Influence of Temperature-Guided SAM Growth on Wetting and Its Mass Transfer Models.

The formation and growth of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) composed of amphiphiles have garnered significant attention due to their diverse technical applications. This article reports the findings of molecular dynamics simulations aimed at elucidating the intricate relationship between the wetting behavior of amphiphiles, specifically n-alkanols, and the growth of their SAMs on a mica surface under varying temperature conditions. The investigation quantifies the structural characteristics of the formed SAMs, including density profiles, in-plane radial distribution functions, order parameters, and end-to-end length distributions of n-alkanol molecules within the SAM. Thermodynamic properties, such as the second virial coefficient and excess entropy, are examined in relation to temperature and time. The growth of the SAM is assessed by analyzing characteristic time scales at different temperatures and in-plane diffusion of n-alkanol molecules and utilizing classical theories of mass transfer to quantify the growth rate as a function of temperature. These results are then correlated with changes in the contact angle and spreading coefficient of n-alkanol droplets on the mica surface over time, providing insights into the impact of SAM growth on the wetting behavior and the mass transfer model of such systems.

Evolution, Stability, and Applicability of Surfactant Aggregates in Targeted Delivery.

Self-assembly/self-aggregation of surfactant molecules in bulk and the vicinity of a surface has been a topic of interest for decades because of its utilization in numerous modern technical applications. In this article, the results of molecular dynamics simulations are reported to investigate the self-aggregation of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at an interface of mica and water. SDS molecules starting from lower to higher surface concentrations tend to create distinct aggregated structures in the vicinity of a mica surface. The structural properties, such as density profiles, radial distribution functions, and thermodynamic properties like excess entropy and second virial coefficient, are calculated to address the bits and pieces of the self-aggregation. The change in the free energy for aggregates of varied sizes approaching the surface from the bulk aqueous solution, along with the change in their shapes during the process in terms of change in the radius of gyration and its components, is reported respectively to model a generic pathway for a surfactant-based targeted delivery system.

Janus Gold Nanoparticles from Nanodroplets of Alkyl Thiols: A Molecular Dynamics Study.

Janus particles provide an asymmetry in structure, which can impart diverse functionalities leading to immense importance in various applications, ranging from targeted delivery to interfacial phenomena, including catalysis, electronics, and optics. In this work, we present results of a molecular dynamics study of the growth mechanism of coating on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from droplets of n-alkyl thiols with different chain lengths (C5 and C11) and terminal groups (CH3 and COOH). The effect of chain lengths and functional groups on the formation of a monolayer of alkyl thiols on AuNPs is investigated. A two-step mechanism, initiated by the binding of the droplet to the nanoparticle surface with a time constant on the order of ∼1 ns, followed by the diffusion-driven growth with a larger time constant (on the order of 100 ns), is shown to capture the growth dynamics of the monolayer. It is observed that the time required for complete wetting increases with an increase in the chain length. Moreover, the monolayer formation is slowed down in the presence of carboxyl groups because of strong hydrogen bonding. The kinetics of the n-alkyl thiols coating on the nanoparticles is found to be independent of the droplet size but carboxyl-terminated thiols spread more with increasing droplet size. Furthermore, different time constants for different chains and functional groups yield Janus coating when two droplets of alkyl thiols with different terminal groups are allowed to form monolayers on the nanoparticle. The Janus balance (ß) for different combinations of alkyl thiols and nanoparticle sizes varies in the range of 0.42-0.71.

Striped gold nanoparticles: New insights from molecular dynamics simulations.

Recent simulations have improved our knowledge of the molecular-level structure and hydration properties of mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with equal and unequal alkyl thiols at three different arrangements, namely, random, patchy, and Janus. In our previous work [V. Vasumathi et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 119, 3199-3209 (2015)], we showed that the bending of longer thiols over shorter ones clearly depends on the thiols' arrangements and chemical nature of their terminal groups. In addition, such a thiol bending revealed to have a strong impact on the structural and hydration properties of SAMs coated on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In this paper, we extend our previous atomistic simulation study to investigate the bending of longer thiols by increasing the stripe thickness of mixed SAMs of equal and unequal lengths coated on AuNPs. We study also the effect of stripe thickness on the structural morphology and hydration of the coated SAMs. Our results show that the structural and hydration properties of SAMs are affected by the stripe thickness for mixtures of alkyl thiols with unequal chain length but not for equal length. Hence, the stability of the stripe configuration depends on the alkyl's chain length, the length difference between the thiol mixtures, and solvent properties.

Molecular dynamics study of wetting behavior of grafted thermo-responsive PNIPAAm brushes.

In this work, the effect of temperature on the contact angle of a water droplet on grafted thermo-responsive poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) polymer brushes is studied using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in the temperature range of 270-330 K. A shift from 55° to 65° in contact angle values is observed as the temperature increases from 300 K to 310 K, which is in line with the experimental reports. The behavior of a water droplet on PNIPAAm brushes is analyzed using hydrogen bond analysis, water diffusion, radial distribution functions, the potential of mean force, excess entropy and the second virial coefficient (B2). The thermo-responsive behavior of PNIPAAm brushes, quantified using the excess entropy and B2 of PNIPAAm-water and water-water interactions, is mainly governed by polymer-water interactions. In particular, the excess entropy and B2 of PNIPAAm resulting from the PNIPAAm-water interactions are found to increase with increasing temperature. The dehydration of PNIPAAm brushes and the increase in the contact angle of water were confirmed to be entropy driven processes.