Search results for "Polymer brush"

π-Stacked polymers in drug delivery applications

2016

Abstract Polybenzofulvenes are π-stacked polymers, which can be synthesized by spontaneous polymerization of the corresponding monomers without the use of catalysts or initiators. Therefore, they can be obtained completely free from byproducts, impurities, or harmful substances. The absence of any relevant toxic effects and cell viability impairments allows PEGylated polybenzofulvene brushes to be potentially functional in a wide range of biological, biomedical, and biotechnological applications. Moreover, the properties of these polymers, in terms of interaction with pharmacological active agents and the ability to self-assemble into nanoaggregates or a quite compact physical gel useful as…

Composite Thin Film by Hydrogen-Bonding Assembly of Polymer Brush and Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)

2005

Based on hydrogen-bonding layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly in aqueous solution, poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVPON) and a spherical polymer brush with a poly(methylsilsesquioxane) (PSQ) core and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) hair chains were used to fabricate composite multilayer thin films. Hydrogen bonding as the driving force was confirmed by FT-IR spectrometry. A simple method (Filmetric F20) was introduced to determine the thickness and refractive index of the films. The film thickness was found to be a linear function of the number of bilayers. The average increase in thickness per bilayer is 28.3 nm. The film morphology was characterized with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microsco…

Design and development of hyaluronan-functionalized polybenzofulvene nanoparticles as CD44 receptor mediated drug delivery system

2017

A tri-component polymer brush (TCPB), composed of a polybenzofulvene copolymer bearing low molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HA) on the surface of its cylindrical brush-like backbone and oligo-PEG fractions, was employed in the preparation of 350 nm nanostructured drug delivery systems capable of delivering the anticancer drug doxorubicin. The obtained drug delivery systems were characterized on the basis of drug loading and release, dimensions and zeta potential, morphology and in vitro cell activity, and uptake on three different human cell lines, namely the bronchial epithelial 16HBE, the breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7, and the colon cancer HCT116 cells. Finally, the ability of doxorubicin…

Monte Carlo test of the self-consistent field theory of a polymer brush

1992

Strain-Promoted Cycloaddition of Cyclopropenes with o-Quinones : A Rapid Click Reaction

2018

Abstract Novel click reactions are of continued interest in fields as diverse as bio‐conjugation, polymer science and surface chemistry. Qualification as a proper “click” reaction requires stringent criteria, including fast kinetics and high conversion, to be met. Herein, we report a novel strain‐promoted cycloaddition between cyclopropenes and o‐quinones in solution and on a surface. We demonstrate the “click character” of the reaction in solution and on surfaces for both monolayer and polymer brush functionalization.

Phase diagram of a mixed polymer brush

2001

We investigate the structure and phase behavior of a two-component (binary) polymer brush in a solvent within self-consistent field theory as a function of the chains' stretching, the composition, and the incompatibility. Grafting the chains irreversibly prevents macrophase separation and the chains assemble into three-dimensional structures with lateral periodicity. At small incompatibilities a "ripple" phase is formed where different species aggregate into an array of parallel cylinders. At larger incompatibilities or asymmetric composition two "dimple" phases become stable, where different species form clusters which arrange on a quadratic (checkerboard structure) or hexagonal lattice.

Polymer-brush lubricated surfaces with colloidal inclusions under shear inversion.

2011

We characterize the response of compressed, sheared polymer-brush bilayers with colloidal inclusions to highly nonstationary inversion processes by means of molecular dynamics simulations and scaling theory. Bilayers with a simple (dimeric) solvent reveal an overshoot for the shear stress, while simulations of dry brushes without explicit solvent molecules fail to display this effect. We demonstrate that mechanical instabilities can be controlled by the inclusion of macromolecular structures, such as colloids of varying softness. Based on a recently developed theory, we suggest a scaling approach to determine a characteristic time for conformational and collective responses.

Using Copolymers to Design Tunable Stimuli-Reponsive Brushes

2020

Recently, a new design for switch sensors has been proposed that exploits a conformational transition of end-grafted minority adsorption-active homopolymers in a monodisperse polymer brush [Klushin...

Wetting of polymer liquids: Monte Carlo simulations and self-consistent field calculations

2003

Using Monte Carlo simulations and self-consistent field (SCF) theory we study the surface and interface properties of a coarse grained off-lattice model. In the simulations we employ the grand canonical ensemble together with a reweighting scheme in order to measure surface and interface free energies and discuss various methods for accurately locating the wetting transition. In the SCF theory, we use a partial enumeration scheme to incorporate single-chain properties on all length scales and use a weighted density functional for the excess free energy. The results of various forms of the density functional are compared quantitatively to the simulation results. For the theory to be accurate…

Molecular dynamics simulations of capillary rise experiments in nanotubes coated with polymer brushes.

2007

The capillary filling of a nanotube coated with a polymer brush is studied by molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained model, assuming various conditions for the fluid-wall and fluid-brush interactions. Whereas the fluid is modeled by simple point particles interacting with Lennard-Jones forces, the (end-grafted, fully flexible) polymers that form the brush coating are described by a standard bead-spring model. Our experiments reveal that capillary filling is observed even for walls that would not be wetted by the fluid, provided the polymer brush coating itself wets. Generally, it is found that the capillary rise always proceeds through a t1/2 law with time t while the underlying…