Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Spectral Time Moment Analysis Of Microgel Deswelling: Effect Of The Heating Rate, Kiril A. Streletzky, John T. Mckenna

Physics Faculty Publications

Microgel nanoparticles were synthesized in aqueous solutions of neutral polymer hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) through the self-association of amphiphilic HPC molecules and the subsequent cross linking at room temperature. Dynamic Light Scattering was used to study the transport properties of HPC microgels below and above the volume phase transition. Highly nonexponential, multimodal microgel spectra were observed and successfully analyzed by spectral time moment analysis. This article expands earlier results and focuses on the effect of the heating rate on microgel deswelling. During the fast heating two identified microgel modes with apparent hydrodynamic radii (RH) of 25–30 nm and 400–650 nm collapse into …