Article
Polymer Science
Rang Chen, Xue Jiang, Guolin Lu, Wenbin Liu, Weize Jin, Guojian Tian, Xiaoyu Huang
Summary: Graft copolymers have versatile applications in material science due to their tunable structure and diverse morphologies. This study successfully synthesized amphiphilic graft copolymers bearing pyridine-containing hydrophilic backbones, which exhibited dual temperature- and pH-sensitive behavior, suggesting their potential as polymer-drug nanocarriers.
Article
Polymer Science
Ke Wang, Qi Liu, Ganghui Lu, Yi Zhang, Yuanhong Zhou, Siqi Chen, Qian Ma, Guiyan Liu, Yongfei Zeng
Summary: The research synthesized a novel acid-labile temperature-responsive homopolymer with unique dissolution temperature characteristics and prepared an acid-induced phase transition copolymer, providing new ideas for the design of multi-stimuli responsive polymers.
Article
Polymer Science
Hamid Reza Hedayati, Manounchehr Khorasani, Mostafa Ahmadi, Nicholas Ballard
Summary: In this study, well-defined and linear PVAc was synthesized using RAFT polymerization method, overcoming the difficulties in controlling molecular weight distribution during the hydrolysis of PVAc. This offers a potential route to the production of PVAc and PVA products with uniform properties.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shannon M. North, Steven P. Armes
Summary: In this study, zwitterionic diblock copolymers were successfully synthesized using RAFT polymerization in a wholly aqueous environment, with the isoelectric point in aqueous solution tunable by varying monomer proportions. These copolymers show promise for potential applications.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xabier Lopez de Pariza, Tim Erdmann, Pedro L. Arrechea, Leron Perez, Charles Dausse, Nathaniel H. Park, James L. Hedrick, Haritz Sardon
Summary: Conducting polymerizations under continuous-flow conditions has advantages over batch experimentation, especially in the synthesis of polyurethanes, allowing for rapid and precise control over material properties and improving process monitoring and control to minimize batch-to-batch variations.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Zhao Wang, Wenli Song, Ruilong Sheng, Xinyu Guo, Lingyun Hao, Xiaojuan Zhang
Summary: A new series of cholesterol-bearing poly(methacrylate)s with pendant cationic (l-)-lysine (Chol-PHML) were synthesized. These polymeric vectors efficiently bound/load pDNA and formed nanoparticles. The gene transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity depended on the molecular weight of the polymer.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLYMERIC MATERIALS AND POLYMERIC BIOMATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yanchao Wang, Maosheng Li, Shixue Wang, Youhua Tao, Xianhong Wang
Summary: SCA monomers derived from amino acids are more reactive than thiolactones for ultrafast and selective ROP, resulting in controlled molecular weight, low dispersities, and retained stereoregularity of the synthesized polythioesters.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Mingtao Zhou, Shengfei Wang, Aishun Ding, Guolin Lu, Xiaoyu Huang, Xue Jiang, Binbin Xu
Summary: This study presents the controlled synthesis of polyallene-based diblock copolymers with tunable structure and low polydispersities via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, highlighting the in situ formation of unique nanofibers based on PNIPAM-b-PPOA diblock copolymer through polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The work opens a new avenue for synthesizing well-defined polyallene-based copolymers and nanoparticles for broad applications using living/controlled radical polymerization.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ken-ichi Yamashita, Shouichi Takeuchi, Ken-ichi Sugiura
Summary: In this study, meso-aminodiarylporphyrin was oxidatively oligomerized to yield stable oligomers with properties similar to fully oxidized polyanilines. The oligomers consisted of electron-rich porphyrinoid and electron-deficient quinoid moieties, exhibiting a broad electronic absorption band in the near infrared region. Fully reduced oligomers resembling reduced polyanilines and partially reduced tetramers were also obtained.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Glen R. Jones, Hyun Suk Wang, Kostas Parkatzidis, Richard Whitfield, Nghia P. Truong, Athina Anastasaki
Summary: Controlled polymerization methods allow for the precise design and preparation of polymeric materials. Recent work has shown that these methods also enable depolymerization of polymers under mild conditions. This perspective focuses on depolymerization from polymers synthesized by controlled polymerizations, such as radical, ionic, and metathesis polymerizations, and explores concepts to enhance depolymerization.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Congkai Ma, Ting Han, Niu Niu, Lucas Al-Shok, Spyridon Efstathiou, Daniel Lester, Steven Huband, David Haddleton
Summary: In this work, a robust synthetic route was optimized for the preparation of a diverse range of water-soluble AIE polymers using aqueous Cu-mediated living radical polymerization. The polymers exhibited excellent control and high-end group fidelity, allowing for various copolymerization reactions and applications in bioimaging. The fluorescence intensity of the polymers was shown to depend on the polymer concentration, architecture of the side chains, and temperature, with potential for lysosome-specific probes in bioimaging due to their good biocompatibility, photostability, and high specificity.
