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This study uses single-molecule microscopy and microfluidics to track the dynamics of individual PEG macromolecules adsorbed on solid surfaces under flow conditions. They found that macromolecular dynamics differ significantly based on surface hydrophobicity, transitioning from non-Brownian diffusion on hydrophilic glass to Brownian-like transport on hydrophobic self-assembled monolayers. On hydrophobic surfaces, they observed a unique regime of mixed macromolecular friction where the polymer chain rubs against the surface while being dragged by the hydrodynamic flow, revealing a distribution of friction coefficients linked to conformational heterogeneities.
Macromolecules surf differently: they exhibit mixed frictional behavior on hydrophobic surfaces, rubbing against the solid while being dragged by the flow, unlike their purely advective transport on hydrophilic surfaces.
Molecular-scale interactions between solvated macromolecules and solid surfaces govern a large number of processes, from biology to engineering. Yet, despite extensive characterization at the macroscopic level, our molecular understanding of polymer/surface interactions remains limited, particularly under out-of-equilibrium conditions. Here, we combine wide-field single-molecule microscopy with microfluidic transport to directly track the nanoscale dynamics of individual fluorescently tagged macromolecular PEG adsorbates, and investigate their subtle couplings with interfacial hydrodynamic flows. At equilibrium, we evidence marked surface dependence, with macromolecular dynamics switching from heterogeneous non-Brownian diffusion on hydrophilic glass to bidimensional Brownian-like transport in an interfacial physisorbed state on hydrophobic self-assembled monolayers. While for hydrophilic glass, the effect of the flow is restricted to an advective contribution during solvent-mediated flights, we uncover for the hydrophobic surfaces a peculiar regime of mixed macromolecular friction, whereby the adsorbed chain rubs on the solid wall while being continuously dragged by the near-surface hydrodynamic flow through interfacial slippage. Through joint analysis of equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium transport, we finely disentangle these molecular level frictional interactions with both the solid surface and the interfacial liquid. Beyond population-averaged dynamics, we further unveil a broad distribution of friction coefficients associated to individual chains, which we attribute conformational heterogeneities with sluggish reorganization timescale. By enabling direct observations of molecular-scale interfacial dynamics, our approach provides a novel molecular picture of macromolecular friction and adsorbate/surface interactions at flowing solid/liquid interfaces.
