Tuning Interfacial Properties and Processes by Controlling the Rheology and Structure of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Particles at Air/Water Interfaces

Armando Maestro*, Daniel Jones, Carmen Sánchez De Rojas Candela, Eduardo Guzman, Michel H.G. Duits, Pietro Cicuta (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)
90 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

By combining controlled experiments on single interfaces with measurements on solitary bubbles and liquid foams, we show that poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels assembled at air/water interfaces exhibit a solid to liquid transition changing the temperature, and that this is associated with the change in the interfacial microstructure of the PNIPAM particles around their volume phase transition temperature. We show that the solid behaves as a soft 2D colloidal glass, and that the existence of this solid/liquid transition offers an ideal platform to tune the permeability of air bubbles covered by PNIPAM and to control macroscopic foam properties such as drainage, stability, and foamability. PNIPAM particles on fluid interfaces allow new tunable materials, for example foam structures with variable mechanical properties upon small temperature changes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7067-7076
Number of pages10
JournalLangmuir
Volume34
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Jun 2018

Keywords

  • UT-Hybrid-D
  • 22/4 OA procedure

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