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Nam Young Ahn, Jooyeon Lee, Wonjune Yeo, Hyojin Park, Jiyun Nam, Min Kim, Myungeun Seo
Summary: We have developed a synthetic method for decorating the surface of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with polymers through postsynthetic modification. By reacting well-defined polymers with reversibly deactivated radical species at their chain end with vinyl-functionalized MOFs in the presence of a radical initiator, we can form a C-C bond between the polymer end and the functional group at the MOF ligand. We have successfully achieved four polymer@MOF composites through this method.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Aminreza Khodabandeh, R. Dario Arrua, Stuart C. Thickett, Emily F. Hilder
Summary: This study investigates a novel reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization method for the fabrication of porous polymers with well-defined porous morphology and surface chemistry. By controlling the polymerization conditions precisely, porous monolithic columns suitable for liquid separation of biomolecules were successfully designed and synthesized.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Meng Liu, Bin Wang, Li Pan, Xiao-Hui Liu, Yue-sheng Li
Summary: This article reports an organocatalytic sequential block copolymerization method for the synthesis of well-defined and diversified block copolymers. By optimizing the organocatalysts, successful addition polymerization of methacrylates and ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters were achieved, resulting in block copolymers with distinct chemical characteristics.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mineto Uchiyama, Daichi Watanabe, Yuhei Tanaka, Kotaro Satoh, Masami Kamigaito
Summary: In this study, we achieved dual control of the optical activity and molecular weight of poly(BzF) by using thioether-based reversible chain-transfer agents, beta-amino acid derivatives as chiral additives, and aluminum chloride as a catalyst for asymmetric cationic polymerization. The asymmetric moderately living cationic polymerization led to an increase in molecular weight and specific optical rotation, and asymmetric block polymers consisting of opposite absolute configurational segments were synthesized using both enantiomers sequentially as chiral additives. The optical activity of poly(BzF) originated from the threo-diisotactic structure, which occurred by regio-, trans-, and enantioselective propagation, as revealed by comprehensive analysis of the polymerization products and the model reaction.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Mahmoud Elsabahy, Karen L. Wooley, Amy Hendricksen, Kenneth Oh
Summary: A robust data mining algorithm is presented as a critical solution to managing data from multiplexing techniques, allowing simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers in a single sample. This algorithm has been successfully applied as a diagnostic and therapeutic monitoring tool in managing breast cancer.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tan P. Nguyen, Alexandra D. Easley, Nari Kang, Sarosh Khan, Soon-Mi Lim, Yohannes H. Rezenom, Shaoyang Wang, David K. Tran, Jingwei Fan, Rachel A. Letteri, Xun He, Lu Su, Cheng-Han Yu, Jodie L. Lutkenhaus, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: The rapid development of lithium-ion batteries has brought substantial benefits to society, but also highlighted ethical and environmental challenges. Organic redox-active materials may offer a potential alternative for sustainable batteries in the future.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Nari Kang, Sangho Cho, Eric E. Leonhardt, Chun Liu, Stanislav V. Verkhoturov, William Henry Hunter Woodward, Michael J. Eller, Tianyu Yuan, Thomas C. Fitzgibbons, Yannick P. Borguet, Ashlee A. Jahnke, Anatoliy N. Sokolov, Travis McIntire, Carl Reinhardt, Lei Fang, Emile A. Schweikert, Liam Patrick Spencer, Guorong Sun, Guohua Xie, Peter Trefonas, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: By constructing brush-like polymers, the vertical alignment of polymer side chains in thin films was achieved, leading to an improvement in the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Juanjuan Yang, Xiaojin Wang, Bingshun Wang, Kinam Park, Karen Wooley, Shiyi Zhang
Summary: Nanomedicines for cancer treatment have been extensively studied, but only a few have been approved by the FDA. The mismatch between effort and return raises questions about the field's understanding. The concept of tumor-targeted drug delivery has been based on assumptions that increased drug delivery to tumors improves efficacy and decreased delivery to healthy organs reduces side effects. However, clinical evidence shows that the maximum drug delivery limit to solid tumors has already been reached in humans, yet the efficacy and safety remain unchanged. The approvals of nanomedicine formulations were mostly based on changes in dose-limiting toxicity rather than improved tumor delivery.
ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Lu Su, Kellie S. Dalby, Hannah Luehmann, Sussana A. Elkassih, Sangho Cho, Xun He, Lisa Detering, Yen -Nan Lin, Nari Kang, Dennis A. Moore, Richard Laforest, Guorong Sun, Yongjian Liu, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: A facile strategy to prepare ultrasmall nanoparticulate X-ray contrast media has been established for noninvasive clinical and preclinical cancer imaging. The synthesized amphiphilic statistical iodocopolymers can dissolve in water to form stable solutions with high aqueous iodine concentrations. In a breast cancer mouse model, the iodinated nano-XRCM showed extended blood residency and higher tumor accumulation, allowing for longitudinal monitoring of tumor retention for imaging or potential therapeutic effect.
ACTA PHARMACEUTICA SINICA B
(2023)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Fatma Al-Zahraa Sayed, Noura G. Eissa, Yidan Shen, David A. Hunstad, Karen L. Wooley, Mahmoud Elsabahy
Summary: The morphology design of nanoparticles plays a crucial role in optimizing antimicrobial activity, considering factors such as bacteria shape, invasion mechanisms, and interactions with host cells. Some studies suggest spherical shapes exhibit improved antimicrobial activity compared to non-spherical structures, while others report higher activity for non-spherical forms (e.g., rod, discoid).
JOURNAL OF NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Ching Pang, Hai Wang, Fuwu Zhang, Ami K. Patel, Hung Pang Lee, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: A series of glucose-based degradable superabsorbent hydrogels have been designed and fabricated to address issues related to sustainability, flooding, and drought. These hydrogels were constructed by integrating glucose into cyclic oligomers and block polymers, which were further combined into mechanically-interlocked slide-ring crosslinked materials. The optimized hydrogels exhibited water uptake capacities >30 times their own mass and were derived from renewable natural products, showing potential for high-performance applications.
JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yidan Shen, Mingwan Leng, Yunchong Yang, Senthil Kumar Boopathi, Guorong Sun, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: The substituents on the five-membered bicyclic glucose carbonate monomers have significant effects on the reactivity and regioselectivity during ring-opening polymerization. The thermal properties of the resulting polycarbonates are also influenced by these substituents.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Justin A. Smolen, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: This study demonstrates that convolutional neural networks can achieve high accuracy in cell detection and classification when applied to histology images acquired by FLIM, without the need for large amounts of data. The generated FLIM images show high similarity to ground truth images, leading to improved accuracy in cell detection and classification.
Article
Polymer Science
Maninderjeet Singh, Mei Dong, Wenjie Wu, Roushanak Nejat, David K. Tran, Nihar Pradhan, Dharmaraj Raghavan, Jack F. Douglas, Karen L. Wooley, Alamgir Karim
Summary: The maximum capacitive energy stored in polymeric dielectric capacitors is limited by the dielectric breakdown strength of the dielectric polymer. However, cyclic polymers have higher dielectric breakdown strength and capacitive energy density compared to linear polymers. Additionally, cyclic polymers exhibit a higher packing density.
Article
Polymer Science
Maninderjeet Singh, Mei Dong, Wenjie Wu, Roushanak Nejat, David K. Tran, Nihar Pradhan, Dharmaraj Raghavan, Jack F. Douglas, Karen L. Wooley, Alamgir Karim
Summary: The maximum capacitive energy stored in polymeric dielectric capacitors is determined by the dielectric breakdown strength of the dielectric polymer. The mechanisms of dielectric breakdown are not clear, but it was found that cyclic polymers exhibit enhanced stability in comparison to linear polymers, resulting in increased dielectric breakdown strength and capacitive energy density. Furthermore, cyclic polymers have a denser packing density than linear polymers.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Rana A. Eissa, Hesham A. Saafan, Aliaa E. Ali, Kamilia M. Ibrahim, Noura G. Eissa, Mostafa A. Hamad, Ching Pang, Hongming Guo, Hui Gao, Mahmoud Elsabahy, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: This tutorial review discusses recent advances in the synthesis and fabrication of degradable hemostatic nanomaterials and nanocomposites. The development of degradable smart devices and scaffolds has enabled efficient control of bleeding and gradual degradation.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Zhiming Liang, Tan P. Nguyen, N. Harsha Attanayake, Alexandra D. Easley, Jodie L. Lutkenhaus, Karen L. Wooley, Susan A. Odom
Summary: Non-aqueous organic redox flow batteries (NAORFBs) are emerging large-scale energy storage systems with a larger voltage window and metal-free nature. However, low solubility, sustainability, and crossover of redox materials are major challenges. In this study, redox active alpha-helical polypeptides suitable for NAORFBs are used, which demonstrate less crossover than small molecule analogs and exhibit low capacity fade and high coulombic efficiency. The polypeptides offer naturally-derived, deconstructable platforms for metal-free energy storage.
MATERIALS ADVANCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yidan Shen, Xin Yang, Yue Song, David K. Tran, Hai Wang, Jaye Wilson, Mei Dong, Mariela Vazquez, Guorong Sun, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: Rigorous investigations of organobase-catalyzed ring-opening polymerizations (ROPs) of cyclic carbonate monomers derived from glucose revealed the scrambling of polycarbonate backbones due to competing transcarbonylation reactions. Experimental and computational studies provided insights into the regiochemistry resulting from the ring-opening and transcarbonylation reactions, which can guide the design and development of advanced carbohydrate-derived polymer materials.
Article
Polymer Science
David K. Tran, Ahmed Z. Rashad, Donald J. Darensbourg, Karen L. Wooley
Summary: The synthetic transformation of d-xylose into a four-membered cyclic ether enables reactions with carbon dioxide to produce linear polycarbonates through either one-step ring-opening copolymerisation (ROCOP) directly or sequential isolation of a preformed six-membered cyclic carbonate followed by ring-opening polymerisation (ROP).
