Temperature controlled sequential gelation in composite microgel suspensions

J. Appel, N. de Lange, H.M. van der Kooij, T.X. van de Laar, J.B. ten Hove, T.E. Kodger, J.H.B. Sprakel*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Depending on the volume fraction and interparticle interactions, colloidal suspensions can exhibit a variety of physical states, ranging from fluids, crystals, and glasses to gels. For microgel particles made of thermoresponsive polymers, both parameters can be tuned using environmental parameters such as temperature and ionic strength, making them excellent systems to experimentally study state transitions in colloidal suspensions. Using a simple two-step synthesis it is shown that the properties of composite microgels, with a fluorescent latex core and a responsive microgel shell, can be finely tuned. With this system the transitions between glass, liquid, and gel states for suspensions composed of a single species are explored. Finally, a suspension of two species of microgels is demonstrated, with different transition temperatures, gels in a sequential manner. Upon increasing temperature a distinct core–sheath structure is formed with a primary gel composed of the species with lowest transition temperature, which acts as a scaffold for the aggregation of the second species.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)764-770
JournalParticle and Particle Systems Characterization
Volume32
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • attractive particles
  • liquid
  • gels

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