Related papers: Controlling microgel morphology and swelling behav…
The peculiar linear temperature-dependent swelling of core-shell microgels has been conjectured to be linked to the core-shell architecture combining materials of different transition temperatures. Here the structure of pNIPMAM-core and…
Thermo-responsive microgel particles can exhibit a drastic volume shrinkage upon increasing the solvent temperature. Recently we found that the spreading of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PNiPAm) microgels at a liquid interface under the…
Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) phase diagram is explored in a wide range of temperature and pressure using extensive all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. By exploiting a simple model of an atactic linear polymer chain, we provide…
Finding new ways to tune the behavior of thermoresponsive microgels in bulk and confined at 2D liquid interfaces is key to achieve a deeper understanding and control of these smart materials. We studied the interaction of positively charged…
Hypothesis: The peculiar swelling behaviour of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based responsive microgels provides the possibility to tune both softness and volume fraction with temperature, making these systems of great interest for…
Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) is a thermoresponsive polymer, an essential building block of a large family of soft smart materials. In neat water it undergoes upon heating at $\approx$305K a phase transition from swollen to collapsed…
The formation of smart emulsions or foams whose stability can be controlled on-demand by switching external parameters is of great interest for basic research and applications. An emerging group of smart stabilizers are microgels, which are…
PNIPAm microgels synthesized via free radical polymerization (FRP) are often considered as neutral colloids in aqueous media, although it is well known, since the pioneering work of Pelton and coworkers [Langmuir 1989, 5, 816-818], that the…
We investigated the complexation of thermoresponsive anionic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM) microgels and cationic $\epsilon$-polylysine ($\epsilon$-PLL) chains. By combining electrophoresis, light scattering, transmission electron…
By means of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations we investigate the behaviour of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), PNIPAM, in water at temperatures below and above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), including the undercooled…
The precise arrangement of different chemical moieties in a polymer determines its thermophysical properties. How the sequence of moieties impacts the properties of a polymer is an outstanding problem in polymer science. Herein, we address…
Microgels are often discussed as well-suited model system for soft colloids. In contrast to rigid spheres, the microgel volume and, coupled to this, the volume fraction in dispersion can be manipulated by external stimuli. This behavior is…
Hollow microgels, consisting of a pNIPAM polymer network with a central cavity, have significant potential due to their tunable softness and encapsulation capabilities. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we thoroughly characterise the…
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based microgels are soft colloids undergoing a Volume Phase Transition (VPT) close to ambient temperature. Although widely employed for fundamental research and application purposes, the modifications of the…
Stimuli-responsive lyogels are known for their ability to undergo significant macroscopic changes when exposed to external stimuli. While thermo-responsive gels, such as poly N isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM), have been extensively studied…
Stimuli-responsive lyogels are considered to be smart materials due to their capability of undergoing significant macroscopic changes in response to external triggers. Due to their versatile and unique properties, smart lyogels exhibit…
Microgel particles composed of Interpenetrated Polymer Networks (IPN) of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAAc) dispersed in water have been investigated through dynamic light scattering. The study of the…
Thermoresponsive polymer architectures have become integral building blocks of 'smart' functional materials in modern applications. For a large range of developments, e.g., for drug delivery or nanocatalytic carrier systems, the selective…
A low-temperature dynamical transition has been reported in several proteins. We provide the first observation of a `protein-like' dynamical transition in nonbiological aqueous environments. To this aim we exploit the popular colloidal…
Ionic microgel particles are intriguing systems in which the properties of thermo-responsive polymeric colloids are enriched by the presence of charged groups. In order to rationalize their properties and predict the behaviour of microgel…