scholarly journals Upper Critical Solution Temperature (UCST) Behavior of Coacervate of Cationic Protamine and Multivalent Anions

Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyungbin Kim ◽  
Byoung-jin Jeon ◽  
Sangsik Kim ◽  
YongSeok Jho ◽  
Dong Soo Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Electrostatic Interactions ◽  
Solution Temperature ◽  
Complex Coacervation ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Upper Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Large Asymmetry ◽  
Positively Charged ◽  
Liquid Liquid Phase Separation

Complex coacervation is an emerging liquid/liquid phase separation (LLPS) phenomenon that behaves as a membrane-less organelle in living cells. Yet while one of the critical factors for complex coacervation is temperature, little analysis and research has been devoted to the temperature effect on complex coacervation. Here, we performed a complex coacervation of cationic protamine and multivalent anions (citrate and tripolyphosphate (TPP)). Both mixtures (i.e., protamine/citrate and protamine/TPP) underwent coacervation in an aqueous solution, while a mixture of protamine and sodium chloride did not. Interestingly, the complex coacervation of protamine and multivalent anions showed upper critical solution temperature (UCST) behavior, and the coacervation of protamine and multivalent anions was reversible with solution temperature changes. The large asymmetry in molecular weight between positively charged protamine (~4 kDa) and the multivalent anions (<0.4 kDa) and strong electrostatic interactions between positively charged guanidine residues in protamine and multivalent anions were likely to contribute to UCST behavior in this coacervation system.

scholarly journals Aqueous Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Natural and Synthetic Polyguanidiniums

Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prather ◽  
Weerasekare ◽  
Sima ◽  
Quinn ◽  
Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Phase Separation ◽  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Liquid Phase Separation ◽  
Solution Temperature ◽  
Titration Calorimetry ◽  
Polymer Backbone ◽  
Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Upper Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Positively Charged ◽  
Liquid Liquid Phase Separation

Protamines are natural polyguanidiniums, arginine(R)-rich proteins involved in the compaction of chromatin during vertebrate spermatogenesis. Salmine, a protamine isolated from salmon sperm, contains 65 mol% R residues, with positively charged guanidino (Gdm+) sidechains, and no other amino acids with ionizable or aromatic sidechains. Salmine sulfate solutions undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) with a concentration-dependent upper critical solution temperature (UCST). The condensed liquid phase comprises 50 wt % water and >600 mg·ml−1 salmine with a constant 1:2 ratio of sulfate (SO42−) to Gdm+. Isothermal titration calorimetry, titrating Na2SO4 into salmine chloride above and below the UCST, allowed isolation of exothermic sulfate binding to salmine chloride from subsequent endothermic condensation and exothermic phase separation events. Synthetic random polyacrylate analogs of salmine, with 3-guanidinopropyl sidechains, displayed similar counterion dependent phase behavior, demonstrating that the LLPS of polyguanidiniums does not depend upon subunit sequence or polymer backbone chirality, and was due entirely to Gdm+ sidechain interactions. The results provide experimental evidence for like-charge pairing of Gdm+ sidechains, and an experimental approach for further characterizing these interactions.

Selective Hydrogen Bonding Controls Temperature Response of Layer-by-Layer Upper Critical Solution Temperature Micellar Assemblies

Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliaksei Aliakseyeu ◽  
Victoria Albright ◽  
Danielle Yarbrough ◽  
Samantha Hernandez ◽  
Qing Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Bonding ◽  
Methacrylic Acid ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
Solution Temperature ◽  
Layer By Layer ◽  
Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Hydrogen Bonding Interactions ◽  
Upper Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Lbl Films

This work establishes a correlation between the selectivity of hydrogen-bonding interactions and the functionality of micelle-containing layer-by-layer (LbL) assemblies. Specifically, we explore LbL films formed by assembly of poly(methacrylic acid)...

Solid–liquid–liquid phase envelopes from temperature-scanned refractive index data

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alcides J. Sitoe ◽  
Franco Pretorius ◽  
Walter W. Focke ◽  
René Androsch ◽  
Elizabeth L. du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Refractive Index ◽  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Solution Temperature ◽  
Linear Behavior ◽  
Upper Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Solid Liquid ◽  
Liquid Liquid Phase Separation

Abstract A novel method for estimating the upper critical solution temperature (UCST) of N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET)-polyethylene systems was developed. It was validated using data for the dimethylacetamide (DMA)-alkane systems which showed that refractive index mixing rules, linear in volume fraction, can accurately predict mixture composition for amide-alkane systems. Furthermore, rescaling the composition descriptor with a single adjustable parameter proved adequate to address any asymmetry when modeling the DMA-alkane phase envelopes. This allowed the translation of measured refractive index cooling trajectories of DEET-alkane systems into phase diagrams and facilitated the estimation of the UCST values by fitting the data with an adjusted composition descriptor model. For both the DEET- and DMA-alkane systems, linear behavior of UCST values in either the Flory–Huggins critical interaction parameter, or the alkane critical temperature, with increasing alkane molar mass is evident. The UCST values for polymer diluent systems were estimated by extrapolation using these two complimentary approaches. For the DEET-polyethylene system, values of 183.4 and 180.1 °C respectively were obtained. Both estimates are significantly higher than the melting temperature range of polyethylene. Initial liquid–liquid phase separation is therefore likely to be responsible for the previously reported microporous microstructure of materials formed from this binary system.

scholarly journals Aggregation of Gold Nanoparticles in Presence of the Thermoresponsive Cationic Diblock Copolymer PNIPAAM48-b-PAMPTMA6

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 4066
Author(s):  
David Herrera Robalino ◽  
María del Mar Durán del Amor ◽  
Carmen María Almagro Gómez ◽  
José Ginés Hernández Cifre
Keyword(s):  
Gold Nanoparticles ◽  
High Ionic Strength ◽  
Solution Temperature ◽  
Trimethylammonium Chloride ◽  
Aggregation Process ◽  
Critical Solution Temperature ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Vis Spectroscopy ◽  
Copolymer Poly ◽  
Positively Charged

The adsorption of the thermoresponsive positively charged copolymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-block-poly(3-acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride, PNIPAAM48-b-PAMPTMA6(+), onto negatively charged gold nanoparticles can provide stability to the nanoparticles and make the emerging structure tunable by temperature. In this work, we characterize the nanocomposite formed by gold nanoparticles and copolymer chains and study the influence of the copolymer on the expected aggregation process that undergoes those nanoparticles at high ionic strength. We also determine the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the copolymer (around 42 °C) and evaluate the influence of the temperature on the nanocomposite. For those purposes, we use dynamic light scattering, UV-vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. At the working PNIPAAM48-b-PAMPTMA6(+) concentration, we observe the existence of copolymer structures that trap the gold nanoparticles and avoid the formation of nanoparticles aggregates. Finally, we discuss how these structures can be useful in catalysis and nanoparticles recovery.

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