Anisotropic responsive microgels with tuneable shape and interactions

作者:Crassous Jerome J*; Mihut Adriana M; Mansson Linda K; Schurtenberger Peter
来源:Nanoscale, 2015, 7(38): 15971-15982.
DOI:10.1039/c5nr03827h

摘要

Highly monodisperse polystyrene/poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide) (PS-PNIPMAM) core-shell composite microgels were synthesized and further nanoengineered in either ellipsoidal, faceted or bowl-shaped particles. Beside their anisotropy in shape, the microgel design enables an exquisite control of the particle conformation, size and interactions from swollen and hydrophilic to collapsed and hydrophobic using temperature as an external control variable. The post-processing procedures and the characterization of the different particles are first presented. Their potential as model systems for the investigation of the effects of anisotropic shape and interactions on the phase behavior is further demonstrated. Finally, the self-assembly of bowl-shaped composite microgel particles is discussed, where the temperature and an external AC electric field are employed to control the interactions from repulsive to attractive and from soft repulsive to dipolar, respectively.

  • 出版日期2015