Chem. J. Chinese Universities ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2): 20220553.doi: 10.7503/cjcu20220553

• Polymer Chemistry • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Structural Variations of Ionic Polymeric Vesicles under Electric Field

LI Jichen1,2, CAI Shanshan3, PENG Jubo3(), LI Hongfei1,2(), DUAN Xiaozheng1()   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry,Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022,China
    2.School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei 230026,China
    3.Research & Development Center,Yunnan Tin Group(Holding) Co. ,Ltd. ,Kunming 650000,China
  • Received:2022-08-19 Online:2023-02-10 Published:2022-10-20
  • Contact: DUAN Xiaozheng E-mail:Jubopeng@ytc.cn;hfli@ciac.ac.cn;xzduan@ciac.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China(22073094);the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences(QYZDY-SSW-SLH027);the Science and Technology Development Program of Jilin Province, China(20210402059GH);the Science and Technology Development Program of Yunan Province, China(202101BC070001-007);the Yunnan Science and Technology Major Project, China(202002AB080001-2)

Abstract:

Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the deformation and break of ionic polymeric vesicles under the external electric field. We systematically analyzed the structural variations of the polymeric vesicles during the breaking process(including deformation degree and break rate of the vesicles and redistri-bution of each component, etc.) and the structure of the disassembled vesicles. Our study shows that under the weak electric field, the adhered polyelectrolyte preferentially desorb from the vesicle surface, and the vesicle undergoes a spherical-to-ellipsoidal transition. As the electric field strength increases, the ionic side-groups of ionomer are rearranged, and the ordered structure of the vesicle surface charge is wrecked, resulting in vesicle collapse. The collapsed vesicle further disassembles into the ionomer clusters or tiny ionomer aggregates, which are uniformly dispersed in the solution. Our simulations clarify the mechanism for the breaking process of the ionic polymeric vesicle induced by electric field application on a molecular level, and provide insights into the development of drug release technologies.

Key words: Electric field, Vesicle, Ionic polymer, Molecular dynamics simulation

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