| Autor: |
Testa, Andrea, Spanke, Hendrik T., Jambon-Puillet, Etienne, Yasir, Mohammad, Küffner, Andreas M., Arosio, Paolo, Dufresne, Eric R., Style, Robert W., Rebane, Aleksander A. |
| Rok vydání: |
2023 |
| Předmět: |
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| Druh dokumentu: |
Working Paper |
| Popis: |
Solutions of macromolecules can undergo liquid-liquid phase separation to form droplets with ultra-low surface tension. Droplets with such low surface tension wet and spread over common surfaces such as test tubes and microscope slides, complicating \textit{in vitro} experiments. Development of an universal super-repellent surface for macromolecular droplets has remained elusive because their ultra-low surface tension requires low surface energies. Furthermore, nonwetting of droplets containing proteins poses additional challenges because the surface must remain inert to a wide range of chemistries presented by the various amino-acid side-chains at the droplet surface. Here, we present a method to coat microscope slides with a thin transparent hydrogel that exhibits complete dewetting (contact angles $\theta\approx180^\circ)$ and minimal pinning of phase-separated droplets in aqueous solution. The hydrogel is based on a swollen matrix of chemically crosslinked polyethylene glycol diacrylate of molecular weight 12 kDa (PEGDA), and can be prepared with basic chemistry lab equipment. The PEGDA hydrogel is a powerful tool for \textit{in vitro} studies of weak interactions, dynamics, and internal organization of phase-separated droplets in aqueous solutions. |
| Databáze: |
arXiv |
| Externí odkaz: |
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