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International audience; We report the straightforward synthesis of dual stimuli-responsive nano-objects using a RAFT-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) process in water. The key to complex and tunable responsiveness was the copolymerization of N-cyanomethylacrylamide, providing UCST-type polymers, with a pH-sensitive monomer (acrylic acid, AA). Not only the core block length, but also the acrylic acid content and slight changes in the degree of ionization of AA (αAA,0) in the polymerization medium had a great impact on the particle morphology. Generally, higher AA contents favored the formation of spherical nano-objects, while low αAA,0 led to higher order morphologies. We demonstrated that the nano-objects exhibited a complex dual responsiveness to changes in the degree of ionization and temperature. Progressively increasing post-polymerization the degree of ionization of the AA units incorporated in the copolymer (αAA) triggered morphological transitions. Remarkably, a single copolymer composition formed well-defined vesicles, worms, and spheres that eventually dissociated into individual chains. Temperature-dependent SAXS analyses evidenced a complex thermo-responsive behavior, which depended on the copolymer composition and αAA. For some compositions, we observed both a cloud and a clearing point, attributed to the formation of secondary aggregates and chain dissolution, respectively.

While it has long been mimicked by simple precipitation reactions under biologically relevant conditions, calcium phosphate biomineralization is a complex process, which is highly regulated by physicochemical factors and involves a variety of proteins and other biomolecules. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), in particular, is a conductor of sorts, directly regulating the amount of orthophosphate ions available for mineralization. Herein, we explore enzyme-assisted mineralization in the homogeneous phase as a method for biomimetic mineralization and focus on how relevant ionic substitution types affect the obtained minerals. For this purpose, mineralization is performed over a range of enzyme substrate concentrations and fluoride concentrations at physiologically relevant conditions (pH 7.4, T = 37 °C). Refinement of X-ray diffraction data is used to study the crystallographic unit cell parameters for evidence of ionic substitution in the lattice, and infrared (IR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used for complementary information regarding the chemical composition of the minerals. The results show the formation of substituted hydroxyapatite (HAP) after 48 h mineralization in all conditions. Interestingly, an expansion of the crystalline unit cell with an increasing concentration of the enzyme substrate is observed, with only slight changes in the particle morphology. On the contrary, by increasing the amount of fluoride, while keeping the enzyme substrate concentration unchanged, a contraction of the crystalline unit cell and the formation of elongated, well-crystallized rods are observed. Complementary IR and XPS data indicate that these trends are explained by the incorporation of substituted ions, namely CO32− and F−, in the HAP lattice at different positions.

We have previously demonstrated that poly(N-cyanomethylacrylamide) (PCMAm) exhibits a typical upper-critical solution temperature (UCST)-type transition, as long as the molar mass of the polymer is limited, which was made possible through the use of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) radical polymerization. In this research article, we use for the first time N-cyanomethylacrylamide (CMAm) in a typical aqueous dispersion polymerization conducted in the presence of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAm) macroRAFT agents. After assessing that well-defined PDMAm-b-PCMAm diblock copolymers were formed through this aqueous synthesis pathway, we characterized in depth the colloidal stability, morphology and temperature-responsiveness of the dispersions, notably using cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and turbidimetry. The combined analyses revealed that stable nanometric spheres, worms and vesicles could be prepared when the PDMAm block was sufficiently long. Concerning the thermoresponsiveness, only diblocks with a PCMAm block of a low degree of polymerization (DPn,PCMAm < 100) exhibited a UCST-type dissolution upon heating at low concentration. In contrast, for higher DPn,PCMAm, the diblock copolymer nano-objects did not disassemble. At sufficiently high temperatures, they rather exhibited a temperature-induced secondary aggregation of primary particles. In summary, we demonstrated that various morphologies of nano-objects could be obtained via a typical polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) process using PCMAm as the hydrophobic block. We believe that the development of this aqueous synthesis pathway of novel PCMAm-based thermoresponsive polymers will pave the way towards various applications, notably as thermoresponsive coatings and in the biomedical field.

Vitrimers have captured broad interest in academia and industry because they offer a compelling combination of mechanical performance, thermal stability, and recyclability. They are permanent polym...

