@article{SchimkaGordievskayaLomadzeetal.2017, author = {Schimka, Selina and Gordievskaya, Yulia D. and Lomadze, Nino and Lehmann, Maren and von Klitzing, Regine and Rumyantsev, Artem M. and Kramarenko, Elena Yu. and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Communication: Light driven remote control of microgels' size in the presence of photosensitive surfactant: Complete phase diagram}, series = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, volume = {147}, journal = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville}, issn = {0021-9606}, doi = {10.1063/1.4986143}, pages = {5}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Here we report on a light triggered remote control of microgel size in the presence of photosensitive surfactant. The hydrophobic tail of the cationic surfactant contains azobenzene group that undergoes a reversible photo-isomerization reaction from a trans-to a cis-state accompanied by a change in the hydrophobicity of the surfactant. We have investigated light assisted behaviour and the complex formation of the microgels with azobenzene containing surfactant over the broad concentrational range starting far below and exceeding several times of the critical micelle concentration (CMC). At small surfactant concentration in solution (far below CMC), the surfactant in the trans-state accommodates within the microgel causing its compaction, while the cis-isomer desorbs out of microgel resulting in its swelling. The process of the microgel size change can be described as swelling on UV irradiation (trans-cis isomerization) and shrinking on irradiation with blue light (cis-trans isomerization). However, at the surfactant concentrations larger than CMC, the opposite behaviour is observed: the microgel swells on blue irradiation and shrinks during exposure to UV light. We explain this behaviour theoretically taking into account isomer dependent micellization of surfactant within the microgels. Published by AIP Publishing.}, language = {en} } @article{ZakrevskyyKopyshevLomadzeetal.2011, author = {Zakrevskyy, Yuriy and Kopyshev, Alexey and Lomadze, Nino and Morozova, Elena and Lysyakova, Liudmila and Kasyanenko, Nina and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {DNA compaction by azobenzene-containing surfactant}, series = {Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics}, volume = {84}, journal = {Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics}, number = {2}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, address = {College Park}, issn = {1539-3755}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevE.84.021909}, pages = {9}, year = {2011}, abstract = {We report on the interaction of cationic azobenzene-containing surfactant with DNA investigated by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and atomic force microscopy. The properties of the surfactant can be controlled with light by reversible switching of the azobenzene unit, incorporated into the surfactant tail, between a hydrophobic trans (visible irradiation) and a hydrophilic cis (UV irradiation) configuration. The influence of the trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene on the compaction process of DNA molecules and the role of both isomers in the formation and colloidal stability of DNA-surfactant complexes is discussed. It is shown that the trans isomer plays a major role in the DNA compaction process. The influence of the cis isomer on the DNA coil configuration is rather small. The construction of a phase diagram of the DNA concentration versus surfactant/DNA charge ratio allows distancing between three major phases: colloidally stable and unstable compacted globules, and extended coil conformation. There is a critical concentration of DNA above which the compacted globules can be hindered from aggregation and precipitation by adding an appropriate amount of the surfactant in the trans configuration. This is because of the compensation of hydrophobicity of the globules with an increasing amount of the surfactant. Below the critical DNA concentration, the compacted globules are colloidally stable and can be reversibly transferred with light to an extended coil state.}, language = {en} } @article{RichterZakrevskyyEiseleetal.2014, author = {Richter, Marcel and Zakrevskyy, Yuriy and Eisele, Michael and Lomadze, Nino and Santer, Svetlana and von Klitzing, Regine}, title = {Effect of pH, co-monomer content, and surfactant structure on the swelling behavior of microgel-azobenzene-containing surfactant complex}, series = {Polymer : the international journal for the science and technology of polymers}, volume = {55}, journal = {Polymer : the international journal for the science and technology of polymers}, number = {25}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0032-3861}, doi = {10.1016/j.polymer.2014.10.027}, pages = {6513 -- 6518}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The contraction/swelling