Form factor of pNIPAM microgels in overpacked states.
- Gasser U Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
- Hyatt JS School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0430, USA.
- Lietor-Santos JJ School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0430, USA.
- Herman ES School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, USA.
- Lyon LA School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, USA.
- Fernandez-Nieves A School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0430, USA.
- 2014-07-24
Published in:
- The Journal of chemical physics. - 2014
English
We study the form factor of thermoresponsive microgels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) at high generalized volume fractions, ζ, where the particles must shrink or interpenetrate to fit into the available space. Small-angle neutron scattering with contrast matching techniques is used to determine the particle form factor. We find that the particle size is constant up to a volume fraction roughly between random close packing and space filling. Beyond this point, the particle size decreases with increasing particle concentration; this decrease is found to occur with little interpenetration. Noteworthily, the suspensions remain liquid-like for ζ larger than 1, emphasizing the importance of particle softness in determining suspension behavior.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- green
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1063/1.4885444
- PMID 25053336
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/17102
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