In this work, we studied the equilibrium structures formed by a single (AB) multiblock copolymer chain. Within our model, the interactions between the A-type beads were repulsive and the B-type beads could form pairwise reversible bonds with each other (BB-bonds). Our goal was to investigate how the formation of pairwise reversible bonds between the A-type beads and the B-type beads (AB-bonds) affected the structure of the chain. We observed the formation of well-studied intramolecular micelles when the AB-bonds were absent; however, the chain folding changed dramatically when the formation of the AB-bonds was introduced. In this case, the multiblock copolymer formed a globule, which had a unique heterogeneous checkerboard-like distribution of the contact density. We discovered that contacts of beads of different types (i.e., AB-contacts) occurred much more frequently than contacts of beads of the same type (i.e., AA- and BB-contacts) in these structures. This effect can be explained by a simple model of chemical equilibrium in a two-component fluid of reversibly interacting particles, which can be solved exactly. This novel type of folding can serve as a basic model for any (AB) multiblock copolymer chain with a non-vanishing attraction between A and B blocks.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0072568 | DOI Listing |
Molecules
December 2024
Laboratory of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers and Colors, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
This study presents the synthesis and characterization of a series of multiblock copolymers, poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate)-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEF-PCL), created through a combination of the two-step melt polycondensation method and ring opening polymerization, as sustainable alternatives to fossil-based plastics. The structural confirmation of these block copolymers was achieved through Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), ensuring the successful integration of PEF and PCL segments. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was employed for chemical bonding and quantitative analysis, providing insights into the distribution and compatibility of the copolymer components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacromol Biosci
January 2025
Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD) and Australian Centre for NanoMedicine (ACN), School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Invasive fungal infections cause over 3.7 million deaths worldwide annually, underscoring the critical need for new antifungal agents. Developing selective antifungal agents is challenging due to the shared eukaryotic nature of both fungal and mammalian cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Nano
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
J Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Polymer Synthesis Laboratory, Laboratory, Chemistry Program, KAUST Catalysis Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia.
Adv Healthc Mater
December 2024
Polymer Science, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 3, Groningen, 9747 AG, The Netherlands.
Melt electrowriting (MEW) is a powerful additive manufacturing technique to produce tissue engineering scaffolds. Despite its strength, it is limited by a small number of processable polymers. Therefore, to broaden the library of materials for MEW, we investigated the printability of poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)-poly(butylene terephthalate) (PEOT-PBT), a thermoplastic elastomer.
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