transition of anionic PNIPAM-co-AAA particles can be manipulated by light using interactions with cationic azobenzene-containing surfactant. In this study the influence of pH-buffers and their concentrations, the charge density (AAA content) in microgel particles as well as the spacer length of the surfactant on the complex formation between the microgel and surfactant is investigated. It is shown that the presence of pH buffer can lead to complete blocking of the interactions in such complexes and the resulting microgel contraction/swelling response. There is a clear competition between the buffer ions and the surfactant molecules interacting with microgel particles. When working in pure water solutions with fixed concentration (charge density) of microgel, the contraction/swelling of the particles is controlled only by relative concentration (charge ratio) of the surfactant and AAA groups of the microgel. Furthermore, the particle contraction is more efficient for shorter spacer length of the surfactant. The onset point of the contraction process is not affected by the surfactant hydrophobicity. This work provides new insight into the interaction between microgel particles and photo-sensitive surfactants, which offers high potential in new sensor systems. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{JelkenPandiyarajanGenzeretal.2018, author = {Jelken, Joachim and Pandiyarajan, Chinnayan Kannan and Genzer, Jan and Lomadze, Nino and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Fabrication of flexible hydrogel sheets featuring periodically spaced circular holes with continuously adjustable size in realtime}, series = {ACS applied materials \& interfaces}, volume = {10}, journal = {ACS applied materials \& interfaces}, number = {36}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1944-8244}, doi = {10.1021/acsami.8b09580}, pages = {30844 -- 30851}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We report on the formation of stimuli-responsive structured hydrogel thin films whose pattern geometry can be adjusted on demand and tuned reversibly by varying solvent quality or by changing temperature. The hydrogel films, similar to 100 nm in thickness, were prepared by depositing layers of random copolymers comprising N-isopropylacrylamide and ultraviolet (UV)-active methacryloyloxybenzophenone units onto solid substrates. A two-beam interference pattern technique was used to cross-link the selected areas of the film; any unreacted material was extracted using ethanol after UV light-assisted cross-linking. In this way, we produced nanoholes, perfectly ordered structures with a narrow size distribution, negligible tortuosity, adjustable periodicity, and a high density. The diameter of the circular holes ranged from a few micrometers down to several tens of nanometers; the hole periodicity could be adjusted readily by changing the optical period of the UV interference pattern. The holes were reversibly closed and opened by swelling/deswelling the polymer networks in the presence of ethanol and water, respectively, at various temperatures. The reversible regulation of the hole diameter can be repeated many times within a few seconds. The hydrogel sheet with circular holes periodically arranged may also be transferred onto different substrates and be employed as tunable templates for the deposition of desired substances.}, language = {en} } @article{BekirSharmaUmlandtetal.2022, author = {Bekir, Marek and Sharma, Anjali and Umlandt, Maren and Lomadze, Nino and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {How to make a surface act as a micropump}, series = {Advanced materials interfaces}, volume = {9}, journal = {Advanced materials interfaces}, number = {12}, publisher = {Wiley-VCH}, address = {Weinheim}, issn = {2196-7350}, doi = {10.1002/admi.202102395}, pages = {11}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In this paper, the phenomenon of light-driven diffusioosmotic (DO) long-range attractive and repulsive interactions between micro-sized objects trapped near a solid wall is investigated. The range of the DO flow extends several times the size of microparticles and can be adjusted to point towards or away from the particle by varying irradiation parameters such as intensity or wavelength of light. The "fuel" of the light-driven DO flow is a photosensitive surfactant which can be photo-isomerized between trans and cis-states. The trans-isomer tends to accumulate at the interface, while the cis-isomer prefers to stay in solution. In combination with a dissimilar photo-isomerization rate at the interface and in bulk, this yields a concentration gradient of the isomers around single particles resulting in local light-driven diffusioosmotic (l-LDDO) flow. Here, the extended analysis of the l-LDDO flow as a function of irradiation parameters by introducing time-dependent development of the concentration excess of isomers near the particle surface is presented. It is also demonstrated that the l-LDDO can be generated at any solid/liquid interface being more pronounced in the case of strongly absorbing material. This phenomenon has plenty of potential applications since it makes any type of surface act as a micropump.