Abstract
Cation- interactions underlie many important processes in biology and materials science. However, experimental investigations of cation- interactions in aqueous media remain challenging. Here, we studied the cation- binding strength and mechanism by pulling two hydrophobic polymers with distinct cation binding properties, i.e., poly-pentafluorostyrene and polystyrene, in aqueous media using single-molecule force spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance measurement. We found that the interaction strengths linearly depend on the cation concentrations, following the order of . The binding energies are . This order is distinct from the strength of cation- interactions in gas phase and may be caused by the different dehydration ability of the cations. Taken together, our method provides a unique perspective to investigate cation- interactions under physiologically relevant conditions.
- Received 2 August 2022
- Accepted 24 January 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.118101
© 2023 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
synopsis
A Watery Probe for Ion–Electron Interactions
Published 17 March 2023
Researchers have developed a method for measuring the strength of certain ion–electron interactions in water, with initial tests throwing up unexpected results.
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