In-situ study of the impact of temperature and architecture on the interfacial structure of microgels

Steffen Bochenek, Fabrizio Camerin, Emanuela Zaccarelli, Armando Maestro, Maximilian M. Schmidt, Walter Richtering and Andrea Scotti ()
Additional contact information
Steffen Bochenek: RWTH Aachen University
Fabrizio Camerin: CNR-ISC, Sapienza University of Rome
Emanuela Zaccarelli: CNR-ISC, Sapienza University of Rome
Armando Maestro: Institut Laue-Langevin ILL DS/LSS
Maximilian M. Schmidt: RWTH Aachen University
Walter Richtering: RWTH Aachen University
Andrea Scotti: RWTH Aachen University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The structural characterization of microgels at interfaces is fundamental to understand both their 2D phase behavior and their role as stabilizers that enable emulsions to be broken on demand. However, this characterization is usually limited by available experimental techniques, which do not allow a direct investigation at interfaces. To overcome this difficulty, here we employ neutron reflectometry, which allows us to probe the structure and responsiveness of the microgels in-situ at the air-water interface. We investigate two types of microgels with different cross-link density, thus having different softness and deformability, both below and above their volume phase transition temperature, by combining experiments with computer simulations of in silico synthesized microgels. We find that temperature only affects the portion of microgels in water, while the strongest effect of the microgels softness is observed in their ability to protrude into the air. In particular, standard microgels have an apparent contact angle of few degrees, while ultra-low cross-linked microgels form a flat polymeric layer with zero contact angle. Altogether, this study provides an in-depth microscopic description of how different microgel architectures affect their arrangements at interfaces, and will be the foundation for a better understanding of their phase behavior and assembly.

Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31209-3 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31209-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31209-3

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().