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A new look at effective interactions between microgel particles

Author

Listed:
  • Maxime J. Bergman

    (Lund University)

  • Nicoletta Gnan

    (Sapienza University of Rome)

  • Marc Obiols-Rabasa

    (Lund University
    CR Competence AB)

  • Janne-Mieke Meijer

    (Lund University
    University of Konstanz)

  • Lorenzo Rovigatti

    (Sapienza University of Rome)

  • Emanuela Zaccarelli

    (Sapienza University of Rome)

  • Peter Schurtenberger

    (Lund University)

Abstract

Thermoresponsive microgels find widespread use as colloidal model systems, because their temperature-dependent size allows facile tuning of their volume fraction in situ. However, an interaction potential unifying their behavior across the entire phase diagram is sorely lacking. Here we investigate microgel suspensions in the fluid regime at different volume fractions and temperatures, and in the presence of another population of small microgels, combining confocal microscopy experiments and numerical simulations. We find that effective interactions between microgels are clearly temperature dependent. In addition, microgel mixtures possess an enhanced stability compared to hard colloid mixtures - a property not predicted by a simple Hertzian model. Based on numerical calculations we propose a multi-Hertzian model, which reproduces the experimental behavior for all studied conditions. Our findings highlight that effective interactions between microgels are much more complex than usually assumed, displaying a crucial dependence on temperature and on the internal core-corona architecture of the particles.

Suggested Citation

  • Maxime J. Bergman & Nicoletta Gnan & Marc Obiols-Rabasa & Janne-Mieke Meijer & Lorenzo Rovigatti & Emanuela Zaccarelli & Peter Schurtenberger, 2018. "A new look at effective interactions between microgel particles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-07332-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07332-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Gnan, Nicoletta, 2023. "Lecture notes of the 15th international summer school on Fundamental Problems in Statistical Physics: Colloidal dispersions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 631(C).
    2. Boyang Zhou & Urs Gasser & Alberto Fernandez-Nieves, 2023. "Measuring the counterion cloud of soft microgels using SANS with contrast variation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.

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