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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Monitoring the Effects of Illumination on the Structure of Conjugated Polymer Gels Using Neutron Scattering
Published on: December 21, 2017
Crystal structure of highly concentrated, ionic microgel suspensions studied by neutron scattering
U Gasser1, B Sierra-Martin, A Fernandez-Nieves
1Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH Zurich & Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland. urs.gasser@psi.ch
Abstract:
We present a neutron-scattering investigation of the crystal structure formed by pH -sensitive poly(2-vinylpyridine) microgel particles with 5 wt % of cross-linker. We focus on highly swollen particles and explore concentrations ranging from below close packing to well above close packing, where the particles are forced to shrink and/or interpenetrate. The crystal structure is found to be random hexagonal close packed, similar to the structure typically found in hard-sphere systems.

