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Fu H, Huang J, van der Tol JJB, Su L, Wang Y, Dey S, Zijlstra P, Fytas G, Vantomme G, Dankers PYW, Meijer EW. Supramolecular polymers form tactoids through liquid-liquid phase separation. Nature 2024; 626:1011-1018. [PMID: 38418913 PMCID: PMC10901743 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07034-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biopolymers has recently been shown to play a central role in the formation of membraneless organelles with a multitude of biological functions1-3. The interplay between LLPS and macromolecular condensation is part of continuing studies4,5. Synthetic supramolecular polymers are the non-covalent equivalent of macromolecules but they are not reported to undergo LLPS yet. Here we show that continuously growing fibrils, obtained from supramolecular polymerizations of synthetic components, are responsible for phase separation into highly anisotropic aqueous liquid droplets (tactoids) by means of an entropy-driven pathway. The crowding environment, regulated by dextran concentration, affects not only the kinetics of supramolecular polymerizations but also the properties of LLPS, including phase-separation kinetics, morphology, internal order, fluidity and mechanical properties of the final tactoids. In addition, substrate-liquid and liquid-liquid interfaces proved capable of accelerating LLPS of supramolecular polymers, allowing the generation of a myriad of three-dimensional-ordered structures, including highly ordered arrays of micrometre-long tactoids at surfaces. The generality and many possibilities of supramolecular polymerizations to control emerging morphologies are demonstrated with several supramolecular polymers, opening up a new field of matter ranging from highly structured aqueous solutions by means of stabilized LLPS to nanoscopic soft matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailin Fu
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
| | - Jingyi Huang
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Joost J B van der Tol
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Lu Su
- Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Yuyang Wang
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Swayandipta Dey
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Eindhoven Hendrik Casimir Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Zijlstra
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Eindhoven Hendrik Casimir Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - George Fytas
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany
- Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, FO.R.T.H, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Ghislaine Vantomme
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Patricia Y W Dankers
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - E W Meijer
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
- School of Chemistry and RNA Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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Structure induced laminar vortices control anomalous dispersion in porous media. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3820. [PMID: 35780187 PMCID: PMC9250523 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31552-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural porous systems, such as soil, membranes, and biological tissues comprise disordered structures characterized by dead-end pores connected to a network of percolating channels. The release and dispersion of particles, solutes, and microorganisms from such features is key for a broad range of environmental and medical applications including soil remediation, filtration and drug delivery. Yet, owing to the stagnant and opaque nature of these disordered systems, the role of microscopic structure and flow on the dispersion of particles and solutes remains poorly understood. Here, we use a microfluidic model system that features a pore structure characterized by distributed dead-ends to determine how particles are transported, retained and dispersed. We observe strong tailing of arrival time distributions at the outlet of the medium characterized by power-law decay with an exponent of 2/3. Using numerical simulations and an analytical model, we link this behavior to particles initially located within dead-end pores, and explain the tailing exponent with a hopping across and rolling along the streamlines of vortices within dead-end pores. We quantify such anomalous dispersal by a stochastic model that predicts the full evolution of arrival times. Our results demonstrate how microscopic flow structures can impact macroscopic particle transport.
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Walton F, Bolling J, Farrell A, MacEwen J, Syme CD, Jiménez MG, Senn HM, Wilson C, Cinque G, Wynne K. Polyamorphism Mirrors Polymorphism in the Liquid-Liquid Transition of a Molecular Liquid. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:7591-7597. [PMID: 32249557 PMCID: PMC7181258 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c01712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Liquid–liquid
transitions between two amorphous phases in
a single-component liquid have courted controversy. All known examples
of liquid–liquid transitions in molecular liquids have been
observed in the supercooled state, suggesting an intimate connection
with vitrification and locally favored structures inhibiting crystallization.
However, there is precious little information about the local molecular
packing in supercooled liquids, meaning that the order parameter of
the transition is still unknown. Here, we investigate the liquid–liquid
transition in triphenyl phosphite and show that it is caused by the
competition between liquid structures that mirror two crystal polymorphs.
The liquid–liquid transition is found to be between a geometrically
frustrated liquid and a dynamically frustrated glass. These results
indicate a general link between polymorphism and polyamorphism and
will lead to a much greater understanding of the physical basis of
liquid–liquid transitions and allow the systematic discovery
of other examples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Finlay Walton
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K
| | - John Bolling
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K
| | - Andrew Farrell
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K
| | - Jamie MacEwen
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K
| | | | | | - Hans M Senn
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K
| | - Claire Wilson
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K
| | - Gianfelice Cinque
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, U.K
| | - Klaas Wynne
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K
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Lahiri A, Behrens N, Pulletikurthi G, Yochelis A, Kroke E, Cui T, Endres F. Electrochemically induced phase separation and in situ formation of mesoporous structures in ionic liquid mixtures. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaau9663. [PMID: 30397654 PMCID: PMC6203224 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau9663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Liquid-liquid phase separation is mainly dependent on temperature and composition. Electric fields have also been shown to influence demixing of binary liquid mixtures. However, a puzzling behavior that remains elusive is the electric field-induced phase separation in ion-containing solvents at low voltages, as predicted by Tsori and Leibler. Here, we report the first experimental study of such a phenomenon in ionic liquid-silane mixtures, which not only results in phase separation at the electrode-electrolyte interface (EEI) but also is accompanied by deposition of porous structures of micrometer size on the electrode. This multiscale phenomenon at the EEI was found to be triggered by an electrochemically induced process. Using several analytical methods, we reveal the involved mechanism in which the formation of new Si-N bonds becomes unstable and eventually decomposes into the formation of silane-rich and silane-poor phases. The deposition of porous structures on the electrode surface is therefore a realization of the silane-rich phase. The finding of an electrochemically induced phase separation not only brings a paradigm shift in understanding the EEI in ionic liquids but also provides alternative strategies toward designing porous surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek Lahiri
- Institute of Electrochemistry, Clausthal University of Technology, Arnold Sommerfeld Str. 6, D-38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
| | - Niklas Behrens
- Institute of Electrochemistry, Clausthal University of Technology, Arnold Sommerfeld Str. 6, D-38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
| | - Giridhar Pulletikurthi
- Institute of Electrochemistry, Clausthal University of Technology, Arnold Sommerfeld Str. 6, D-38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
| | - Arik Yochelis
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel
- Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Edwin Kroke
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, D-09599 Freiberg, Germany
| | - Tong Cui
- Institute of Electrochemistry, Clausthal University of Technology, Arnold Sommerfeld Str. 6, D-38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
| | - Frank Endres
- Institute of Electrochemistry, Clausthal University of Technology, Arnold Sommerfeld Str. 6, D-38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
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