International audience; The coating of gold nanorods with a silica shell (AuNR@SiO2) is an effective way to extend their use in a wide variety of biomedical applications. A silica shell offers numerous advantages as it provides more stability, frees the surface from toxic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and preserves the rod shape under photothermal conditions. We introduce herein a new strategy to perform this coating based on dissociation of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) hydrolysis and condensation reactions. This dissociation is achieved by a pH modulation of the reaction medium, and, depending on selected pH conditions, AuNR@SiO2 with thick silica shell having an organized mesoporosity aligned either parallel (AuNR@//m-SiO2) or perpendicular (AuNR@⊥m-SiO2) to the AuNR surface were generated. Moreover, when mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) was used as a surface primer prior to TEOS condensation, ultrathin and homogeneous silica shells (AuNR@t-SiO2) of controllable thickness in the range 2-6 nm, are produced. These protocols proved robust enough to prevent contamination with core-free silica particles. While formation, at high TEOS concentration of these nanoparticles, is evidenced by TEM analysis before the purification procedure, their total elimination during the purification step was achieved by addition of a suitable amount of CTAB to ensure the colloidal stability of the core-free and core-shell nanoparticles. Complete elimination of CTAB was demonstrated by SERS when ligand exchange of CTAB by MPTMS is first carried out. In a preliminary study, AuNR@t-SiO2 particles were used to build up a nanoprobe aimed at the label-free plasmonic immunodetection of a model target in solution.

International audience; Nanoparticles made of coinage metals are well known to display unique optical properties stemming from the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) phenomenon, allowing their use as transducers in various biosensing configurations. While most of the reports initially dealt with spherical gold nanoparticles owing to their ease of synthesis, the interest in gold nanorods (AuNR) as plasmonic biosensors is rising steadily. These anisotropic nanoparticles exhibit, on top of the LSPR band in the blue range common with spherical nanoparticles, a longitudinal LSPR band, in all respects superior, and in particular in terms of sensitivity to the surrounding media and LSPR-biosensing. However, AuNRs synthesis and their further functionalization are less straightforward and require thorough processing. In this paper, we intend to give an up-to-date overview of gold nanorods in LSPR biosensing, starting from a critical review of the recent findings on AuNR synthesis and the main challenges related to it. We further highlight the various strategies set up to coat AuNR with a silica shell of controlled thickness and porosity compatible with LSPR-biosensing. Then, we provide a survey of the methods employed to attach various bioreceptors to AuNR. Finally, the most representative examples of AuNR-based LSPR biosensors are reviewed with a focus put on their analytical performances.

We report the synthesis and self-assembly of a library of squaramide-based bolaamphiphiles with variable hydrophobic and hydrophilic domain sizes, consisting of varied aliphatic chains (n = 2 to 12 methylene repeat units) and linear oligo(ethylene glycol) (m = 11 to 36 repeat units), to understand their effect on the formation of supramolecular polymer nanoparticles. Systematic variation of the hydrophobic chain length show that a minimum hydrophobic domain is required to shield the squaramide units from water when a constant hydrophilic domain is maintained for self-assembly. By contrast, significant increases to the hydrophilic chain length of the bolaamphiphile, while keeping the hydrophobic domain constant, results in a transition from fibrillar to spherical nanoscale objects with an alteration in the aggregation mode of the monomers likely due to steric constraints of the oligo(ethylene glycol) chains. By understanding the self-assembly space achievable for these squaramide-based bolaamphiphiles through examining the interplay between various monomer features, we show their distinct effects on the formation of self-assembled nanoparticles with possibilities to modulate their shape and size in water for future applications in the biomedical area.

Maghemite nanoparticles coated with polyacrylic acid (pAA) were dispersed in the protic ionic liquid, diethylethanolammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate (DEEAH+⋅TfO−), and the thermodynamics of particle dispersion was studied by means of potentiometric and calorimetric titrations over the entire accessible pH range. As previously reported, the domain of colloidal stability is divided into two pH regions, mildly acidic and basic, separated by a flocculation domain at an intermediate pH. In this study, solvent DEEAH+⋅TfO− was first characterized in terms of the thermodynamic parameters of two reference reactions: autoprotolysis and ionization of acetic acid. A negative autoprotolysis entropy is obtained due to hydrogen-bond formation between the neutralized solvent cation, DEEA, and the neighboring cation DEEAH+. This suggests that the solvent structure is reinforced by the formation of neutral species, being an opposite trend to both ethylammonium nitrate and water. Second, the ionization and flocculation of pAA-coated nanoparticles (CNps) in the ionic liquid were examined. The potentiometric results could be modeled using a simple pAA ionization, independent of the aggregation state over the entire pH range. However, the calorimetric titration detected extra heat generation in an acidic condition prior to flocculation, in addition to an ionization enthalpy of pAA of 30 kJ/mol. This exothermic contribution is attributed to a change in the solvation process of CNps in the ionic liquid. Herein, we propose a model in which different types of solvation in the acidic and basic domains are sufficient to ensure colloidal stability, while aggregation unfolds between the switching pH.

