"Switchable" colloidal model system

The stabilisation of colloidal suspensions is of great importance in both research and applications (in paint manufacture, the food industry, etc.).

We have now succeeded in synthesising a new micellar model system in which it is possible to ‘switch’ between steric or electrostatic stabilisation.

Selective end group oxidation means that all charge carriers are only located on the particle surface. Their number can be precisely adjusted by pH value and stoichiometry.

Using neutron scattering, structure and interactions could be clarified in detail and quantitatively understood by comparison with modern theories on microscopic scales. The type and strength of stabilisation has a major influence on macroscopic flow and phase behaviour, as additional rheological studies show.

„Schaltbares“ kolloidales Modelsystem
The number of surface charges Z is precisely adjusted by the pH value and stoichiometry. This influences both the microscopic structure and the macroscopic flow behaviour.
Copyright:
— Forschungszentrum Jülich

Further information:


Surface Charged Polymeric Micelles - A Tunable Model System Studied by SANS
Lingsam Tea, Luis Willner, Christin Waldorf, Olga Matsarskaia, Ralf Schweins, Stephan Förster, Lutz Willner,* and Jörg Stellbrink*
Macromolecules 2024 57 (12), 5818-5830 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c00486

Last Modified: 22.08.2024