Structural alterations of branched linear mixed-surfactant micellar systems with the addition of a complex perfume mixture and dipropylene glycol as cosolvent.

Personal care products commonly contain perfume mixtures, consisting of numerous perfume raw materials (PRMs), and cosolvents. The lipophilicity and structure of an individual PRM is known to affect its localization within the surfactant self-assembly as well as the micellar geometry. However, because multiple PRMs are used in formulations, significant intermolecular interactions between the PRMs and between the PRMs and the surfactant tail may also influence the location of the PRMs and their effects on the self-assembly.

Effects of a Multicomponent Perfume Accord and Dilution on the Formation of ST2S/CAPB Mixed-Surfactant Microemulsions.

Perfume mixtures contain perfume raw materials (PRMs) with varying structures and hydrophobicities, which influence PRM localization within a surfactant-based formulation and thereby affect the phase behavior. In rinse-off products, the addition of water can further affect the phase behavior. In this study, a mixture of 12 PRMs was used as the oil phase in an aqueous system consisting of sodium trideceth-2 sulfate as a primary surfactant, cocamidopropyl betaine as a cosurfactant, and dipropylene glycol as a cosolvent.

Supramolecular Self-assembly of a Model Hydrogelator: Characterization of Fiber Formation and Morphology.

Hydrogels are of intense recent interest in connection with biomedical applications ranging from 3-D cell cultures and stem cell differentiation to regenerative medicine, controlled drug delivery and tissue engineering. This prototypical form of soft matter has many emerging material science applications outside the medical field. The physical processes underlying this type of solidification are incompletely understood and this limits design efforts aimed at optimizing these materials for applications.

Form Factors for Branched Polymers with Excluded Volume.

The form factors for star-branched polymers with linear branches or with looping branches are calculated. The effect of chain swelling excluded volume is incorporated through an excluded volume parameter approach. The form factor for ring polymers is also included, since it is nicely derived as a special case.

Probing Nanoscale Thermal Transport in Surfactant Solutions.

Surfactant solutions typically feature tunable nanoscale, internal structures. Although rarely utilized, they can be a powerful platform for probing thermal transport in nanoscale domains and across interfaces with nanometer-size radius. Here, we examine the structure and thermal transport in solution of AOT (Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate) in n-octane liquids using small-angle neutron scattering, thermal conductivity measurements, and molecular dynamics simulations.

Probing the Structure, Composition, and Spatial Distribution of Ligands on Gold Nanorods.

The structure and size of ligands attached to the surfaces of gold nanorods, such as adsorbed surfactants or grafted polymers, are important considerations that facilitate the use of such nanoparticles in the human body, in advanced materials for energy harvesting, or in devices for single molecule detection. Here, we report small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements from surfactant or poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) coated gold nanorods in solution, which quantitatively determine the location, structure, and composition of these surface layers. In addition, by synthesizing gold nanorods using seed crystals which are coated with deuterated cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (dCTAB), we are able to exploit the isotopic sensitivity of SANS to study, for the first time, the retention of surfactant from the seed crystals to the final gold nanorod product, finding that very little exchange of the deuterated with hydrogenated surfactant occurs.

Self-assembly of the triblock copolymer 17R4 poly(propylene oxide)₁₄-poly(ethylene oxide)₂₄-poly(propylene oxide)₁₄ in D₂O.

Our recent investigation of the three regions of the phase diagram of 17R4 in D2O (Huff et al., 2011) has led us to study the copolymer structure in this system by small-angle neutron scattering, rheometry, and dynamic light scattering. In region I at low temperatures and copolymer concentrations (0-30°C, 0.

Thermoresponsive PNIPAAM bottlebrush polymers with tailored side-chain length and end-group structure.

We explore the phase behaviour, solution conformation, and interfacial properties of bottlebrush polymers with side-chains comprised of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM), a thermally responsive polymer that exhibits a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in water. PNIPAAM bottlebrush polymers with controlled side-chain length and side-chain end-group structure are prepared using a "grafting-through" technique. Due to reduced flexibility of bottlebrush polymer side-chains, side-chain end-groups have a disproportionate effect on bottlebrush polymer solubility and phase behaviour.

Are Bragg Peaks Gaussian?

It is common practice to assume that Bragg scattering peaks have Gaussian shape. The Gaussian shape function is used to perform most instrumental smearing corrections. Using Monte Carlo ray tracing simulation, the resolution of a realistic small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument is generated reliably.

Chain conformation in polymer nanocomposites with uniformly dispersed nanoparticles.

The effect of nanoparticles (NP) on chain dimensions in polymer melts has been the source of considerable theoretical and experimental controversy. We exploit our ability to ensure a spatially uniform dispersion of 13 nm silica NPs miscible in polystyrene melts, together with neutron scattering, x-ray scattering, and transmission electron microscopy, to show that there is no measurable change in the polymer size in miscible mixtures, regardless of the relative sizes of the chains and the nanoparticles, and for NP loadings as high as 32.7 vol%.

Chirality-Mediated Mechanical and Structural Properties of Oligopeptide Hydrogels.

The origin and the effects of homochirality in the biological world continuously stimulate numerous hypotheses and much debate. This work attempts to look at the biohomochirality issue from a different angle-the mechanical properties of the bulk biomaterial and their relation to nanoscale structures. Using a pair of oppositely charged peptides that co-assemble into hydrogels, we systematically investigated the effect of chirality on the mechanical properties of these hydrogels through different combinations of syndiotactic and isotactic peptides.

