Artículo
Theoretical treatment of complex coacervate core micelles: structure and pH-induced disassembly
Debais, Gabriel Federico
; Missoni, Leandro Luis
; Pérez Sirkin, Yamila Anahí
; Tagliazucchi, Mario Eugenio
Fecha de publicación:
09/2023
Editorial:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Revista:
Soft Matter
ISSN:
1744-6848
Idioma:
Inglés
Tipo de recurso:
Artículo publicado
Clasificación temática:
Resumen
Complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms) are supramolecular soft nanostructures formed by the assembly of a block copolymer and an oppositely charged homopolymer. The coacervation of the charged segments in both macromolecules drives the formation of the core of the C3M, while the neutral block of the copolymer forms the corona. This work introduces a molecular theory (MOLT) that predicts the internal structure and stimuli-responsive properties of C3Ms and explicitly considers the chemical architecture of the polyelectrolytes, their acid–based equilibria and electrostatic and nonelectrostatic interactions. In order to accurately predict complex coacervation, the correlations between charged species are incorporated into MOLT as ion-pairing processes, which are modeled using a coupled chemical equilibrium formalism. Very good agreement was observed between the experimental results in the literature and MOLT predictions for the scaling relationships that relate the dimensions of the micelle (aggregation number and sizes of the micelle and the core) to the lengths of the different blocks. MOLT was used to study the disassembly of the micelles when the solution pH is driven away from the value that guarantees the charge stoichiometry of the core. This study reveals that very sharp disassembly transitions can be obtained by tuning the length or architecture of the copolymer component, thereby suggesting potential routes to design C3Ms capable of releasing their components at very precise pH values.
Palabras clave:
Complex coacervate micelles
,
Molecular theory
,
Soft matter
Archivos asociados
Licencia
Identificadores
Colecciones
Articulos(INQUIMAE)
Articulos de INST.D/QUIM FIS D/L MATERIALES MEDIOAMB Y ENERGIA
Articulos de INST.D/QUIM FIS D/L MATERIALES MEDIOAMB Y ENERGIA
Citación
Debais, Gabriel Federico; Missoni, Leandro Luis; Pérez Sirkin, Yamila Anahí; Tagliazucchi, Mario Eugenio; Theoretical treatment of complex coacervate core micelles: structure and pH-induced disassembly; Royal Society of Chemistry; Soft Matter; 19; 39; 9-2023; 7602-7612
Compartir
Altmétricas