Effect of Internal Architecture on the Assembly of Soft Particles at Fluid Interfaces
Vialetto, Jacopo ; Camerin, Fabrizio LU
; Grillo, Fabio
; Ramakrishna, Shivaprakash N.
; Rovigatti, Lorenzo
; Zaccarelli, Emanuela
and Isa, Lucio
(2021)
In ACS Nano
15(8).
p.13105-13117
- Abstract
Monolayers of soft colloidal particles confined at fluid interfaces are at the core of a broad range of technological processes, from the stabilization of responsive foams and emulsions to advanced lithographic techniques. However, establishing a fundamental relation between their internal architecture, which is controlled during synthesis, and their structural and mechanical properties upon interfacial confinement remains an elusive task. To address this open issue, which defines the monolayer's properties, we synthesize core-shell microgels, whose soft core can be chemically degraded in a controlled fashion. This strategy allows us to obtain a series of particles ranging from analogues of standard batch-synthesized microgels to... (More)
Monolayers of soft colloidal particles confined at fluid interfaces are at the core of a broad range of technological processes, from the stabilization of responsive foams and emulsions to advanced lithographic techniques. However, establishing a fundamental relation between their internal architecture, which is controlled during synthesis, and their structural and mechanical properties upon interfacial confinement remains an elusive task. To address this open issue, which defines the monolayer's properties, we synthesize core-shell microgels, whose soft core can be chemically degraded in a controlled fashion. This strategy allows us to obtain a series of particles ranging from analogues of standard batch-synthesized microgels to completely hollow ones after total core removal. Combined experimental and numerical results show that our hollow particles have a thin and deformable shell, leading to a temperature-responsive collapse of the internal cavity and a complete flattening after adsorption at a fluid interface. Mechanical characterization shows that a critical degree of core removal is required to obtain soft disk-like particles at an oil-water interface, which present a distinct response to compression. At low packing fractions, the mechanical response of the monolayer is dominated by the outer polymer chains forming a corona surrounding the particles within the interfacial plane, regardless of the presence of a core. By contrast, at high compression, the absence of a core enables the particles to deform in the direction orthogonal to the interface and to be continuously compressed without altering the monolayer structure. These findings show how fine, single-particle architectural control during synthesis can be engineered to determine the interfacial behavior of microgels, enabling one to link particle conformation with the resulting material properties.
(Less)
- author
- Vialetto, Jacopo
; Camerin, Fabrizio
LU
; Grillo, Fabio
; Ramakrishna, Shivaprakash N.
; Rovigatti, Lorenzo
; Zaccarelli, Emanuela
and Isa, Lucio
- publishing date
- 2021-08-24
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- colloidal particles, liquid interface, modeling, pNIPAM microgels, self-assembly
- in
- ACS Nano
- volume
- 15
- issue
- 8
- pages
- 13 pages
- publisher
- The American Chemical Society (ACS)
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:34328717
- scopus:85113593170
- ISSN
- 1936-0851
- DOI
- 10.1021/acsnano.1c02486
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
- id
- 96d6e679-7968-4044-bdb6-4b565b41502e
- date added to LUP
- 2024-02-22 14:11:07
- date last changed
- 2024-04-22 00:09:46
@article{96d6e679-7968-4044-bdb6-4b565b41502e,
abstract = {{<p>Monolayers of soft colloidal particles confined at fluid interfaces are at the core of a broad range of technological processes, from the stabilization of responsive foams and emulsions to advanced lithographic techniques. However, establishing a fundamental relation between their internal architecture, which is controlled during synthesis, and their structural and mechanical properties upon interfacial confinement remains an elusive task. To address this open issue, which defines the monolayer's properties, we synthesize core-shell microgels, whose soft core can be chemically degraded in a controlled fashion. This strategy allows us to obtain a series of particles ranging from analogues of standard batch-synthesized microgels to completely hollow ones after total core removal. Combined experimental and numerical results show that our hollow particles have a thin and deformable shell, leading to a temperature-responsive collapse of the internal cavity and a complete flattening after adsorption at a fluid interface. Mechanical characterization shows that a critical degree of core removal is required to obtain soft disk-like particles at an oil-water interface, which present a distinct response to compression. At low packing fractions, the mechanical response of the monolayer is dominated by the outer polymer chains forming a corona surrounding the particles within the interfacial plane, regardless of the presence of a core. By contrast, at high compression, the absence of a core enables the particles to deform in the direction orthogonal to the interface and to be continuously compressed without altering the monolayer structure. These findings show how fine, single-particle architectural control during synthesis can be engineered to determine the interfacial behavior of microgels, enabling one to link particle conformation with the resulting material properties.</p>}},
author = {{Vialetto, Jacopo and Camerin, Fabrizio and Grillo, Fabio and Ramakrishna, Shivaprakash N. and Rovigatti, Lorenzo and Zaccarelli, Emanuela and Isa, Lucio}},
issn = {{1936-0851}},
keywords = {{colloidal particles; liquid interface; modeling; pNIPAM microgels; self-assembly}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
number = {{8}},
pages = {{13105--13117}},
publisher = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
series = {{ACS Nano}},
title = {{Effect of Internal Architecture on the Assembly of Soft Particles at Fluid Interfaces}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c02486}},
doi = {{10.1021/acsnano.1c02486}},
volume = {{15}},
year = {{2021}},
}