Temperature Effect on the Nanostructure of SDS Micelles in Water.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactants form micelles when dissolved in water. These are formed of a hydrocarbon core and hydrophilic ionic surface. The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique was used with deuterated water (D2O) in order to characterize the micelle structure.

Mesoscale inhomogeneities in aqueous solutions of small amphiphilic molecules.

Small amphiphilic molecules, also known as hydrotropes, are too small to form micelles in aqueous solutions. However, aqueous solutions of nonionic hydrotropes show the presence of a dynamic, loose, non-covalent clustering in the water-rich region, This clustering can be viewed as "micelle-like structural fluctuations". Although these fluctuations are short ranged (approximately 1 nm) and short lived (10 ps-50 ps), they may lead to thermodynamic anomalies.

Viscoelastic properties and nanoscale structures of composite oligopeptide-polysaccharide hydrogels.

Biocompatible and biodegradable peptide hydrogels are drawing increasing attention as prospective materials for human soft tissue repair and replacement. To improve the rather unfavorable mechanical properties of our pure peptide hydrogels, in this work we examined the possibility of creating a double hydrogel network. This network was created by means of the coassembly of mutually attractive, but self-repulsive oligopeptides within an already-existing fibrous network formed by the charged, biocompatible polysaccharides chitosan, alginate, and chondroitin.

The conformation of the poly(ethylene glycol) chain in mono-PEGylated lysozyme and mono-PEGylated human growth hormone.

Covalent conjugation of poly(ethylene glycol) or "PEGylation" has proven an effective strategy to improve pharmaceutical protein efficacy by hindering recognition by proteases, inhibitors, and antibodies and by retarding renal clearance. Because it determines the strength and range of intermolecular steric forces and the hydrodynamic properties of the conjugates, the configuration of protein-conjugated PEG chains is the key factor determining how PEGylation alters protein in vivo circulation time. Mono-PEGylated proteins are typically described as having a protective PEG shroud wrapped around the protein, but recent dynamic light scattering studies suggested that conjugates adopt a dumbbell configuration, with a relatively unperturbed PEG random coil adjacent to the globular protein.

Thermal conductivity and viscosity of self-assembled alcohol/polyalphaolefin nanoemulsion fluids.

Very large thermal conductivity enhancement had been reported earlier in colloidal suspensions of solid nanoparticles (i.e., nanofluids) and more recently also in oil-in-water emulsions.

Mutually reinforced multicomponent polysaccharide networks.

Networks made from chitosan and alginate have been utilized as prospective tissue engineering scaffolds due to material biocompatibility and degradability. Calcium (Ca(2+) ) is often added to these networks as a modifier for mechanical strength enhancement. In this work, we examined changes in the bulk material properties of different concentrations of chitosan/alginate mixtures (2, 3, or 5% w/w) upon adding another modifier, chondroitin.

Large-scale structures in tetrahydrofuran-water mixture with a trace amount of antioxidant butylhydroxytoluene (BHT).

Author: Because of the closed-loop phase diagram of tetrahydrofuran (THF)-water mixture, THF aqueous solution naturally exhibits concentration fluctuations near the phase boundary. Besides the fast mode induced by concentration fluctuations, the 4.5% mole fraction THF aqueous solution is also characterized by a slow mode.

Effects of macromolecular crowding on an intrinsically disordered protein characterized by small-angle neutron scattering with contrast matching.

Small-angle neutron scattering was used to examine the effects of molecular crowding on an intrinsically disordered protein, the N protein of bacteriophage λ, in the presence of high concentrations of a small globular protein, bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI). The N protein was labeled with deuterium, and the D(2)O concentration of the solvent was adjusted to eliminate the scattering contrast between the solvent and unlabeled BPTI, leaving only the scattering signal from the unfolded protein. The scattering profile observed in the absence of BPTI closely matched that predicted for an ensemble of random conformations.

Clustering in polar media.

Clustering prevails in water-soluble polymers and biological macromolecules. It has also been observed in polar solvent mixtures. The possible causes of clustering are discussed.

SANS from P85/water-d under pressure.

Pluronics are triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide). Pluronic P85 forms a rich phase behavior when dissolved in water. Unimers are observed at low temperature while micelles form at higher temperatures.

Insight into the denaturation transition of DNA.

DNA undergoes a helix-to-coil transition (also called denaturation transition) upon heating. This transition can also be facilitated by using solvent mixtures (for example water-alcohol). An increase in the hydrophobic tail of the second solvent molecule first decreases then increases the melting temperature appreciably.

Pluronic triblock copolymer systems and their interactions with Ibuprofen.

Small-angle neutron scattering and pulsed-field gradient stimulated-echo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have been used to study the structural characteristics of aqueous Pluronic solutions. In particular, changes in the micellar structure upon addition of ibuprofen to the solutions and altering the temperature have been investigated. Increases in temperature and ibuprofen concentration both appear to favor micellization, with increases observed in the aggregation number, fraction of polymer micellized, and core radius of the micelle, along with a decrease in the volume fraction of the solvent in the core.

Dependence of Self-Assembled Peptide Hydrogel Network Structure on Local Fibril Nanostructure.

Physically cross-linked, fibrillar hydrogel networks are formed by the self-assembly of β-hairpin peptide molecules with varying degrees of strand asymmetry. The peptide registry in the self-assembled state can be used as a design element to generate fibrils with twisting, nontwisting, or laminated morphology. The mass density of the networks varies significantly, and can be directly related to the local fibrillar morphology as evidenced by small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and in situ substantiation using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) under identical concentrations and conditions.