Issue 12, 2020

Recent progress in the science of complex coacervation

Abstract

Complex coacervation is an associative, liquid–liquid phase separation that can occur in solutions of oppositely-charged macromolecular species, such as proteins, polymers, and colloids. This process results in a coacervate phase, which is a dense mix of the oppositely-charged components, and a supernatant phase, which is primarily devoid of these same species. First observed almost a century ago, coacervates have since found relevance in a wide range of applications; they are used in personal care and food products, cutting edge biotechnology, and as a motif for materials design and self-assembly. There has recently been a renaissance in our understanding of this important class of material phenomena, bringing the science of coacervation to the forefront of polymer and colloid science, biophysics, and industrial materials design. In this review, we describe the emergence of a number of these new research directions, specifically in the context of polymer–polymer complex coacervates, which are inspired by a number of key physical and chemical insights and driven by a diverse range of experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches.

Graphical abstract: Recent progress in the science of complex coacervation

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
01 Jan 2020
Accepted
24 Feb 2020
First published
25 Feb 2020

Soft Matter, 2020,16, 2885-2914

Author version available

Recent progress in the science of complex coacervation

C. E. Sing and S. L. Perry, Soft Matter, 2020, 16, 2885 DOI: 10.1039/D0SM00001A

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