Jaspers Maarten, Pape A C H, Voets Ilja K, Rowan Alan E, Portale Giuseppe, Kouwer Paul H J
Radboud University , Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Eindhoven University of Technology , Laboratory for Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, and Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Biomacromolecules. 2016 Aug 8;17(8):2642-9. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.6b00703. Epub 2016 Jul 20.
Bundling of single polymer chains is a crucial process in the formation of biopolymer network gels that make up the extracellular matrix and the cytoskeleton. This bundled architecture leads to gels with distinctive properties, including a large-pore-size gel formation at very low concentrations and mechanical responsiveness through nonlinear mechanics, properties that are rarely observed in synthetic hydrogels. Using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), we study the bundle formation and hydrogelation process of polyisocyanide gels, a synthetic material that uniquely mimics the structure and mechanics of biogels. We show how the structure of the material changes at the (thermally induced) gelation point and how factors such as concentration and polymer length determine the architecture, and with that, the mechanical properties. The correlation of the gel mechanics and the structural parameters obtained from SAXS experiments is essential in the design of future (synthetic) mimics of biopolymer networks.
单个聚合物链的聚集是形成构成细胞外基质和细胞骨架的生物聚合物网络凝胶的关键过程。这种聚集结构导致凝胶具有独特的性质，包括在非常低的浓度下形成大孔径凝胶以及通过非线性力学产生机械响应性，这些性质在合成水凝胶中很少见。利用小角X射线散射（SAXS），我们研究了聚异氰化物凝胶的聚集形成和水凝胶化过程，聚异氰化物凝胶是一种独特地模拟生物凝胶结构和力学的合成材料。我们展示了材料结构在（热诱导）凝胶化点如何变化，以及诸如浓度和聚合物长度等因素如何决定结构，进而决定机械性能。凝胶力学与从SAXS实验获得的结构参数之间的相关性对于未来生物聚合物网络（合成）模拟物的设计至关重要。
