Issue 15, 2009
From the journal:

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Heterogeneity in nanocomposite hydrogels from poly(ethylene oxide) cross-linked with silicate nanoparticles

Patrick Schexnailder,a   Elena Loizou,b   Lionel Porcar,b   Paul Butlerb  and  Gudrun Schmidt*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
E-mail: gudrun@purdue.edu
Fax: +1 765 496 1912
Tel: +1 765 496 1427

b National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Abstract

We investigate the influence of ionic strength on the structural heterogeneity and viscoelastic properties of nanocomposite hydrogels. We use small-angle scattering and rheology to monitor structural changes as a function of ionic strength. Increasing ionic strength makes the nanocomposite gels macroscopically heterogeneous, stiffer and more turbid. At high shear rates, nanometre structures rearrange within aggregates and orient in the flow direction. The changing structural properties that develop with ionic strength are due to increased heterogeneity of nanoparticle distribution and polymer–nanoparticle interactions as well as to the formation of PEO [poly(ethylene oxide)] aggregates interacting with sodium cations, which reinforce the overall hydrogel network.

Graphical abstract: Heterogeneity in nanocomposite hydrogels from poly(ethylene oxide) cross-linked with silicate nanoparticles

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/B820452G
Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Nov 2008
Accepted
28 Jan 2009
First published
25 Feb 2009

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2009,11, 2760-2766

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Heterogeneity in nanocomposite hydrogels from poly(ethylene oxide) cross-linked with silicate nanoparticles

P. Schexnailder, E. Loizou, L. Porcar, P. Butler and G. Schmidt, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2009, 11, 2760 DOI: 10.1039/B820452G

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