Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Characterisation of hydration and nanophase separation during the temperature response in hydrophobic/hydrophilic elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) diblock copolymers.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Widder, K; MacEwan, SR; Garanger, E; Núñez, V; Lecommandoux, S; Chilkoti, A; Hinderberger, D
Published in: Soft matter
March 2017

To understand the complex nanoscale dehydration process during the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) based inverse phase transition of a class of thermoresponsive biopolymers, diblock elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) were investigated by spin probing continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW EPR) spectroscopy. The diblock copolymers composed of a hydrophobic block and a hydrophilic block showed different mechanisms of a temperature-driven phase transition. While the phase transition temperature is a function of the hydrophobic mass fraction of the diblock ELPs, the hydrophilic block length determines the molecular structure of the polymer aggregates formed above the transition temperature. When the weight ratio of hydrophilic block length to hydrophobic block length is greater than or equal to 0.3, the polymer aggregates consist of a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic corona. The interface of these two regions become permeable at temperatures above the transition temperature. In case of smaller ratios, the aggregating hydrophobic parts of the polymer enclose the hydrated hydrophilic blocks, that are too small to form a hydrophilic corona, leading to bigger and less dense aggregates of higher polarity.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Soft matter

DOI

EISSN

1744-6848

ISSN

1744-683X

Publication Date

March 2017

Volume

13

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1816 / 1822

Related Subject Headings

  • Chemical Physics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 34 Chemical sciences
  • 09 Engineering
  • 03 Chemical Sciences
  • 02 Physical Sciences
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Widder, K., MacEwan, S. R., Garanger, E., Núñez, V., Lecommandoux, S., Chilkoti, A., & Hinderberger, D. (2017). Characterisation of hydration and nanophase separation during the temperature response in hydrophobic/hydrophilic elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) diblock copolymers. Soft Matter, 13(9), 1816–1822. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sm02427k
Widder, Katharina, Sarah R. MacEwan, Elisabeth Garanger, Vanesa Núñez, Sébastien Lecommandoux, Ashutosh Chilkoti, and Dariush Hinderberger. “Characterisation of hydration and nanophase separation during the temperature response in hydrophobic/hydrophilic elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) diblock copolymers.Soft Matter 13, no. 9 (March 2017): 1816–22. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sm02427k.
Widder K, MacEwan SR, Garanger E, Núñez V, Lecommandoux S, Chilkoti A, et al. Characterisation of hydration and nanophase separation during the temperature response in hydrophobic/hydrophilic elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) diblock copolymers. Soft matter. 2017 Mar;13(9):1816–22.
Widder, Katharina, et al. “Characterisation of hydration and nanophase separation during the temperature response in hydrophobic/hydrophilic elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) diblock copolymers.Soft Matter, vol. 13, no. 9, Mar. 2017, pp. 1816–22. Epmc, doi:10.1039/c6sm02427k.
Widder K, MacEwan SR, Garanger E, Núñez V, Lecommandoux S, Chilkoti A, Hinderberger D. Characterisation of hydration and nanophase separation during the temperature response in hydrophobic/hydrophilic elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) diblock copolymers. Soft matter. 2017 Mar;13(9):1816–1822.
Journal cover image

Published In

Soft matter

DOI

EISSN

1744-6848

ISSN

1744-683X

Publication Date

March 2017

Volume

13

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1816 / 1822

Related Subject Headings

  • Chemical Physics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 34 Chemical sciences
  • 09 Engineering
  • 03 Chemical Sciences
  • 02 Physical Sciences