The Beauty of Branching in Polymer Science

Seo, Soyoung E.; Hawker, Craig J.

doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00286

Cited by 37 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…various environments with strictly defined polydispersity, and thus with a full control over the main characteristics, f and m. Symmetric stars with equally long arms represent a model system which can be also described theoretically, serving as the first step in understanding and predicting the properties of more complex comparable systems such as hairy nanoparticles [6,7] or dendritic polymers. [8,9] The majority of the simulation and theoretical studies deals with a single star properties in solvent, focusing mostly on the two factors: the effect of the environment (i.e., solvent quality) and the effect of the functionality. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Theoretical models describe the conformation of an isolated symmetric star through a blob picture, where each arm consists of a sequence of blobs, whose size depends on the relative distance of the blob from the star center, on the strength of the excluded volume interactions and the functionality.…”

Section: Doi: 101002/mats202000067mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Symmetric stars with equally long arms represent a model system which can be also described theoretically, serving as the first step in understanding and predicting the properties of more complex comparable systems such as hairy nanoparticles [ 6,7 ] or dendritic polymers. [ 8,9 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Probability distribution function of arm asphericity for stars with functionalities f = 4 and f = 32 together with the data for linear chain for a) PS systems b) PEO systems. The solid lines represent fits by Equation(9). The vertical dotted lines represent the positions of the two maxima b1 and b2, that is, the parameters of Equation(9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The solid lines represent fits by Equation(9). The vertical dotted lines represent the positions of the two maxima b1 and b2, that is, the parameters of Equation(9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Size and Shape Characteristics of Polystyrene and Poly(ethylene oxide) Star Polymer Melts Studied By Atomistic Simulations

Gkolfi

Bačová

Harmandaris

2020

Macro Theory & Simulations

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Here, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are used to address the effect of different chemistry on the morphology, size, and shape characteristics of star polymers. The role of chemical details and features such as packing or flexibility on the structural properties of star‐like polymer melts is probed. Two types of symmetric unentangled homopolymer stars, the first consisting of atactic polystyrene (PS) and the second one of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) are studied. The star functionality f (i.e., the number of arms) is varied from f = 1 (linear chains) up to f = 32 and the shape and size characteristics are reported as a function of this main variable. The results from the monodisperse star‐like polymers are confronted with the theoretical predictions and with previously published simulations studies employing generic bead‐spring coarse‐grained models, with the aim to fill the gap between the systems studied experimentally and computationally.

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Section: Doi: 101002/mats202000067mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The solid lines represent fits by Equation(9). The vertical dotted lines represent the positions of the two maxima b1 and b2, that is, the parameters of Equation(9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Size and Shape Characteristics of Polystyrene and Poly(ethylene oxide) Star Polymer Melts Studied By Atomistic Simulations

Gkolfi

Bačová

Harmandaris

2020

Macro Theory & Simulations

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“…Dendrimers are tree-like macromolecules useful for a broad range of applications. [1][2][3] In our efforts to develop antimicrobial dendrimers 4 against ESKAPE pathogens, 5 we recently showed that peptide dendrimers 6 consisting of lysine and leucine such as G3KL and T7 kill Gram-negative bacteria including multidrug resistant strains (Figure 1). [7][8][9] Similar to many antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), [10][11][12][13] polymers, 14 peptidomimetics 15 and foldamers, 16 our peptide dendrimers act by a membrane disruptive mechanism, which in our case involves α-helical folding of the amphiphilic dendrimer core in contact with the bacterial membrane.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study with Peptide Dendrimers Reveals an Extreme pH Dependence of Antibiotic Activity Above pH 7.4

Cai¹,

Javor²,

Gan³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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In our efforts to develop peptide dendrimers as a new class of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) against Gram-negative bacteria, we investigated their activity at acidic and basic pH, which correspond to the conditions of the site of bacterial infections on skin or biofilms and chronic wounds respectively. Removing the eight low pKa amino termini of our reference dendrimer G3KL by substituting the N-terminal lysine residues with aminohexanoic acid provided dendrimer XC1 with a broader pH-activity range. Furthermore, raising the pH to 8.0 revealed strong activities against Klebsiella pneumoniae and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) against which the dendrimers are inactive at pH 7.4, an effect which we also observed with polymyxin B and tentatively assign to stronger binding to the bacteria at higher pH as observed with a fluorescence labeled dendrimer analog.

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Design of Topology‐Controlled Polyethers toward Robust Cooperative Hydrogen Bonding

Kim

Choi

Baek

et al. 2023

Adv Funct Materials

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Topology control of polymers is critical for determining their physical properties and potential applications; in particular, topologies that incorporate numerous hydrogen bonding (H‐bonding) donors and acceptors along the polymer chains considerably influence the formation of different inter‐ and intramolecular H‐bonding motifs. In this study, the high‐level control of inter‐ and intramolecular H‐bonding is investigated in topology‐controlled poly(glycidoxy carbonyl benzoic acid)s (PGCs). Three types of topology‐controlled PGCs (i.e., linear, hyperbranched, and branched cyclic structures having a similar degree of polymerization) are prepared by introducing aromatic carboxylic acids into the corresponding polyglycidols (PGs) via quantitative post‐polymerization modification with phthalic anhydride. The obtained three types of PGCs demonstrated the high‐level interplay between the inter‐ and intramolecular H‐bonding in polymer chains by exhibiting the pH‐dependent self‐association properties in the solution state and the strong adhesion properties in the bulk state with high transparency. Interestingly, the dramatically enhanced adhesive property by 2.6‐fold is demonstrated by simple mixing of branched cyclic PGC and topology‐controlled PGs to promote the cooperative H‐bonding between polymer chains. The new class of cooperative H‐bonding is anticipated between topology‐controlled polymers to contribute to the development of advanced adhesive and the high potential in biological and biomedical applications due to its excellent biocompatibility.

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The Beauty of Branching in Polymer Science

Cited by 37 publications

References 33 publications

Size and Shape Characteristics of Polystyrene and Poly(ethylene oxide) Star Polymer Melts Studied By Atomistic Simulations

Size and Shape Characteristics of Polystyrene and Poly(ethylene oxide) Star Polymer Melts Studied By Atomistic Simulations

A Study with Peptide Dendrimers Reveals an Extreme pH Dependence of Antibiotic Activity Above pH 7.4

Design of Topology‐Controlled Polyethers toward Robust Cooperative Hydrogen Bonding

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