (25 °C) by predispersing the catalyst and predissolving the monomers. The specific surface area of the prepared HCP, synthesized using 4,4′-bis(hydroxymethyl)biphenyl as monomer is as high as 1784 m²/g, which is comparable to those synthesized by solvothermal methods. This strategy makes the self-cross-linking reaction more homogeneous, playing a crucial role in accelerating the reaction and reducing the reaction temperature. In addition, it is observed that the HCPs exhibited excellent adsorption properties for benzene and methanol with adsorption amounts of up to 30.3 and 53.2 mmol/g, respectively. This work presents a simple strategy for the rapid and large-scale synthesis of HCPs as efficient adsorbents for VOCs.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multistimuli-Responsive Antiprotein-Fouling Benzimidazolium Poly(zwitterionic ionic liquid)s with Tunable UCST for Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes and Cross-Linked Hydrogels","authors":"Ambuz Basak,&nbsp;Mahuya Kar and Tarun K. Mandal*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0184310.1021/acsapm.4c01843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c01843https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c01843","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Poly(zwitterionic ionic liquid) (PZIL) refers to a polymeric architecture with an ionic liquid moiety also capable of being zwitterionic in each repeating unit, which has not been explored so far in the literature. Owing to their versatile structures and interesting properties, nowadays they are attracting much interest in industrial and biomedical applications. Thus, this work demonstrates the design and synthesis of two styryl-based homopolymers containing repeating units comprising carboxyalkylbenzimidazolium bromide functionalities, employing RAFT polymerization in water. These PZILs exist as poly(zwitterion)s and form pH-tunable aggregated nanostructures, appearing as turbid suspensions in water at pH 4.1. The transformation of a turbid suspension to a transparent solution on heating and vice versa on cooling suggests a clear upper critical solution temperature (UCST)-type phase behavior of the PZILs in water, and the derived cloud points (<i>T</i>_cps) are found to be tunable with pH and PZIL concentrations, as well. Below the isoelectric point (pI), at any pH, the PZILs also exhibit a reversible UCST-type transition from one-phase to two-phase in the presence of different Hofmeister anions in water, with <i>T</i>_cps tunable with anion and PZIL concentrations. In this pH range, these PZILs behave as cationic poly(ionic liquid)s and are found to be very effective in dispersing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in water. The aqueous dispersions of MWCNT-PZIL composites are responsive toward different stimuli such as temperature, pH, and anions. Both PZILs exhibit antiprotein-fouling activities by preventing nonspecific aggregation of bovine serum albumin in water at pH 7 (beyond the pI). The zwitterionic hydrogel derived from zwitterionic ionic liquid monomers shows multistimuli-responsive behavior and exhibits excellent water-uptake ability in water and aqueous NaCl solutions, with % equilibrium swelling of ∼123 and ∼320, respectively.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydrogen Bonding Dominated Anion-Exchange Membranes Based on Flexible and Rigid Backbones","authors":"Yuyang Lu,&nbsp;Huimin Fan,&nbsp;Cuiwen Deng,&nbsp;Minhao Wang,&nbsp;Jia Wang,&nbsp;Zhongshan Feng,&nbsp;Yi Liu,&nbsp;Xiaorong Zhou*,&nbsp;Bencai Lin and Juanjuan Han*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0218810.1021/acsapm.4c02188","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02188https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02188","url":null,"abstract":"<p >This work presents a synthesis strategy to yield DQPVB-EVOH anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) by grafting hydroxyl-containing bis-cationic side chains onto a rigid poly(4-vinylbenzyl chloride) (PVB) backbone (DQPVB) and blending it with a flexible ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH). The intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the hydroxyl groups on DQPVB side chains and those on flexible EVOH delivers good tensile strength (TS = 8.3–22.9 MPa), high elongation at break (EB = 94.9–218.5%), restricted swelling degree (SD = 12.0–42.7%), and high water uptake (WU = 106.8–311.2%) of the AEMs. The bis-cationic properties promote a high ion-exchange capacity (IEC = 2.77–4.01 mmol g^–1) for DQPVB-EVOH AEMs, contributing to their improved ionic conductivity (IC = 51.3–89.3 mS cm^–1 at 80 °C). Additionally, the absence of polar groups on the PVB backbone, coupled with high water uptake, diminishes the nucleophilic attack ability of hydroxyl groups, resulting in good alkali stability for DQPVB-EVOH AEMs. (After soaking in 1 M KOH at 80 °C for 360 h, IEC retentions = 86.2–93.5% and IC retentions = 85.5–95.6%.) A H₂/O₂ fuel cell based on the DQPVB-EVOH-0.5 AEM exhibits a maximum power density of 303.6 mW cm^–2. In comparison, QPVB-EVOH-0.5, which is formulated by blending singly cationic-grafted quaternized PVB (QPVB) with EVOH, exhibits excessive swelling at 30 °C due to the lack of hydrogen bond cross-linking. It has a SD of up to 95.8% with an IEC of 2.36 mmol g^–1, making it not feasible.