Confinement-Dependent Diffusiophoretic Transport of Nanoparticles in Collagen Hydrogels

Viet Sang Doan, Sunggyu Chun, Jie Feng, Sangwoo Shin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The transport of nanoparticles in biological hydrogels is often hindered by the strong confinement of the media, thus limiting important applications such as drug delivery and disinfection. Here, we investigate nanoparticle transport in collagen hydrogels driven by diffusiophoresis. Contrary to common expectations for boundary confinement effects where the confinement hinders diffusiophoresis, we observe a nonmonotonic behavior in which maximum diffusiophoretic mobility is observed at intermediate confinement. We find that such behavior is a consequence of the interplay between multiple size-dependent effects. Our results display the utility of diffusiophoresis for enhanced nanoparticle transport in physiologically relevant conditions under tight confinement, suggesting a potential strategy for drug delivery in compressed tissues.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)7625-7630
Number of pages6
JournalNano letters
Volume21
Issue number18
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 22 2021

Keywords

  • Nanoparticles
  • biohydrogel
  • diffusiophoresis
  • hindered transport

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Bioengineering
  • General Materials Science

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