Exploring the 3D Conformation of Hard-Core Soft-Shell Particles Adsorbed at a Fluid Interface
Vialetto, Jacopo ; Camerin, Fabrizio LU
; Ramakrishna, Shivaprakash N.
; Zaccarelli, Emanuela
and Isa, Lucio
(2023)
In Advanced Science
10(28).
- Abstract
The encapsulation of a rigid core within a soft polymeric shell allows obtaining composite colloidal particles that retain functional properties, e.g., optical or mechanical. At the same time, it favors their adsorption at fluid interfaces with a tunable interaction potential to realize tailored two-dimensional (2D) materials. Although they have already been employed for 2D assembly, the conformation of single particles, which is essential to define the monolayer properties, has been largely inferred via indirect or ex situ techniques. Here, by means of in situ atomic force microscopy experiments, the authors uncover the interfacial morphology of hard-core soft-shell microgels, integrating the data with numerical simulations to... (More)
The encapsulation of a rigid core within a soft polymeric shell allows obtaining composite colloidal particles that retain functional properties, e.g., optical or mechanical. At the same time, it favors their adsorption at fluid interfaces with a tunable interaction potential to realize tailored two-dimensional (2D) materials. Although they have already been employed for 2D assembly, the conformation of single particles, which is essential to define the monolayer properties, has been largely inferred via indirect or ex situ techniques. Here, by means of in situ atomic force microscopy experiments, the authors uncover the interfacial morphology of hard-core soft-shell microgels, integrating the data with numerical simulations to elucidate the role of the core properties, of the shell thicknesses, and that of the grafting density. They identify that the hard core can influence the conformation of the polymer shells. In particular, for the case of small shell thickness, low grafting density, or poor core affinity for water, the core protrudes more into the organic phase, and the authors observe a decrease in-plane stretching of the network at the interface. By rationalizing their general wetting behavior, such composite particles can be designed to exhibit specific inter-particle interactions of importance both for the stabilization of interfaces and for the fabrication of 2D materials with tailored functional properties.
(Less)
- author
- Vialetto, Jacopo
; Camerin, Fabrizio
LU
; Ramakrishna, Shivaprakash N.
; Zaccarelli, Emanuela
and Isa, Lucio
- publishing date
- 2023-10-06
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- atomic force microscopy, colloidal particles, fluid interface, modeling, pNIPAM microgels
- in
- Advanced Science
- volume
- 10
- issue
- 28
- article number
- 2303404
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:37541434
- scopus:85166769243
- ISSN
- 2198-3844
- DOI
- 10.1002/advs.202303404
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
- id
- 8aa96a78-1d38-4d3c-b719-3fa492d358a0
- date added to LUP
- 2024-02-22 14:00:10
- date last changed
- 2024-04-21 23:58:56
@article{8aa96a78-1d38-4d3c-b719-3fa492d358a0,
abstract = {{<p>The encapsulation of a rigid core within a soft polymeric shell allows obtaining composite colloidal particles that retain functional properties, e.g., optical or mechanical. At the same time, it favors their adsorption at fluid interfaces with a tunable interaction potential to realize tailored two-dimensional (2D) materials. Although they have already been employed for 2D assembly, the conformation of single particles, which is essential to define the monolayer properties, has been largely inferred via indirect or ex situ techniques. Here, by means of in situ atomic force microscopy experiments, the authors uncover the interfacial morphology of hard-core soft-shell microgels, integrating the data with numerical simulations to elucidate the role of the core properties, of the shell thicknesses, and that of the grafting density. They identify that the hard core can influence the conformation of the polymer shells. In particular, for the case of small shell thickness, low grafting density, or poor core affinity for water, the core protrudes more into the organic phase, and the authors observe a decrease in-plane stretching of the network at the interface. By rationalizing their general wetting behavior, such composite particles can be designed to exhibit specific inter-particle interactions of importance both for the stabilization of interfaces and for the fabrication of 2D materials with tailored functional properties.</p>}},
author = {{Vialetto, Jacopo and Camerin, Fabrizio and Ramakrishna, Shivaprakash N. and Zaccarelli, Emanuela and Isa, Lucio}},
issn = {{2198-3844}},
keywords = {{atomic force microscopy; colloidal particles; fluid interface; modeling; pNIPAM microgels}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
number = {{28}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Advanced Science}},
title = {{Exploring the 3D Conformation of Hard-Core Soft-Shell Particles Adsorbed at a Fluid Interface}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/advs.202303404}},
doi = {{10.1002/advs.202303404}},
volume = {{10}},
year = {{2023}},
}