What is it about?
Coacervates are small droplets that form when two opposingly charged polymers come together. Inside the droplet is a unique microenviornment characterized by changes in ionic concentration, small molecule solvation, and water structure. Luckily, ideal outersphere redox probes like ferricyanide and ferrocyanide are sensitive to these changes. By using these probes along with temperature dependent electrochemistry and infrared spectroscopy we learned these droplets can lessen the energy required to transfer electrons.
Featured Image
Photo by Mishal Ibrahim on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Many previous studies prove coacervates can act as catalysts with most attributing this to mass action- the increase in reaction rate to higher concentrations of reactants. Our work demonstrates coacervates can do more than mass action and actually stabilize the reactant and destabilize the product leading to a lower reaction Gibbs energy. This is important for redox reactions because unlike in most chemistries, the energy and rate of electron transfer are correlated offering a new mechanism for coacervate catalysis.
Perspectives
This work is a wonderful example of how analytical techniques can be utilized on biological systems. I hope it helps inspire other scientists studying soft matter to incorporate more nontraditional techniques into their thermodynamic and kinetic analyses.
Gala Rodriguez
University of California Santa Barbara
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Quantification of redox thermodynamics shifts within coacervates, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2521526122.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
