Dynamics of Dense Suspensions of Star-Like Micelles with Responsive Fixed Cores

✍ Scribed by Benoit Loppinet; George Fytas; Dimitris Vlassopoulos; Christos N. Likos; Gerd Meier; Guo Jun Liu

• Book ID: 102483986
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 282 KB
• Volume: 206
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1352
• DOI: 10.1002/macp.200400165

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Summary: PBMA‐PCEMA block copolymer micelles, consisting of poly(2‐cinnamoyloxyethyl methacrylate) (PCEMA) cross‐linked core and poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) hairs (shell), are used as model responsive soft colloids, where the core swelling can be tuned by changing solvent quality. Our extensive dynamic light scattering study, complemented by viscosity and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements, demonstrates the richness of dynamics of such dense micellar suspensions and in particular the strong influence of solvent‐mediated core swelling on the concentration dependence of the self‐diffusion. Brownian dynamics (BD) simulations using appropriate effective core‐core interactions support these findings. Such novel micelles offer new possibilities for controlling the interactions and macroscopic properties of colloidal suspensions.

The self‐diffusion coefficient D for core‐shell particles, as calculated from the Brownian dynamics simulations.

magnified imageThe self‐diffusion coefficient D for core‐shell particles, as calculated from the Brownian dynamics simulations.