Gelling by heating.

ABSTRACT: We exploit the concept of competing interactions to design a binary mixture of patchy particles that forms a reversible gel upon heating. Our molecular dynamics computer simulation of such a system shows that with increasing temperature the relaxation dynamics slows down by more than four orders of magnitude and then speeds up again. The system is thus a fluid both at high and at low temperatures and a solid-like disordered open network structure at intermediate temperature. We further discuss the feasibility of realizing a real material with this reversible behavior.

SUBMITTER: Roldan-Vargas S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3744795 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature