On the role of softness in ionic microgel interactions.

ABSTRACT: Thermoresponsive microgels are a popular model system to study phase transitions in soft matter, because temperature directly controls their volume fraction. Ionic microgels are additionally pH-responsive and possess a rich phase diagram. Although effective interaction potentials between microgel particles have been proposed, these have never been fully tested, leading to a gap in our understanding of the link between single-particle and collective properties. To help resolve this gap, four sets of ionic microgels with varying crosslinker density were synthesised and characterised using light scattering techniques and confocal microscopy. The resultant structural and dynamical information was used to investigate how particle softness affects the phase behaviour of ionic microgels and to va

SUBMITTER: Bergman MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8597585 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature