Core-Shell Microgels with Switchable Elasticity at Constant Interfacial Interaction

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Maximilian Seuss - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Willi Schmolke - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Astrid Drechsler - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Andreas Fery - , Chair of Physical Chemistry of Polymeric Materials, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Sebastian Seiffert - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)

Abstract

Hydrogels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm) exhibit a thermo-reversible volume phase transition from swollen to deswollen states. This change of the hydrogel volume is accompanied by changes of the hydrogel elastic and Young's moduli and of the hydrogel interfacial interactions. To decouple these parameters from one another, we present a class of submillimeter sized hydrogel particles that consist of a thermosensitive pNIPAAm core wrapped by a nonthermosensitive polyacrylamide (pAAm) shell, each templated by droplet-based microfluidics. When the microgel core deswells upon increase of the temperature to above 34 °C, the shell is stretched and dragged to follow this deswelling into the microgel interior, resulting in an increase of the microgel surficial Young's modulus. However, as the surface interactions of the pAAm shell are independent of temperature at around 34 °C, they do not considerably change during the pNIPAAm-core volume phase transition. This feature makes these core-shell microgels a promising platform to be used as building blocks to assemble soft materials with rationally and independently tunable mechanics.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)16317-16327
Number of pages11
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume8
Issue number25
Publication statusPublished - 29 Jun 2016
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • AFM, core-shell microgels, elasticity, interfacial interaction, thermoresponsivity