R. Kiyama, T. Nonoyama, Sedlacik Tomas, H. Jinnai, J. Gong
{"title":"水凝胶结构的单大分子水平成像","authors":"R. Kiyama, T. Nonoyama, Sedlacik Tomas, H. Jinnai, J. Gong","doi":"10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-x1s5k","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Hydrogels are promising materials for several applications, including cell scaffolds and artificial load-bearing substitutes (cartilages, ligaments, tendons, etc.). Direct observation of the nanoscale polymer network of hydrogels is essential in understanding its properties. However, imaging of individual network strands at the molecular level is not achieved yet due to the lack of suitable methods. Herein, for the first time, we developed a novel mineral-staining method and network fixation method for transmission electron microscopy observation to visualize the hydrogel network in its unperturbed conformation with nanometer resolution. Surface network observation indicates that the length of surface dangling chains, which play a major role in friction and wetting, can be estimated from the gel mesh size. Moreover, bulk observations reveals a hierarchical formation mechanism of gel heterogeneity. These observations have the great potential to advance gel science by providing comprehensive perspective that link bulk gel properties with nanoscale.","PeriodicalId":72565,"journal":{"name":"ChemRxiv : the preprint server for chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Single-Macromolecular Level Imaging of a Hydrogel Structure\",\"authors\":\"R. Kiyama, T. Nonoyama, Sedlacik Tomas, H. Jinnai, J. Gong\",\"doi\":\"10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-x1s5k\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Hydrogels are promising materials for several applications, including cell scaffolds and artificial load-bearing substitutes (cartilages, ligaments, tendons, etc.). Direct observation of the nanoscale polymer network of hydrogels is essential in understanding its properties. However, imaging of individual network strands at the molecular level is not achieved yet due to the lack of suitable methods. Herein, for the first time, we developed a novel mineral-staining method and network fixation method for transmission electron microscopy observation to visualize the hydrogel network in its unperturbed conformation with nanometer resolution. Surface network observation indicates that the length of surface dangling chains, which play a major role in friction and wetting, can be estimated from the gel mesh size. Moreover, bulk observations reveals a hierarchical formation mechanism of gel heterogeneity. These observations have the great potential to advance gel science by providing comprehensive perspective that link bulk gel properties with nanoscale.\",\"PeriodicalId\":72565,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"ChemRxiv : the preprint server for chemistry\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2021-09-21\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"1\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"ChemRxiv : the preprint server for chemistry\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-x1s5k\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"\",\"JCRName\":\"\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ChemRxiv : the preprint server for chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-x1s5k","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
Single-Macromolecular Level Imaging of a Hydrogel Structure
Hydrogels are promising materials for several applications, including cell scaffolds and artificial load-bearing substitutes (cartilages, ligaments, tendons, etc.). Direct observation of the nanoscale polymer network of hydrogels is essential in understanding its properties. However, imaging of individual network strands at the molecular level is not achieved yet due to the lack of suitable methods. Herein, for the first time, we developed a novel mineral-staining method and network fixation method for transmission electron microscopy observation to visualize the hydrogel network in its unperturbed conformation with nanometer resolution. Surface network observation indicates that the length of surface dangling chains, which play a major role in friction and wetting, can be estimated from the gel mesh size. Moreover, bulk observations reveals a hierarchical formation mechanism of gel heterogeneity. These observations have the great potential to advance gel science by providing comprehensive perspective that link bulk gel properties with nanoscale.