International audience; Biomineralization is the process by which organisms produce hard inorganic matter from soft tissues with outstanding control of mineral deposition in time and space. For this purpose, organisms deploy a sophisticated “toolkit” that has resulted in significant evolutionary innovations, for which calcium phosphate (CaP) is the biomineral selected for the skeleton of vertebrates. While CaP mineral formation in aqueous media can be investigated by studying thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transitions in supersaturated solutions, biogenic mineralization requires coping with the inherent complexity of biological systems. This mainly includes compartmentalization and homeostatic processes used by organisms to regulate key physiological factors, including temperature, pH and ion concentration. A detailed analysis of the literature shows the emergence of two main views describing the mechanism of CaP biomineralization. The first one, more dedicated to the study of in vivo systems and supported by researchers in physiology, often involves matrix vesicles (MVs). The second one, more investigated by the physicochemistry community, involves collagen intrafibrillar mineralization particularly through in vitro acellular models. Herein, we show that there is an obvious need in the biological systems to control both where and when the mineral forms through an in-depth survey of the mechanism of CaP mineralization. This necessity could gather both communities of physiologists and physicochemists under a common interest for an enzymatic approach to better describe CaP biomineralization. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous enzymatic catalyses are conceivable for these systems, and a few preliminary promising results on CaP mineralization for both types of enzymatic catalysis are reported in this work. Through them, we aim to describe the relevance of our point of view and the likely findings that could be obtained when adding an enzymatic approach to the already rich and creative research field dealing with CaP mineralization. This complementary approach could lead to a better understanding of the biomineralization mechanism and inspire the biomimetic design of new materials.

Biomimetic, strain‐stiffening materials are reported, made through self‐assembly and covalent fixation of small building blocks to form fibrous hydrogels that are able to stiffen by an order of magnitude in response to applied stress. The gels consist of semi‐flexible rodlike micelles of bisurea bolaamphiphiles with oligo(ethylene oxide) (EO) outer blocks and a polydiacetylene (PDA) backbone. The micelles are fibers, composed of 9–10 ribbons. A gelation method based on Cu‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), was developed and shown to lead to strain‐stiffening hydrogels with unusual, yet universal, linear and nonlinear stress–strain response. Upon gelation, the X‐ray scattering profile is unchanged, suggesting that crosslinks are formed at random positions along the fiber contour without fiber bundling. The work expands current knowledge about the design principles and chemistries needed to achieve fully synthetic, biomimetic soft matter with on‐demand, targeted mechanical properties.

Hypothesis The crystallization of calcium phosphate (CaP) is a ubiquitous process that occurs in several mineralized tissues and involves a variety of biochemical and chemical reactions. This issue has been hitherto continuously studied from supersaturated solutions (chemical procedure), i.e. by adding calcium and orthophosphate ions in a homogenous phase. Yet, both in vivo and in vitro investigations have clearly shown the implication of enzymes, namely alkaline phosphatase (ALP), to initiate the mineralization process by generating orthophosphate ions. Experiments We report a thorough investigation on the mechanism of enzyme-induced mineralization in homogenous phase (enzymatic procedure). For this purpose, ALP is introduced in Ca2+/Mg2+-containing solution (pH = 7.4; 37 °C), and its activity modulated by the concentration of its substrate. Findings Results show that after 24 h of mineralization both chemical and enzymatic procedures lead to the formation of well-crystalline hydroxyapatite nano-objects, however with noticeable impact on their shape and dimensions. Remarkably enough, by combining in situ monitoring and ex situ characterizations, we identify several intermediate phases, including amorphous phase, dicalcium phosphate dehydrate phase (DCPD or brushite) and Whitlockite (WH). Besides, mineralized nano-objects with a core-shell structure is observed, and hydroxyapatite platelets are shown to grow on the surface of their shell.