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhanced Poly(SBMA/HEMA) Hydrogels: Superior Toughness, Biocompatibility, and Antibacterial Efficacy","authors":"Cheng-Zhen Yuan,&nbsp;Yi-Jie Jiang,&nbsp;Jiiang-Huei Jeng,&nbsp;Mei-Chi Chang,&nbsp;Li-Wei Tseng and Hsiu-Wen Chien*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0280210.1021/acsapm.4c02802","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02802https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02802","url":null,"abstract":"<p >This study investigates the mechanical and biological properties of hydrophobically associated poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate-<i>co</i>-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (poly(SBMA/HEMA)) hydrogels synthesized via micellar copolymerization. These hydrogels exhibit remarkable toughness and self-healing capabilities due to their reversible cross-linked networks. Experimental results indicate that increasing the HEMA content enhances the tensile modulus but reduces elongation and toughness. By optimizing the ratio of SBMA to HEMA, the hydrogels can maintain tensile strength, self-healing properties, adhesiveness, and biocompatibility. Additionally, these hydrogels can encapsulate hydrophobic curcumin, promoting controlled drug release and demonstrating effective antibacterial properties, highlighting their potential for biomedical applications. This research pioneers the preparation of hydrogels using hydrophobic association mechanisms, differing from chemically cross-linked poly(SBMA/HEMA) hydrogels, not only improving mechanical properties but also providing an effective approach for encapsulating hydrophobic drugs within hydrogels.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights into the Foaming Mechanism of Micro-Nanocellular PBAT Foams Regulating by Crystallization Behaviors","authors":"Ruijing Meng,&nbsp;Jundian Yan,&nbsp;Hongfu Zhou*,&nbsp;Xiangdong Wang and Linyan Wang*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0202110.1021/acsapm.4c02021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02021https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02021","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Biodegradable poly(butylene adipate-<i>co</i>-terephthalate) (PBAT) is attracting much more attention in the field of porous materials for its superior properties, while the poor cell structures of PBAT foams limit their application. In this work, density functional theory was employed to assist in studying the foaming mechanism of PBAT. Predicted results implied that the crystallized PBAT chains were more conducive to the adsorption of CO₂ molecules, providing a higher supersaturation density for bubble nucleation. The bubble induced by crystallized chains displayed much smaller critical sizes and much larger bubble number densities than those nucleated around amorphous chains. Based on the theoretical values, PBAT foaming experiments at different temperatures were performed by controlling their crystallization behaviors, where the supercritical CO₂ was selected as the foaming agent. PBAT foams with bimodal cell structures were obtained, where the structures gradually disappeared with increasing foaming temperature. In these foams, the average size of small cells could reach 600 nm, and their average cell density was larger than 10¹² cells/cm³. In addition, the PBAT-70 foam presented the best cyclic compressive property, and the PBAT-79 foam exhibited the best thermal insulation property. Generally, the high-performance PBAT foams were facilitated successfully, where the preparing mechanism and properties of the foams were discussed systematically. This study provides some ideas for the preparation and application of PBAT foams.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142408407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regulating the Photodeformation Behavior of Azobenzene-Containing Polyimide via Thermal Treatment","authors":"Menghan Zhang,&nbsp;Xuejie Sun,&nbsp;Jia Wei* and Yanlei Yu,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0239910.1021/acsapm.4c02399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02399https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02399","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Photodeformable polymers have significant potential for untethered smart actuation due to their rapid response and versatile deformation behaviors. However, altering deformation behaviors typically requires preparing materials with different macromolecular structures. Here, we achieved controllable reversal of photodeformation behaviors (bending away from or toward the light source) in side-chain azobenzene polyimides by adjusting the thermal treatment conditions. Different thermal treatments introduced variations in the internal free volume of the material, leading to two distinct deformation mechanisms under blue light exposure and resulting in opposite macroscopic deformation behaviors. By choosing appropriate thermal treatment methods, we fabricated actuators with specific functionalities and utilized the correlation between deformation behavior and thermal treatment to demonstrate a detector for thermal history. This postsynthesis regulation of the photodeformation behavior offers a convenient and repeatable manner to engineer actuation on demand.