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Microgels Adsorbed at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces : A Joint Numerical and Experimental Study

Camerin, Fabrizio LU orcid ; Fernández-Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel ; Rovigatti, Lorenzo ; Antonopoulou, Maria-Nefeli ; Gnan, Nicoletta ; Ninarello, Andrea ; Isa, Lucio and Zaccarelli, Emanuela (2019) In ACS Nano 13(4). p.4548-4559
Abstract

Soft particles display highly versatile properties with respect to hard colloids and even more so at fluid-fluid interfaces. In particular, microgels, consisting of a cross-linked polymer network, are able to deform and flatten upon adsorption at the interface due to the balance between surface tension and internal elasticity. Despite the existence of experimental results, a detailed theoretical understanding of this phenomenon is still lacking due to the absence of appropriate microscopic models. In this work, we propose an advanced modeling of microgels at a flat water/oil interface. The model builds on a realistic description of the internal polymeric architecture and single-particle properties of the microgel and is able to... (More)

Soft particles display highly versatile properties with respect to hard colloids and even more so at fluid-fluid interfaces. In particular, microgels, consisting of a cross-linked polymer network, are able to deform and flatten upon adsorption at the interface due to the balance between surface tension and internal elasticity. Despite the existence of experimental results, a detailed theoretical understanding of this phenomenon is still lacking due to the absence of appropriate microscopic models. In this work, we propose an advanced modeling of microgels at a flat water/oil interface. The model builds on a realistic description of the internal polymeric architecture and single-particle properties of the microgel and is able to reproduce its experimentally observed shape at the interface. Complementing molecular dynamics simulations with in situ cryo-electron microscopy experiments and atomic force microscopy imaging after Langmuir-Blodgett deposition, we compare the morphology of the microgels for different values of the cross-linking ratios. Our model allows for a systematic microscopic investigation of soft particles at fluid interfaces, which is essential to develop predictive power for the use of microgels in a broad range of applications, including the stabilization of smart emulsions and the versatile patterning of surfaces.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
AFM, cryo-SEM, interface, microgels, modeling, polymer networks
in
ACS Nano
volume
13
issue
4
pages
12 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:30865829
  • scopus:85063540390
ISSN
1936-0851
DOI
10.1021/acsnano.9b00390
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2019 American Chemical Society.
id
fd25b46f-71d9-449b-858c-3c47cfddf8f5
date added to LUP
2024-02-22 14:14:10
date last changed
2024-04-22 02:25:26
@article{fd25b46f-71d9-449b-858c-3c47cfddf8f5,
  abstract     = {{<p>Soft particles display highly versatile properties with respect to hard colloids and even more so at fluid-fluid interfaces. In particular, microgels, consisting of a cross-linked polymer network, are able to deform and flatten upon adsorption at the interface due to the balance between surface tension and internal elasticity. Despite the existence of experimental results, a detailed theoretical understanding of this phenomenon is still lacking due to the absence of appropriate microscopic models. In this work, we propose an advanced modeling of microgels at a flat water/oil interface. The model builds on a realistic description of the internal polymeric architecture and single-particle properties of the microgel and is able to reproduce its experimentally observed shape at the interface. Complementing molecular dynamics simulations with in situ cryo-electron microscopy experiments and atomic force microscopy imaging after Langmuir-Blodgett deposition, we compare the morphology of the microgels for different values of the cross-linking ratios. Our model allows for a systematic microscopic investigation of soft particles at fluid interfaces, which is essential to develop predictive power for the use of microgels in a broad range of applications, including the stabilization of smart emulsions and the versatile patterning of surfaces.</p>}},
  author       = {{Camerin, Fabrizio and Fernández-Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel and Rovigatti, Lorenzo and Antonopoulou, Maria-Nefeli and Gnan, Nicoletta and Ninarello, Andrea and Isa, Lucio and Zaccarelli, Emanuela}},
  issn         = {{1936-0851}},
  keywords     = {{AFM; cryo-SEM; interface; microgels; modeling; polymer networks}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{4548--4559}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{ACS Nano}},
  title        = {{Microgels Adsorbed at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces : A Joint Numerical and Experimental Study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b00390}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acsnano.9b00390}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}