Cononsolvency transition of polymer brushes: A combined experimental and theoretical study

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

In this study, the cononsolvency transition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAAm) brushes in aqueous ethanol mixtures was studied by using Vis-spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) discussed in conjunction with the adsorption-attraction model. We proved that the cononsolvency transition of PNiPAAm brushes showed features of a volume phase transition, such as a sharp collapse, reaching a maximum decrease in thickness for a very narrow ethanol volume composition range of 15% to 17%. These observations are in agreement with the recently published preferential adsorption model of the cononsolvency effect.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number991
JournalMaterials
Volume11
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - 11 Jun 2018
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Cononsolvency, Ellipsometry, PNiPAAm, Polymer brushes, Preferential adsorption