Fesenmeier Daniel J, Kim Seyoung, Won You-Yeon
Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin, Gyeonggi 16890, Republic of Korea.
Soft Matter. 2023 Dec 6;19(47):9269-9281. doi: 10.1039/d3sm01003a.
In the pursuit of the development of a first-in-kind polymer lung surfactant (PLS) therapeutic whose effects are biophysical in nature, a comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting the air-water surface mechanical behavior of water-spread block copolymer micelles is desired. To this end, we explore the effect of temperature on the surface mechanical behavior of two different micelle core chemistries, poly(styrene) (PS) and poly(-butyl methacrylate) (PtBMA), each having poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as the hydrophilic block. The behavior is characterized using surface pressure-area isotherms and quantitative Brewster angle microscopy. The results indicate that the temperature has a significant effect on the micelle structure at the interface and this effect is related to the core as well as the core interfacial tension properties. When temperature is higher than the core for PS-PEG, the spherical micelle core rearranges to form an oblate-like structure which increases its interfacial area. The structural rearrangement changes the mechanism by which the film produces high surface pressure. For PtBMA-PEG, which has a lower interfacial tension with water and air compared to PS, the core domains spread at the interface when the mobility is sufficiently high such that a PtBMA film is formed under high compression. The implications of these changes on PLS efficacy are discussed highlighting the importance of core characterization for polymer nanoparticle applications.
在研发一种具有首创性的聚合物肺表面活性剂（PLS）疗法的过程中，该疗法本质上具有生物物理效应，因此需要全面了解影响水扩散嵌段共聚物胶束气 - 水表面力学行为的因素。为此，我们探究了温度对两种不同胶束核化学组成的表面力学行为的影响，这两种胶束分别是以聚（苯乙烯）（PS）和聚（甲基丙烯酸丁酯）（PtBMA）为核，均以聚（乙二醇）（PEG）作为亲水嵌段。通过表面压力 - 面积等温线和定量布鲁斯特角显微镜对其行为进行表征。结果表明，温度对界面处的胶束结构有显著影响，这种影响与核以及核的界面张力特性有关。当温度高于PS - PEG的核转变温度时，球形胶束核会重新排列形成类似扁球体的结构，从而增加其界面面积。这种结构重排改变了薄膜产生高表面压力的机制。对于PtBMA - PEG，与PS相比，它与水和空气的界面张力较低，当流动性足够高时，核域在界面处展开，从而在高压缩下形成PtBMA薄膜。讨论了这些变化对PLS功效的影响，强调了核转变温度表征对于聚合物纳米颗粒应用的重要性。