}, language = {en} } @article{MuravevaBekirLomadzeetal.2022, author = {Muraveva, Valeriia and Bekir, Marek and Lomadze, Nino and Großmann, Robert and Beta, Carsten and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Interplay of diffusio- and thermo-osmotic flows generated by single light stimulus}, series = {Applied physics letters}, volume = {120}, journal = {Applied physics letters}, number = {23}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville}, issn = {0003-6951}, doi = {10.1063/5.0090229}, pages = {5}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Flow control is a highly relevant topic for micromanipulation of colloidal particles in microfluidic applications. Here, we report on a system that combines two-surface bound flows emanating from thermo-osmotic and diffusio-osmotic mechanisms. These opposing flows are generated at a gold surface immersed into an aqueous solution containing a photo-sensitive surfactant, which is irradiated by a focused UV laser beam. At low power of incoming light, diffusio-osmotic flow due to local photo-isomerization of the surfactant dominates, resulting in a flow pattern oriented away from the irradiated area. In contrast, thermo-osmotic flow takes over due to local heating of the gold surface at larger power, consequently inducing a flow pointing toward the hotspot. In this way, this system allows one to reversibly switch from outward to inward liquid flow with an intermittent range of zero flow at which tracer particles undergo thermal motion by just tuning the laser intensity only. Our work, thus, demonstrates an optofluidic system for flow generation with a high degree of controllability that is necessary to transport particles precisely to desired locations, thereby opening innovative possibilities to generate advanced microfluidic applications.}, language = {en} } @article{AryaJelkenLomadzeetal.2020, author = {Arya, Pooja and Jelken, Joachim and Lomadze, Nino and Santer, Svetlana and Bekir, Marek}, title = {Kinetics of photo-isomerization of azobenzene containing surfactants}, series = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistry}, volume = {152}, journal = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistry}, number = {2}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville}, issn = {0021-9606}, doi = {10.1063/1.5135913}, pages = {10}, year = {2020}, abstract = {We report on photoisomerization kinetics of azobenzene containing surfactants in aqueous solution. The surfactant molecule consists of a positively charged trimethylammonium bromide head group, a hydrophobic spacer connecting via 6 to 10 CH2 groups to the azobenzene unit, and the hydrophobic tail of 1 and 3CH(2) groups. Under exposure to light, the azobenzene photoisomerizes from more stable trans- to metastable cis-state, which can be switched back either thermally in dark or by illumination with light of a longer wavelength. The surfactant isomerization is described by a kinetic model of a pseudo first order reaction approaching equilibrium, where the intensity controls the rate of isomerization until the equilibrated state. The rate constants of the trans-cis and cis-trans photoisomerization are calculated as a function of several parameters such as wavelength and intensity of light, the surfactant concentration, and the length of the hydrophobic tail. The thermal relaxation rate from cis- to trans-state is studied as well. The surfactant isomerization shows a different kinetic below and above the critical micellar concentration of the trans isomer due to steric hindrance within the densely packed micelle but does not depend on the spacer length.}, language = {en} } @article{AryaJelkenFeldmannetal.2020, author = {Arya, Pooja and Jelken, Joachim and Feldmann, David and Lomadze, Nino and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Light driven diffusioosmotic repulsion and attraction of colloidal particles}, series = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, volume = {152}, journal = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, number = {19}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville, NY}, issn = {0021-9606}, doi = {10.1063/5.0007556}, pages = {10}, year = {2020}, abstract = {In this paper, we introduce the phenomenon of light driven diffusioosmotic long-range attraction and repulsion of porous particles under irradiation with UV light. The change in the inter-particle interaction potential is governed by flow patterns generated around single colloids and results in reversible aggregation or separation of the mesoporous silica particles that are trapped at a solid surface. The range of the interaction potential extends