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Polymers
Special Issues
Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Soft Matter with EUSMI
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Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Soft Matter with EUSMI

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Physics and Theory".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2020) | Viewed by 17165

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Peter R. Lang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Biomacromolecular Systems And Processes IBI-4, 52428 Juelich, Germany
Interests: interaction of colloidal particles with a wall; dynamics at interfaces
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yi Liu

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Biomacromolecular Systems And Processes IBI-4, 52425 Jülich, Germany
Interests: near wall dynamic of colloidal particles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For complex fluid-based systems, which are composed of molecular, polymeric, and colloidal components, the term ‘soft matter’ was coined in physical science. The combination of structural complexity and adaptability is fundamental for the properties of many natural and synthetic soft matter materials. Due to their intricate structural and dynamic properties, making and characterizing such materials constitutes a demanding task, which very often requires techniques which are not readily available at every research institution. Therefore, the European infrastructure for the spectroscopy, scattering, and imaging of soft matter is providing access to an unmatched assembly of research installations to support researchers in tackling their scientific challenges.

This Special Issue is dedicated to disseminating recent scientific highlights in the synthesis, characterization, and simulation of soft matter which were obtained employing the EUSMI facilities.

Prof. Dr. Peter R. Lang
Dr. Yi Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Soft and biological matter
  • Structure and dynamics
  • Scattering
  • Synthesis
  • Imaging
  • Spectroscopy
  • Rheology