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142408581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Porphyrin-Based Conjugated Microporous Polymers with Oligomeric Acceptor Arms for Efficient Nonsacrificial Photocatalytic H2O2 Production","authors":"Kang-Hua Li,&nbsp;Qian Li,&nbsp;Li-Na Liu,&nbsp;Zhong-Xin Xue,&nbsp;Zi-Wen Xu and Wei-Shi Li*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0201610.1021/acsapm.4c02016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02016https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02016","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The invention of a photocatalyst that can efficiently and stably manufacture H₂O₂ using only water, oxygen, and solar light as starting materials is a dream for the sustainable H₂O₂ industry and our human society. Although donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated polymers have been well documented in the design of such photocatalysts, less attention has been paid to the optimization of the lengths of D and A moieties in the structure. Herein, a series of D–A conjugated microporous polymers named <b>P(TPP-DBTSO</b>_{<i><b>x</b></i>}<b>)</b> by adopting tetraphenyl porphyrin (TPP) units as four-branched and donor moiety while oligomeric dibenzo[<i>b</i>,<i>d</i>]thiophene sulfone (DBTSO) segments with variable lengths (<i>x</i> = 1, 5, 50, and 200) as linear arms and acceptor moiety as well as the DBTSO homopolymer (<b>PDBTSO</b>) were synthesized and studied. It has been found that all these polymers can be used as photocatalysts for nonsacrificial light-driven H₂O₂ production from water and oxygen, but with the performance highly depending on their polymeric degrees of the (DBTSO)_<i>x</i> segments. Among the families, <b>P(TPP-DBTSO</b>_<b>50</b><b>)</b> behaved the best and delivered the largest photocatalytic H₂O₂ production rate of 1064 μmol g^–1 h^–1 under visible-light irradiation. However, when reusability and stability were concerned, <b>P(TPP-DBTSO</b>_<b>50</b><b>)</b> was found inferior to <b>P(TPP-DBTSO</b>_<b>1</b><b>)</b>, the conventional D–A alternative copolymer. In the work, the great impact of the polymeric degree of the (DBTSO)_<i>x</i> segments on the polymer photophysical properties, band alignments, charge carrier production and transport, and photocatalytic performance was studied and discussed in detail.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142408120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optomechanical, Computer Simulation, and Nanoindentation Studies on Tunable Click Hydrogels: Microscopic Insights","authors":"Helena Muñoz-Galán,&nbsp;Antonio Marzoa,&nbsp;Oscar Bertran,&nbsp;Francesc Barberà,&nbsp;Emilio Jiménez-Piqué,&nbsp;Oscar Ahumada*,&nbsp;Maria M. Pérez-Madrigal* and Carlos Alemán*,&nbsp;","doi":"10.1021/acsapm.4c0225010.1021/acsapm.4c02250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02250https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.4c02250","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The properties of thiol–yne click polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels, which can be tuned by controlling the <i>cis</i> and <i>trans</i> stereochemistry through the gelation conditions, have been investigated at the micro- and nanoscale using optomechanics, atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and nanoindentation. Optomechanical measurements on thin films and computer MD simulations have shown that the <i>trans</i> hydrogel is less porous than the <i>cis</i> hydrogel, which is in agreement with both the swelling behavior and the pore size determined for macroscopic 3D hydrogel samples. On the other hand, results from optomechanical measurements using both static and dynamic modes, as well as nanoindentation profiles obtained for thin films adhered to glass substrates, reflect that the <i>trans</i> hydrogel is stiffer than the <i>cis</i> one. Overall, despite the few drawbacks of the techniques employed in this work, from a qualitative point of view, the properties of click PEG-based hydrogels at the micro- and nanoscale follow a behavior similar to that found for 3D macroscopic samples. Considering the wide range of mechanical properties of human tissues (e.g., Young’s modulus ranges from 0.1 kPa to many tens of MPa) and the extensive use of hydrogels in applications such as tissue regeneration and tissue-specific drug delivery, the availability of a hydrogel with tunable properties opens the door to targeted biomedicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":7,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Polymer Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142408270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}