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Lee KK, Low DYS, Foo ML, Yu LJ, Choong TSY, Tang SY, Tan KW. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Nanocellulose-Stabilized Pickering Emulsions. Polymers (Basel) 2021; 13:polym13040668. [PMID: 33672331 PMCID: PMC7926420 DOI: 10.3390/polym13040668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
While the economy is rapidly expanding in most emerging countries, issues coupled with a higher population has created foreseeable tension among food, water, and energy. It is crucial for more sustainable valorization of resources, for instance, nanocellulose, to address the core challenges in environmental sustainability. As the complexity of the system evolved, the timescale of project development has increased exponentially. However, research on the design and operation of integrated nanomaterials, along with energy supply, monitoring, and control infrastructure, has seriously lagged. The development cost of new materials can be significantly reduced by utilizing molecular simulation technology in the design of nanostructured materials. To realize its potential, nanocellulose, an amphiphilic biopolymer with the presence of rich -OH and -CH structural groups, was investigated via molecular dynamics simulation to reveal its full potential as Pickering emulsion stabilizer at the molecular level. This work has successfully quantified the Pickering stabilization mechanism profiles by nanocellulose, and the phenomenon could be visualized in three stages, namely the initial homogenous phase, rapid formation of micelles and coalescence, and lastly the thermodynamic equilibrium of the system. It was also observed that the high bead order was always coupled with a high volume of phase separation activities, through a coarse-grained model within 20,000 time steps. The outcome of this work would be helpful to provide an important perspective for the future design and development of nanocellulose-based emulsion products, which cater for food, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical industries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Kit Lee
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Sepang 43900, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; (K.K.L.); (M.L.F.)
| | - Darren Yi Sern Low
- Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia;
| | - Mei Ling Foo
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Sepang 43900, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; (K.K.L.); (M.L.F.)
| | - Lih Jiun Yu
- Faculty of Engineering, Technology and Built Environment, Kuala Lumpur Campus (North Wing), UCSI University, Lot 12734, Jalan Choo Lip Kung, Taman Tayton View, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
| | - Thomas Shean Yaw Choong
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia;
| | - Siah Ying Tang
- Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia;
- Advanced Engineering Platform, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
- Tropical Medicine and Biology Platform, School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
- Correspondence: (S.Y.T.); (K.W.T.); Tel.: +603-5514-4435 (S.Y.T.); +603-7610-2068 (K.W.T.)
| | - Khang Wei Tan
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Sepang 43900, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; (K.K.L.); (M.L.F.)
- Correspondence: (S.Y.T.); (K.W.T.); Tel.: +603-5514-4435 (S.Y.T.); +603-7610-2068 (K.W.T.)
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Coarse-Grained Modelling and Temperature Effect on the Morphology of PS- b-PI Copolymer. Polymers (Basel) 2019; 11:polym11061008. [PMID: 31174400 PMCID: PMC6630459 DOI: 10.3390/polym11061008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Spontaneous spatial organization behavior and the aggregate morphology of polystyrene-block-polyisoprene (PS-b-PI) copolymer were investigated. Molecular dynamic (MD) and mesoscopic simulations using the dynamic of mean field density functional theory (DDF) were adopted to investigate the morphology changes exhibited by this block copolymer (BCP). In the mesoscopic simulations, several atoms in repeating units were grouped together into a bead representing styrene or isoprene segments as a coarse-grained model. Inter-bead interactions and essential parameters for mesoscopic models were optimized from MD simulations. Study indicated that morphology alternations can be induced in this system at annealing temperature of 393, 493, and 533 K. From our simulations, lamellar, bicontinuous, and hexagonally packed cylindrical equilibrium morphologies were achieved. Our simulated morphologies agree well with the reported experimental evidence at the selected temperature. The process of aggregate formation and morphology evolution were concretely clarified.
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