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Amoeba-like self-oscillating polymeric fluids with autonomous sol-gel transition.

ABSTRACT: In the field of polymer science, many kinds of polymeric material systems that show a sol-gel transition have been created. However, most systems are unidirectional stimuli-responsive systems that require physical signals such as a change in temperature. Here, we report on the design of a block copolymer solution that undergoes autonomous and periodic sol-gel transition under constant conditions without any on-off switching through external stimuli. The amplitude of this self-oscillation of the viscosity is about 2,000?mPa?s. We also demonstrate an intermittent forward motion of a droplet of the polymer solution synchronized with the autonomous sol-gel transition. This polymer solution bears the potential to become the base for a type of slime-like soft robot that can transform its shape kaleidoscopically and move autonomously, which is associated with the living amoeba that moves forward by a repeated sol-gel transition.

SUBMITTER: Onoda M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5511347 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Amoeba-like self-oscillating polymeric fluids with autonomous sol-gel transition.

Onoda Michika M Ueki Takeshi T Tamate Ryota R Shibayama Mitsuhiro M Yoshida Ryo R

Nature communications 20170713

In the field of polymer science, many kinds of polymeric material systems that show a sol-gel transition have been created. However, most systems are unidirectional stimuli-responsive systems that require physical signals such as a change in temperature. Here, we report on the design of a block copolymer solution that undergoes autonomous and periodic sol-gel transition under constant conditions without any on-off switching through external stimuli. The amplitude of this self-oscillation of the ...[more]

PMID: 28703123

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Project description:Advances in supramolecular assembly have enabled the design and synthesis of functional materials with well-defined structures across multiple length scales. Biopolymer-synthetic hybrid materials can assemble into supramolecular structures with a broad range of structural and functional diversity through precisely controlled noncovalent interactions between subunits. Despite recent progress, there is a need to understand the mechanisms underlying the assembly of biohybrid/synthetic molecular building blocks, which ultimately control the emergent properties of hierarchical assemblies. In this work, we study the concentration-driven self-assembly and gelation of π-conjugated synthetic oligopeptides containing different π-conjugated cores (quaterthiophene and perylene diimide) using a combination of particle tracking microrheology, confocal fluorescence microscopy, optical spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. Our results show that π-conjugated oligopeptides self-assemble into β-sheet-rich fiber-like structures at neutral pH, even in the absence of electrostatic screening of charged residues. A critical fiber formation concentration cfiber and a critical gel concentration cgel are determined for fiber-forming π-conjugated oligopeptides, and the linear viscoelastic moduli (storage modulus G' and loss modulus G″) are determined across a wide range of peptide concentrations. These results suggest that the underlying chemical structure of the synthetic π-conjugated cores greatly influences the self-assembly process, such that oligopeptides appended to π-conjugated cores with greater torsional flexibility tend to form more robust fibers upon increasing peptide concentration compared to oligopeptides with sterically constrained cores. Overall, our work focuses on the molecular assembly of π-conjugated oligopeptides driven by concentration, which is controlled by a combination of enthalpic and entropic interactions between oligopeptide subunits.

Dataset Information

Amoeba-like self-oscillating polymeric fluids with autonomous sol-gel transition.

Publications

Amoeba-like self-oscillating polymeric fluids with autonomous sol-gel transition.

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