In biology, polymorphism is a well-known phenomenon by which a discrete biomacromolecule can adopt multiple specific conformations in response to its environment. The controlled incorporation of polymorphism into noncovalent aqueous assemblies of synthetic small molecules is an important step toward the development of bioinspired responsive materials. Herein, we report on a family of carboxylic acid functionalized water-soluble benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamides (BTAs) that self-assemble in water to form one-dimensional fibers, membranes, and hollow nanotubes. Interestingly, one of the BTAs with the optimized position of the carboxylic group in the hydrophobic domain yields nanotubes that undergo reversible temperature-dependent dynamic reorganizations. SAXS and Cryo-TEM data show the formation of elongated, well-ordered nanotubes at elevated temperatures. At these temperatures, increased dynamics, as measured by hydrogen-deuterium exchange, provide enough flexibility to the system to form well-defined nanotube structures with apparently defect-free tube walls. Without this flexibility, the assemblies are frozen into a variety of structures that are very similar at the supramolecular level, but less defined at the mesoscopic level.

International audience; Magnetic hyperthermia is a promising tool as an adjuvant therapy for multimodal cancer treatment. However, the heating efficiency of magnetic nanoparticles in biological conditions is not yet fully understood, especially regarding their dispersion state. In this work, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and hyperthermia experiments were coupled to highlight the role of the aggregation of iron oxide nanoparticles on their heating properties induced by an alternating magnetic field. Bare, poly(acrylic acid), and poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) coated nanoparticles were studied. More precisely, the interparticular interactions were investigated by varying the ionic strength and the pH. Our results show that the specific loss power (SLP) of nanoparticles in small and loose aggregates is similar to that of well dispersed nanoparticles while the formation of large and dense aggregates observed by DLS can be correlated to a decrease of the SLP of the nanoparticles. However, at intermediate aggregation states, DLS experiments alone do not allow to fully comprehend the heating properties of magnetic nanoparticles. Small angle X-ray scattering experiments (SAXS) were performed to get information about the inner structure of the aggregates: the closer the nanoparticles in the aggregates, the less they heat the surrounding medium. These results shed a new light on the negative influence of the interparticular interactions in aggregates on the particles heating efficiency.

International audience; Click and drug: A combination of orthogonal click reactions is employed for the preparation of functional iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) that show unprecedented hyperthermia-induced drug release through a magnetically stimulated retro-Diels–Alder (rDA) process. Magnetic stimulation induces sufficient local energy in close proximity to the cycloadduct to initiate the rDA process.

International audience; In this paper, we report an investigation of magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) using combined calori- metric and newly implemented dynamic hysteresis measurements for two sets of well characterized size-sorted maghemite nanoparticles (with diameters of about 10 nm and 20 nm) dispersed in water and in glycerol. Our primary goal was to assess the influence of viscosity on the heating efficiency of magnetic nanoparticles described in terms of specific loss power (SLP or specific absorption rate, SAR) and dynamic hysteresis. In particular, we aimed to investigate how this SLP depends on the transition from Néelian to Brownian behavior of nanoparticles expected to occur between 10 nm and 20 nm (for maghemite) and dependent on the viscosity. While we observed a good agreement between calorimetric and dynamic hysteresis measurements, we found that the SLP measured for the different systems do not depend noticeably on the viscosity of solvent. Calculations performed according to Rosensweig's linear model [1] allow us to quantitatively reproduce our results at low field intensities, provided we use a value for the magnetic anisotropy constant much smaller than the one commonly used in the literature. This raises the question of the temperature dependance of the magnetic anisotropy constant and its relevance for a quantitative description of MFH.

