A paper entitled “Hydration State Variation of Polyzwitterion Brushes through Interplay with Ions” was published in Langmuir online on July 17, 2020, as an invited feature article. This is a short review paper that summarizes our research shedding light on the hydration state of polyzwitterion brushes in aqueous solutions by employing neutron reflectivity. We addressed the nonuniform hydration state of the well-swollen polyzwitterion chains, and the ion concentration dependence, ion specificity, the effects of charge spacer length in the zwitterions.
Yuji Higaki, Motoyasu Kobayashi, Atsushi Takahara*
"Hydration State Variation of Polyzwitterion Brushes through Interplay with Ions" Langmuir, in press (Invited Feature Article) DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01672
NR brings unique information about the equilibrium structure of the swollen hydrophilic polymer brushes in contact with aqueous solutions. The most important insights in the series of studies are the nonuniform hydration structures in the swollen polymer brush chains normal to the substrate. In particular, PSB brushes show a multilayered structure in salt-free water because of the lateral chain density gradient that is linked to the extent of SB engagement. The impact of ionic strength and ionic species on the nonuniform structure variation was addressed in detail, and the hydration state modulation was rationalized by the interaction of ions with the zwitterions. The zwitterion specificity and CSL dependence were explained in terms of the partial charges depending on the charged groups and intercharge distance.
The research projects were conducted under the supervision of Prof. Takahara. I sincerely appreciate his academic leadership, insights, and coaching in my research carrier. Also, the research projects were originally handled by Prof. Kobayashi when he worked in Prof. Takahara’s group. I profoundly respect his achievements and efforts. I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Norifumi L. Yamada for his support on the NR experiments. I sincerely appreciate all students and colleagues who committed this project.
Besides, it is my great honor that the original cover art graphic of this article was selected as a journal cover and featured on the journal website. Since I’m not a digital art designer, it was tough to produce the artwork. It is my pleasure if my art could impress and inspire the scientists in this scientific community in the world even just a little bit.
