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Selected Works

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Surita Bhatia

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Structure And Intermicellar Interactions In Block Polyelectrolyte Assemblies, Surita Bhatia, M. A. Crichton Jun 2003

Structure And Intermicellar Interactions In Block Polyelectrolyte Assemblies, Surita Bhatia, M. A. Crichton

Surita Bhatia

Amphiphilic diblock polyelectrolytes are becoming popular in industrial applications due to their versatility, ranging from usage in pharmaceuticals to personal care products. Many of these systems also exhibit interesting rheological and morphological behavior. Our system is based on a polystyrene-poly(ethyl acrylate) diblock. The properties can be tuned by utilizing a simple hydrolysis reaction, converting poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA) to poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). We study the effect of this hydrolysis reaction on the interaction between micelles of polystyrene-poly(acrylic acid) in water using small-angle and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering. We see that as more PEA is converted to PAA, the aggregation number and polystyrene …


Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Study Of Associative Triblocks In Microemulsion Solutions, Surita Bhatia, J. Lal, W. B. Russel Jan 2000

Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Study Of Associative Triblocks In Microemulsion Solutions, Surita Bhatia, J. Lal, W. B. Russel

Surita Bhatia

Small-angle neutron scattering was used to study the interactions between AOT/water/decane microemulsions and poly(ethylene oxide)-polyisoprene-poly(ethylene oxide) triblocks. The interdroplet spacing seems to be independent of molecular weight and polymer concentration. Scattering experiments on the polyisoprene layer yield a high q exponent of −1.6 ± 0.1, indicating that the layer is swollen by decane.