Structural characterization of polymeric micelles is important to understand the relation between micellar structure and properties for application in e.g. drug delivery, catalysis, and sensing. In this work we demonstrate the potential of iPAINT super-resolution microscopy for the imaging of complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms). C3Ms are formed out of the flexible cationic diblock copolymer poly( N -methyl-2-vinyl pyridinium chloride)- b -poly(ethylene oxide) (P2MVP 29 - b -PEO 204 ) and a stiff anionic polyfluorene derivative (PF 22 ). We use iPAINT to ‘stain’ the C3Ms in a simple, non-covalent fashion to image the morphology of individual micelles. Spherical architectures are detected at low concentrations ( 0.14 mM). The observed ellipsoid-like morphology is unusual and furthermore unexpected for C3Ms of copolymers with a considerably longer corona-forming hydrophilic block than the core-forming ionic block. We attribute the observed morphological transition from spherical to ellipsoidal micelles as concentration rises to the stiffness of the conjugated polyfluorene.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:28:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2016-01-01 A multifunctional material suitable for cancer therapy, which combines stimuli-responsive properties for drug delivery and magnetic hyperthermia prepared by a one-pot sol-gel synthesis from the conjugation of ureasil cross-linked poly(ethylene oxide) (U-PEO) hybrid materials with superparamagnetic nanoparticles (γ-Fe2O3), is reported in this communication. Instituto de Química UNESP, Rua Professor Francisco Degni, 55 Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06 CNRS Laboratoire PHENIX, Case 51, 4 place Jussieu Instituto de Química UNESP, Rua Professor Francisco Degni, 55

International audience; AbstractHypothesisGetting colloidally stable dispersions of nanoparticles in ionic liquids is a challenging task. Indeed, long-range electrostatic repulsions often involved in molecular solvents are screened in ionic liquids and cannot counterbalance the interparticle attractions. Using a polyelectrolyte coating should provide a good stabilisation of the nanoparticles. Investigating the role of the polyelectrolyte charge on the dispersion state should yield to a better comprehension of the stabilisation mechanisms.ExperimentsPolyacrylate coated maghemite nanoparticles were transferred from water to ethylammonium nitrate, a protic ionic liquid, for various polymer chain length and nanoparticles size. Titrations of coated nanoparticles and of free polymer chains were performed in water and in ethylammonium nitrate. The dispersion state of the nanoparticles was monitored at different pH by small-angle X-ray scattering.FindingsPolyacrylate coating stabilised the nanoparticles in ethylammonium nitrate. However, reversible aggregation with the pH was observed. Surprisingly, this control was not directly related to the surface charge like in water but to the solvent quality for the polyelectrolyte. This study is the first report on the use of the pH to tune the dispersion state of nanoparticles in an ionic liquid. It provides a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for colloidal stability in ionic liquids.

Polymer brushes are commonly used to modify the properties of solid surfaces. Here a family of polybasic poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) brushes have been grown using ARGET ATRP from a cationic macroinitiator adsorbed on two types of silica surfaces: QCM crystals and oxidised silicon wafers. The pH-response of these brushes is investigated as a function of brush thickness in a constant flow environment in order to focus on the intrinsic dynamics of the polymer brushes. Independent QCM-D and in situ ellipsometry kinetic studies demonstrate the swelling process of protonation and solvent uptake is typically eight times faster than the corresponding neutralisation and solvent expulsion from the collapsing brush. However, the maximum rate of these processes is independent of brush thickness. The initial pH response of the brushes is hysteretic due to brush entanglement, which once overcome allows highly reversible pH-induced conformational changes. Multiple pH cycles demonstrate that the viscoelastic nature of the swollen state relative to the collapsed brush is independent of brush thickness.

Here is demonstrated a novel approach to reversible control over nanoparticle (NP) stability, permitting facile recovery for the reuse of inorganic NPs. For the first time, the separation of NPs is achieved by suspending the nanostructures in a background-supporting colloidal fluid, which itself shows a liquid-liquid critical-type phase transition at a temperature T(c) instead of using a normal molecular solvent.

A bulky 1-phosphabarrelene, 2, was obtained from the reaction of a phosphinine with benzyne; two palladium complexes of 2 were successfully employed in the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of several aryl chlorides with phenylboronic acid at a relatively low catalyst loading, and activated aryl chlorides were coupled at room temperature in the absence of strong bases.

A bulky 1-phosphabarrelene, 2, was obtained from the reaction of a phosphinine with benzyne; two palladium complexes of 2 were successfully employed in the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of several aryl chlorides with phenylboronic acid at a relatively low catalyst loading, and activated aryl chlorides were coupled at room temperature in the absence of strong bases.