Exploring the colloid-to-polymer transition for ultra-low crosslinked microgels from three to two dimensions

A. Scotti (), S. Bochenek, M. Brugnoni, M. A. Fernandez-Rodriguez, M. F. Schulte, J. E. Houston, A. P. H. Gelissen, I. I. Potemkin, L. Isa and W. Richtering ()
Additional contact information
A. Scotti: RWTH Aachen University
S. Bochenek: RWTH Aachen University
M. Brugnoni: RWTH Aachen University
M. A. Fernandez-Rodriguez: ETH Zurich
M. F. Schulte: RWTH Aachen University
J. E. Houston: Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
A. P. H. Gelissen: RWTH Aachen University
I. I. Potemkin: Lomonosov Moscow State University
L. Isa: ETH Zurich
W. Richtering: RWTH Aachen University

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Microgels are solvent-swollen nano- and microparticles that show prevalent colloidal-like behavior despite their polymeric nature. Here we study ultra-low crosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels (ULC), which can behave like colloids or flexible polymers depending on dimensionality, compression or other external stimuli. Small-angle neutron scattering shows that the structure of the ULC microgels in bulk aqueous solution is characterized by a density profile that decays smoothly from the center to a fuzzy surface. Their phase behavior and rheological properties are those of soft colloids. However, when these microgels are confined at an oil-water interface, their behavior resembles that of flexible macromolecules. Once monolayers of ultra-low crosslinked microgels are compressed, deposited on solid substrate and studied with atomic-force microscopy, a concentration-dependent topography is observed. Depending on the compression, these microgels can behave as flexible polymers, covering the substrate with a uniform film, or as colloidal microgels leading to a monolayer of particles.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09227-5

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