Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.6
5.0
Journals
Polymers
Special Issues
Polyelectrolytes Are Superheroes
share announcement

Polyelectrolytes Are Superheroes

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2022) | Viewed by 9764

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ranjit De

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biomedical Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea
Interests: drug delivery; crossing the blood-brain barrier; neurodegenerative diseases; carbon quantum dots; polymer; polymer nanoparticles; upconversion nanoparticles; counterion condensation of polyelectrolytes; gold/silver nanoparticles; bioimaging/advanced fluorescence microscopy; surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polyelectrolytes are a special class of polymers with ionizable groups in each of their repeating units which can influence surface properties and interactions. The presence of various types of such interactions (electrostatic, hydrophobic, H-bonding, etc.) among polymer chains can have applications in various fields, such as cosmetics, surfactants, controlled drug delivery, the design of membraneless organelles and artificial cells, adhesives, paints, water treatment, and many more. They can also contribute to protecting sensitive molecules from losing their inherent properties; for example, they might be able to protect protein-like molecules from denaturation by temperature, enzymes, etc. The behavior of polyelectrolytes in solution phase is being investigated by undertaking physics and physicochemical studies. The counterion condensation behavior of polyelectrolytes in pure and mixed solvents and their impact on structure, assembly, and complexation can provide important information on their behavior. However, since their behavior is often complex and dependent on their environment, further research on understanding the behavior of polyelectrolytes is required to resolve various questions, including the origin of cells.

Topics of interest to this Special Issue include: the behavior and interactions of polyelectrolytes in solution phase; the design of polyelectrolyte complexes and nanoparticles/nanostructures for various applications; polyelectrolytes at various solid interfaces and their potential; topical reviews on polyelectrolytes and their interactions; the use of various types of polyelectrolytes with upconversion nanoparticles for drug delivery, bioimaging, etc.; the potential of polyelectrolytes in the design of membraneless organelles to unravel activities inside biological cells.

Dr. Ranjit De
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Polyelectrolyte
  • Counterion condensation
  • Membraneless organelles
  • Drug delivery
  • Upconversion nanoparticles
  • Bioimaging
  • Nanostructures
  • Adhesives

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 2708 KiB  
Article
Temporal Changes of Adsorbed Layer Thickness and Electrophoresis of Polystyrene Sulfate Latex Particles after Long Incubation of Oppositely Charged Polyelectrolytes with Different Charge Densities
by Thi Hai Yen Doan, Tien Duc Pham, Johan Hunziker and Thu Ha Hoang
Polymers 2021, 13(15), 2394; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13152394 - 21 Jul 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1854
Abstract
The different desorption concepts of the two polyelectrolytes PTMA5M and PTMC5M, which have similar molecular weights and differ in the charge density on the polystyrene sulfate latex (PSL) particles by 25 times, and with various charge densities in a long incubation, were systematically [...] Read more.
The different desorption concepts of the two polyelectrolytes PTMA5M and PTMC5M, which have similar molecular weights and differ in the charge density on the polystyrene sulfate latex (PSL) particles by 25 times, and with various charge densities in a long incubation, were systematically investigated based on hydrodynamic adsorbed layer thickness (δH) and electrophoretic mobility (EPM) under two ionic strengths in the present study. Herein, in the case of highly charged polyelectrolyte PTMA5M, desorption continued for 4 h and re-adsorbing proceeded after a longer incubation time higher than 4 h. Meanwhile, in the case of lowly charged polyelectrolyte PTMC5M, an adsorption–desorption equilibrium was suggested to take into account the unchanging of both δH and EPM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyelectrolytes Are Superheroes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 5064 KiB  
Article
Effects of Amino Acid Side-Chain Length and Chemical Structure on Anionic Polyglutamic and Polyaspartic Acid Cellulose-Based Polyelectrolyte Brushes
by Dmitry Tolmachev, George Mamistvalov, Natalia Lukasheva, Sergey Larin and Mikko Karttunen
Polymers 2021, 13(11), 1789; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111789 - 28 May 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3170
Abstract
We used atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study polyelectrolyte brushes based on anionic α,L-glutamic acid and α,L-aspartic acid grafted on cellulose in the presence of divalent CaCl2 salt at different concentrations. The motivation is to search for ways to control properties [...] Read more.
We used atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study polyelectrolyte brushes based on anionic α,L-glutamic acid and α,L-aspartic acid grafted on cellulose in the presence of divalent CaCl2 salt at different concentrations. The motivation is to search for ways to control properties such as sorption capacity and the structural response of the brush to multivalent salts. For this detailed understanding of the role of side-chain length, the chemical structure and their interplay are required. It was found that in the case of glutamic acid oligomers, the longer side chains facilitate attractive interactions with the cellulose surface, which forces the grafted chains to lie down on the surface. The additional methylene group in the side chain enables side-chain rotation, enhancing this effect. On the other hand, the shorter and more restricted side chains of aspartic acid oligomers prevent attractive interactions to a large degree and push the grafted chains away from the surface. The difference in side-chain length also leads to differences in other properties of the brush in divalent salt solutions. At a low grafting density, the longer side chains of glutamic acid allow the adsorbed cations to be spatially distributed inside the brush resulting in a charge inversion. With an increase in grafting density, the difference in the total charge of the aspartic and glutamine brushes disappears, but new structural features appear. The longer sides allow for ion bridging between the grafted chains and the cellulose surface without a significant change in main-chain conformation. This leads to the brush structure being less sensitive to changes in salt concentration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyelectrolytes Are Superheroes)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

17 pages, 2730 KiB  
Review
Polyelectrolyte–Dye Interactions: An Overview
by Gulmi Chakraborty, Ajaya Bhattarai and Ranjit De
Polymers 2022, 14(3), 598; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14030598 - 2 Feb 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3404
Abstract
Polyelectrolytes are polymers with repeating units of ionizable groups coupled with counterions. Recently, polyelectrolytes have drawn significant attention as highly promising macromolecular materials with potential for applications in almost every sector of our daily lives. Dyes are another class of chemical compounds that [...] Read more.
Polyelectrolytes are polymers with repeating units of ionizable groups coupled with counterions. Recently, polyelectrolytes have drawn significant attention as highly promising macromolecular materials with potential for applications in almost every sector of our daily lives. Dyes are another class of chemical compounds that can interact with substrates and subsequently impart color through the selective absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the visible range. This overview begins with an introduction to polyelectrolytes and dyes with their respective definitions, classifications (based on origin, molecular architecture, etc.), and applications in diverse fields. Thereafter, it explores the different possible interactions between polyelectrolytes and dyes, which is the main focus of this study. The various mechanisms involved in dye–polyelectrolyte interactions and the factors that influence them are also surveyed. Finally, these discussions are summarized, and their future perspectives are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyelectrolytes Are Superheroes)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop