Visualization of Acoustic Energy Absorption in Confined Aqueous Solutions by PNIPAM Microgels: Effects of Bulk Viscosity

Ultrasonic Control of Polymer-Capped Plasmonic Molecules

Plasmonic molecules (PMs) composed of polymer-capped nanoparticles represent an emerging material class with precise optical functionalities. However, achieving controlled structural changes in metallic nanoparticle aggregation at the nanoscale, similar to the modification of atomic structures, remains challenging. This study demonstrates the 2D/3D isomerization of such plasmonic molecules induced by a controlled ultrasound process. We used two types of gold nanoparticles, each functionalized with hydrogen bonding (HB) donor or acceptor polymers, to self-assemble into different ABN-type complexes via interparticle polymer bundles acting as molecular bonds. Post-ultrasonication treatment significantly shortens these bonds from approximately 14 to 2 nm by enhancing HB cross-linking within the bundles. This drastic change in the bond length increases the stiffness of the resulting clusters, facilitating the transition from 2D to 3D configurations in 100% yield during drop-casting onto substrates. Our results advance the precise control of PMs' nanoarchitectures and provide insights for their broad applications in sensing, optoelectronics, and metamaterials.

Ultrasound-Induced Adsorption of Acousto-Responsive Microgels at Water-Oil Interface

Ultrasonic mixing is a well-established method to disperse and mix substances. However, the effects of ultrasound on dispersed soft particles as well as on their adsorption kinetics at interfaces remain unexplored. Ultrasound not only accelerates the movement of particles via acoustic streaming, but recent research indicates that it can also manipulate the interaction of soft particles with the surrounding liquid. In this study, it evaluates the adsorption kinetics of microgel at the water-oil interface under the influence of ultrasound. It quantifies how acoustic streaming accelerates the reduction of interfacial tension. It uses high-frequency and low-amplitude ultrasound, which has no destructive effects. Furthermore, it discusses the ultrasound-induced shrinking and thus interfacial rearrangement of the microgels, which plays a secondary but non-negligible role on interfacial tension reduction. It shows that the decrease in interfacial tension due to the acoustic streaming is stronger for microgels with higher cross-linker density. Moreover, it shows that ultrasound can induce a reversible decrease in interfacial tension due to the shrinkage of microgels at the interface. The presented results may lead to a better understanding in any field where ultrasonic waves meet soft particles, e.g., controlled destabilization in foams and emulsions or systems for drug release.

Dynamic light scattering for particle characterization subjected to ultrasound: a study on compact particles and acousto-responsive microgels

In this report, we investigate dynamic light scattering (DLS) from both randomly diffusing silica particles and acousto-responsive microgels in aqueous dispersions under ultrasonic vibration. Employing high-frequency ultrasound (US) with low amplitude ensures that the polymers remain intact without damage. We derive theoretical expressions for the homodyne autocorrelation function, incorporating the US term alongside the diffusion term. Subsequently, we successfully combined US with a conventional DLS system to experimentally characterize compact silica particles and microgels under the influence of US. Our model allows us to extract essential parameters, including particle size, frequency, and amplitude of particle vibration, based on the correlation function of the scattered light intensity. The studies involving non-responsive silica particles demonstrate that the US does not disrupt size determination, establishing them as suitable reference systems. In addition, we could be able to experimentally resolve the µs-order motion of particles for the first time. Microgels subjected to the US show the same swelling/shrinking behavior as that induced by temperature but with significantly faster kinetics. The findings of this study have potential applications in various industrial and biomedical fields such as smart coatings and drug delivery that benefit from the characterization of macromolecules subjected to the US. Furthermore, the current work may lead to characterizing the mechanical properties of soft particles based on their vibration amplitude extracted using this method.

Self-enhancing sono-inks enable deep-penetration acoustic volumetric printing

Volumetric printing, an emerging additive manufacturing technique, builds objects with enhanced printing speed and surface quality by forgoing the stepwise ink-renewal step. Existing volumetric printing techniques almost exclusively rely on light energy to trigger photopolymerization in transparent inks, limiting material choices and build sizes. We report a self-enhancing sonicated ink (or sono-ink) design and corresponding focused-ultrasound writing technique for deep-penetration acoustic volumetric printing (DAVP). We used experiments and acoustic modeling to study the frequency and scanning rate-dependent acoustic printing behaviors. DAVP achieves the key features of low acoustic streaming, rapid sonothermal polymerization, and large printing depth, enabling the printing of volumetric hydrogels and nanocomposites with various shapes regardless of their optical properties. DAVP also allows printing at centimeter depths through biological tissues, paving the way toward minimally invasive medicine.

Fabrication of Polyurethane Elastomer/Hindered Phenol Composites with Tunable Damping Property

Vibration and noise-reduction materials are indispensable in various fields. Polyurethane (PU)-based damping materials can dissipate the external mechanical and acoustic energy through molecular chain movements to mitigate the adverse effects of vibrations and noise. In this study, PU-based damping composites were obtained by compositing PU rubber prepared using 3-methyltetrahydrofuran/tetrahydrofuran copolyether glycol, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, and trimethylolpropane monoallyl ether as raw materials with hindered phenol, viz., and 3,9-bis{2-[3-(3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)proponyloxy]-1,1-dimethylethyl}-2,4,8,10-tetraoxaspiro[5.5]undecane (AO-80). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, and tensile tests were conducted to evaluate the properties of the resulting composites. The glass transition temperature of the composite increased from -40 to -23 °C, and the tan δ_Max of the PU rubber increased by 81%, from 0.86 to 1.56 when 30 phr of AO-80 was added. This study provides a new platform for the design and preparation of damping materials for industrial applications and daily life.

Recent advances in cellulose microgels: Preparations and functionalized applications

Microgels are soft, deformable, permeable, and stimuli-responsive microscopic polymeric particles that are now emerging as prospective multifunctional soft materials for delivery systems, interface stabilization, cell cultures and tissue engineering. Cellulose microgels are emerging biopolymeric microgels with unique characteristics such as abound hydroxyl structure, admirable designability, multiscale pore network and excellent biocompatibility. This review summarizes the fabrication strategies for microgel, then highlights the fabrication routes for cellulose microgels, and finally elaborates cellulose microgels' bright application prospects with unique characteristics in the fields of controlled release, interface stabilization, coating, purification, nutrition/drug delivery, and bio-fabrication. The challenges to be addressed for further applications and considerable scope for development in future of cellulose microgels are also discussed.

Synthetic Thermo-Responsive Terpolymers as Tunable Scaffolds for Cell Culture Applications

The use of tailored synthetic hydrogels for in vitro tissue culture and biomanufacturing provides the advantage of mimicking the cell microenvironment without issues of batch-to-batch variability. To that end, this work focused on the design, characterization, and preliminary evaluation of thermo-responsive, transparent synthetic terpolymers based on N-isopropylacrylamide, vinylphenylboronic acid, and polyethylene glycol for cell manufacturing and in vitro culture applications. Polymer physical properties were characterized by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, DLS, rheology, and thermal-gravimetric analysis. Tested combinations provided polymers with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) between 30 and 45 °C. Terpolymer elastic/shear modulus varied between 0.3 and 19.1 kPa at 37 °C. Cellular characterization indicated low cell cytotoxicity on NIH-3T3. Experiments with the ovarian cancer model SKOV-3 and Jurkat T cells showed the terpolymers’ capacity for cell encapsulation without interfering with staining or imaging protocols. In addition, cell growth and high levels of pluripotency demonstrated the capability of terpolymer to culture iPSCs. Characterization results confirmed a promising use of terpolymers as a tunable scaffold for cell culture applications.

Frequency-Dependent Ultrasonic Stimulation of Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) Microgels in Water

As a novel stimulus, we use high-frequency ultrasonic waves to provide the required energy for breaking hydrogen bonds between Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and water molecules while the solution temperature is maintained below the volume phase transition temperature (VPTT = 32 °C). Ultrasonic waves propagate through the solution and their energy will be absorbed due to the liquid viscosity. The absorbed energy partially leads to the generation of a streaming flow and the rest will be spent to break the hydrogen bonds. Therefore, the microgels collapse and become insoluble in water and agglomerate, resulting in solution turbidity. We use turbidity to quantify the ultrasound energy absorption and show that the acousto-response of PNIPAM microgels is a temporal phenomenon that depends on the duration of the actuation. Increasing the solution concentration leads to a faster turbidity evolution. Furthermore, an increase in ultrasound frequency leads to an increase in the breakage of more hydrogen bonds within a certain time and thus faster turbidity evolution. This is due to the increase in ultrasound energy absorption by liquids at higher frequencies.