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2665 KiB  
Article
Reliable Characterization of Organic & Pharmaceutical Compounds with High Resolution Monochromated EEL Spectroscopy
by Partha Pratim Das, Giulio Guzzinati, Catalina Coll, Alejandro Gomez Perez, Stavros Nicolopoulos, Sonia Estrade, Francesca Peiro, Johan Verbeeck, Aikaterini A. Zompra and Athanassios S. Galanis
Polymers 2020, 12(7), 1434; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12071434 - 27 Jun 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2992
Abstract
Organic and biological compounds (especially those related to the pharmaceutical industry) have always been of great interest for researchers due to their importance for the development of new drugs to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease. As many new API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) [...] Read more.
Organic and biological compounds (especially those related to the pharmaceutical industry) have always been of great interest for researchers due to their importance for the development of new drugs to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease. As many new API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) and their polymorphs are in nanocrystalline or in amorphous form blended with amorphous polymeric matrix (known as amorphous solid dispersion—ASD), their structural identification and characterization at nm scale with conventional X-Ray/Raman/IR techniques becomes difficult. During any API synthesis/production or in the formulated drug product, impurities must be identified and characterized. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) at high energy resolution by transmission electron microscope (TEM) is expected to be a promising technique to screen and identify the different (organic) compounds used in a typical pharmaceutical or biological system and to detect any impurities present, if any, during the synthesis or formulation process. In this work, we propose the use of monochromated TEM-EELS, to analyze selected peptides and organic compounds and their polymorphs. In order to validate EELS for fingerprinting (in low loss/optical region) and by further correlation with advanced DFT, simulations were utilized. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Soft Matter with EUSMI)
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16 pages, 3143 KiB  
Article
Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy Study of Biobased Poly(alkylene 2,5-furanoate)s’ Molecular Dynamics
by Michelina Soccio, Daniel E. Martínez-Tong, Giulia Guidotti, Beatriz Robles-Hernández, Andrea Munari, Nadia Lotti and Angel Alegria
Polymers 2020, 12(6), 1355; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12061355 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3200
Abstract
Poly(2,5-alkylene furanoate)s are bio-based, smart, and innovative polymers that are considered the most promising materials to replace oil-based plastics. These polymers can be synthesized using ecofriendly approaches, starting from renewable sources, and result into final products with properties comparable and even better than [...] Read more.
Poly(2,5-alkylene furanoate)s are bio-based, smart, and innovative polymers that are considered the most promising materials to replace oil-based plastics. These polymers can be synthesized using ecofriendly approaches, starting from renewable sources, and result into final products with properties comparable and even better than those presented by their terephthalic counterparts. In this work, we present the molecular dynamics of four 100% bio-based poly(alkylene 2,5-furanoate)s, using broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements that covered a wide temperature and frequency range. We unveiled complex local relaxations, characterized by the simultaneous presence of two components, which were dependent on thermal treatment. The segmental relaxation showed relaxation times and strengths depending on the glycolic subunit length, which were furthermore confirmed by high-frequency experiments in the molten region of the polymers. Our results allowed determining structure–property relations that are able to provide further understanding about the excellent barrier properties of poly(alkylene 2,5-furanoate)s. In addition, we provide results of high industrial interest during polymer processing for possible industrial applications of poly(alkylene furanoate)s. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Soft Matter with EUSMI)
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11 pages, 1764 KiB  
Article
Synthesis and Evaluation of Scalable D-A-D π-Extended Oligomers as p-Type Organic Materials for Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells
by Peshawa Osw, Andrea Nitti, Media N. Abdullah, Samuel I. Etkind, Jeremiah Mwaura, Alessandro Galbiati and Dario Pasini
Polymers 2020, 12(3), 720; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12030720 - 24 Mar 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4110
Abstract
The synthesis and characterization of four novel donor-acceptor-donor π-extended oligomers, incorporating naphtha(1–b)thiophene-4-carboxylate or benzo(b)thieno(3,2-g) benzothiophene-4-carboxylate 2-octyldodecyl esters as end-capping moieties, and two different conjugated core fragments, is reported. The end-capping moieties are obtained via a cascade sequence of sustainable organic reactions, and then [...] Read more.
The synthesis and characterization of four novel donor-acceptor-donor π-extended oligomers, incorporating naphtha(1–b)thiophene-4-carboxylate or benzo(b)thieno(3,2-g) benzothiophene-4-carboxylate 2-octyldodecyl esters as end-capping moieties, and two different conjugated core fragments, is reported. The end-capping moieties are obtained via a cascade sequence of sustainable organic reactions, and then coupled to benzo(c)(1,2,5)thiadiazole and its difluoro derivative as the electron-poor π-conjugated cores. The optoelectronic properties of the oligomers are reported. The novel compounds revealed good film forming properties, and when tested in bulk-heterojunction organic photovoltaic cell devices in combination with PC61BM, revealed good fill factors, but low efficiencies, due to their poor absorption profiles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Soft Matter with EUSMI)
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17 pages, 4743 KiB  
Article
Dynamics of Confined Short-Chain alkanol in MCM-41 by Dielectric Spectroscopy: Effects of matrix and system Treatments and Filling Factor
by Josef Bartoš, Silvia Arrese-Igor, Helena Švajdlenková, Angela Kleinová and Angel Alegría
Polymers 2020, 12(3), 610; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12030610 - 07 Mar 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2520
Abstract
The dynamics of n-propanol confined in regular MCM-41 matrix with the pore size Dpore = 40 Å, under various matrix conditioning and sample confining conditions, using broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), is reported. First, various drying procedures with the capacitor filling under air [...] Read more.
The dynamics of n-propanol confined in regular MCM-41 matrix with the pore size Dpore = 40 Å, under various matrix conditioning and sample confining conditions, using broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), is reported. First, various drying procedures with the capacitor filling under air or N2 influence the BDS spectra of the empty MCM-41 and the confined n-PrOH/MCM-41 systems, but have a little effect on the maximum relaxation time of the main process. Finally, various filling factors of n-PrOH medium in the optimally treated MCM-41 system lead to unimodal or bimodal spectra interpreted in terms of the two distinct dynamic phases in the confined states. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Soft Matter with EUSMI)
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15 pages, 1141 KiB  
Article
Thermophoresis: The Case of Streptavidin and Biotin
by Doreen Niether, Mona Sarter, Bernd W. Koenig, Jörg Fitter, Andreas M. Stadler and Simone Wiegand
Polymers 2020, 12(2), 376; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12020376 - 07 Feb 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3802
Abstract
Thermophoretic behavior of a free protein changes upon ligand binding and gives access to information on the binding constants. The Soret effect has also been proven to be a promising tool to gain information on the hydration layer, as the temperature dependence of [...] Read more.
Thermophoretic behavior of a free protein changes upon ligand binding and gives access to information on the binding constants. The Soret effect has also been proven to be a promising tool to gain information on the hydration layer, as the temperature dependence of the thermodiffusion behavior is sensitive to solute–solvent interactions. In this work, we perform systematic thermophoretic measurements of the protein streptavidin (STV) and of the complex STV with biotin (B) using thermal diffusion forced Rayleigh scattering (TDFRS). Our experiments show that the temperature sensitivity of the Soret coefficient is reduced for the complex compared to the free protein. We discuss our data in comparison with recent quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) measurements. As the QENS measurement has been performed in heavy water, we perform additional measurements in water/heavy water mixtures. Finally, we also elucidate the challenges arising from the quantiative thermophoretic study of complex multicomponent systems such as protein solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Soft Matter with EUSMI)
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