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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Novel Techniques for Observing Structural Dynamics of Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 29, 2018
Cation identity dependence of crown ether photonic crystal Pb2+ sensing
1Department of Chemistry, Chevron Science Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Abstract:
We quantitatively modeled the volume phase transition of a hydrogel containing a crystalline colloidal array with a crown ether ligand which binds Pb2+. The hydrogel volume response and the wavelength diffracted depend on the Pb2+ concentration and on both the ionic strength and the valence of the nonbinding ionic species. We successfully modeled the response of this hydrogel Pb2+ sensor to ionic strength and the cation valence of the added salts.
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