Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a popular silicon-based polymer with advanced applications in microfluidics and nanocomposites. The slow dynamics of polymer chains in such complex systems hinders molecular dynamics investigations based on all atom force fields. This limitation can be overcome by exploiting finely tuned coarse-grained (CG) models. This paper develops a transferable CG model of PDMS, compatible with the recent Martini 3 force field, using structural and thermodynamic properties as targets in the parametrization, including a vast set of experimental free energies of transfer. We validate the model transferability by reproducing the correct scaling laws for the PDMS gyration radius in the melt and good and bad solvents. We successfully test the model by reproducing the wetting behavior of water and acetonitrile on PDMS and the phase behavior of a PDMS-peptide triblock copolymer system. This work sets the stage for computational studies involving the interaction between PDMS and many synthetic and biological molecules modeled within the Martini framework.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2sm00939k | DOI Listing |
Langmuir
January 2025
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Thermal Management Engineering & Materials, National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Functional Carbon Materials, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Alumina/polymer composites are conventional thermal interface materials widely used for heat dissipation. However, the interfacial thermal resistance (ITR) dominates the thermal conductivity (TC) of these composites, presenting a critical challenge. This study introduces erythritol as an innovative thermal bridge to effectively reduce the ITR by selectively locating it at the interfaces among alumina (AlO) particles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiosens Bioelectron
January 2025
Emotion, Cognition, & Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute 61, Cheomdan-ro, Dong-gu, Daegu, 41062, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:
In this study, we present ECoGScope, a versatile neural interface platform designed to integrate multiple functions for advancing neural network research. ECoGScope combines an electrocorticography (ECoG) electrode array with a commercial microendoscope, enabling simultaneous recording of ECoG signals and fluorescence imaging. The electrode array, constructed from highly flexible and transparent polymers, ensures conformal contact with the brain surface, allowing unobstructed optical monitoring of neural activity alongside electrophysiological recordings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMater Horiz
January 2025
School of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Patterning soft materials with cell adhesion motifs can be used to emulate the structures found in natural tissues. While patterning in tissue is driven by cellular assembly, patterning soft materials in the laboratory most often involves light-mediated chemical reactions to spatially control the presentation of cell binding sites. Here we present hydrogels that are formed with two responsive crosslinkers-an anthracene-maleimide adduct and a disulfide linkage-thereby allowing simultaneous or sequential patterning using force and UV light.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInspired by human skin, bionic tactile sensing is effectively promoting development and innovation in many fields with its flexible and efficient perception capabilities. Optical fiber, with its ability to perceive and transmit information and its flexible characteristics, is considered a promising solution in the field of tactile bionics. In this work, one optical fiber tactile sensing system based on a flexible PDMS-embedded optical fiber ring resonator (FRR) is designed for braille recognition, and the Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) demodulation scheme is adopted to improve the detection sensitivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDual-parameter temperature and humidity sensors based on optical fiber sensing have wide applications. Among various optical fiber sensors, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors exhibit excellent sensing sensitivity. To address the bandwidth issue and expand the sensitivity, this paper proposes a multimode fiber-no core fiber (MMF-NCF) SPR sensor.
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