Ma Qingming, Song Yang, Kim Jin Woong, Choi Hong Sung, Shum Ho Cheung
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China.
HKU-Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation (HKU-SIRI), Shenzhen 518000, China.
ACS Macro Lett. 2016 Jun 21;5(6):666-670. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.6b00228. Epub 2016 May 16.
Affinity partitioning refers to the preferential dissolution of solute molecules in a particular liquid phase of an immiscible liquid-liquid mixture, such as an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS). Affinity partitioning in ATPS is widely used to achieve extraction and purification of biomolecules. However, the potential of applying it to direct the self-assembly of solutes into controlled structures has been largely overlooked. Here we introduce the affinity partitioning of polyelectrolytes in ATPS to induce their self-assembly into polyelectrolyte microcapsules. The approach is purely based on the preferential solubility of different polyelectrolytes in different aqueous phases; therefore it has wide applicability and exhibits excellent compatibility with bioactives. The release of encapsulated components can be triggered by changing the pH value or ionic strength of the surrounding environment. The proposed method represents an important advance in fabricating multifunctional materials and inspires new ways to engineer sophisticated structures with hydrophilic macromolecules.
亲和分配是指溶质分子在不互溶的液-液混合物的特定液相中优先溶解，例如双水相系统（ATPS）。双水相系统中的亲和分配被广泛用于实现生物分子的提取和纯化。然而，将其应用于引导溶质自组装成可控结构的潜力在很大程度上被忽视了。在此，我们介绍了聚电解质在双水相系统中的亲和分配，以诱导它们自组装成聚电解质微胶囊。该方法完全基于不同聚电解质在不同水相中的优先溶解性；因此它具有广泛的适用性，并且与生物活性物质表现出优异的相容性。通过改变周围环境的pH值或离子强度可以触发包封成分的释放。所提出的方法代表了在制造多功能材料方面的一项重要进展，并激发了用亲水性大分子设计复杂结构的新方法。