to several times the diameter of the particle and can be adjusted by varying the light intensity. The "fuel" of the process is a photosensitive surfactant undergoing photo-isomerization from a more hydrophobic trans-state to a rather hydrophilic cis-state. The surfactant has different adsorption affinities to the particles depending on the isomerization state. The trans-isomer, for example, tends to accumulate in the negatively charged pores of the particles, while the cis-isomer prefers to remain in the solution. This implies that when under UV irradiation cis-isomers are being formed within the pores, they tend to diffuse out readily and generate an excess concentration near the colloid's outer surface, ultimately resulting in the initiation of diffusioosmotic flow. The direction of the flow depends strongly on the dynamic redistribution of the fraction of trans- and cis-isomers near the colloids due to different kinetics of photo-isomerization within the pores as compared to the bulk. The unique feature of the mechanism discussed in the paper is that the long-range mutual repulsion but also the attraction can be tuned by convenient external optical stimuli such as intensity so that a broad variety of experimental situations for manipulation of a particle ensemble can be realized.}, language = {en} } @article{AryaFeldmannKopyshevetal.2020, author = {Arya, Pooja and Feldmann, David and Kopyshev, Alexey and Lomadze, Nino and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Light driven guided and self-organized motion of mesoporous colloidal particles}, series = {Soft matter}, volume = {16}, journal = {Soft matter}, number = {5}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {1744-683X}, doi = {10.1039/c9sm02068c}, pages = {1148 -- 1155}, year = {2020}, abstract = {We report on guided and self-organized motion of ensembles of mesoporous colloidal particles that can undergo dynamic aggregation or separation upon exposure to light. The forces on particles involve the phenomenon of light-driven diffusioosmosis (LDDO) and are hydrodynamic in nature. They can be made to act passively on the ensemble as a whole but also used to establish a mutual interaction between particles. The latter scenario requires a porous colloid morphology such that the particle can act as a source or sink of a photosensitive surfactant, which drives the LDDO process. The interplay between the two modes of operation leads to fascinating possibilities of dynamical organization and manipulation of colloidal ensembles adsorbed at solid-liquid interfaces. While the passive mode can be thought of to allow for a coarse structuring of a cloud of colloids, the inter-particle mode may be used to impose a fine structure on a 2D particle grid. Local flow is used to impose and tailor interparticle interactions allowing for much larger interaction distances that can be achieved with, e.g., DLVO type of forces, and is much more versatile.}, language = {en} } @article{ZakrevskyyRichterZakrevskaetal.2012, author = {Zakrevskyy, Yuriy and Richter, Marcel and Zakrevska, Svitlana and Lomadze, Nino and von Klitzing, Regine and Santer, Svetlana}, title = {Light-controlled reversible manipulation of microgel particle size using azobenzene-containing surfactant}, series = {Advanced functional materials}, volume = {22}, journal = {Advanced functional materials}, number = {23}, publisher = {Wiley-VCH}, address = {Weinheim}, issn = {1616-301X}, doi = {10.1002/adfm.201200617}, pages = {5000 -- 5009}, year = {2012}, abstract = {The light-induced reversible switching of the swelling of microgel particles triggered by photo-isomerization and binding/unbinding of a photosensitive azobenzene-containing surfactant is reported. The interactions between the microgel (N-isopropylacrylamide, co-monomer: allyl acetic acid, crosslinker: N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide) and the surfactant are studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy, dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering measurements. Addition of the surfactant above a critical concentration leads to contraction/collapse of the microgel. UV light irradiation results in trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene unit incorporated into the surfactant tail and causes an unbinding of the more hydrophilic cis isomer from the microgel and its reversible swelling. The reversible contraction can be realized by blue light irradiation that transfers the surfactant back to the more hydrophobic trans conformation, in which it binds to the microgel. The phase diagram of the surfactant-microgel interaction and transitions (aggregation, contraction, and precipitation) is constructed and allows prediction of changes in the system when the concentration of one or both components is varied. Remote and reversible switching between different states can be realized by either UV or visible light irradiation.}, language = {en} }