Chain stiffness boosts active nanoparticle transport in polymer networks
Chain stiffness boosts active nanoparticle transport in polymer networks
复制标题
链刚度促进聚合物网络中活性纳米粒子的传输
DOI：
10.1103/physreve.103.052501
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发表时间：
2021
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Forest, M. Gregory
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cao, Xue-Zheng;Merlitz, Holger;Wu, Chen-Xu;Forest, M. Gregory
纳米制造和纳米机器人等技术的最新进展为设计能够穿透生物层的活性纳米颗粒（NPs）开辟了新的途径，用于生物医学应用，例如用于药物输送。主动NP运动（相对于被动NP具有较大的随机增量）与诱导的聚合物网络的非平衡变形和松弛响应之间的耦合和反馈，从NP到网络的局部结构，仍有待澄清。通过分子动力学模拟，结合网络链的Rouse模式分析以及NPs的位置和速度自相关函数，我们证明了交联浓缩聚合物网络中活性NPs的迁移率是链刚度单调增加的函数，而被动NPs的链刚度抑制迁移率。在柔性网络中，主动NPs表现出与被动NPs相似的行为，其移动性与自推进力成正比。这些结果提示了刚性生物聚合物基质活性NP渗透的设计策略。
Recent advances in technologies such as nanomanufacturing and nanorobotics have opened new pathways for the design of active nanoparticles (NPs) capable of penetrating biolayers for biomedical applications, e.g., for drug delivery. The coupling and feedback between active NP motility (with large stochastic increments relative to passive NPs) and the induced nonequilibrium deformation and relaxation responses of the polymer network, spanning scales from the NP to the local structure of the network, remain to be clarified. Using molecular dynamics simulations, combined with a Rouse mode analysis of network chains and position and velocity autocorrelation functions of the NPs, we demonstrate that the mobility of active NPs within cross-linked, concentrated polymer networks is a monotonically increasing function of chain stiffness, contrary to passive NPs, for which chain stiffness suppresses mobility. In flexible networks, active NPs exhibit a behavior similar to passive NPs, with a boost in mobility proportional to the self-propulsion force. These results are suggestive of design strategies for active NP penetration of stiff biopolymer matrices.