Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Multiscale structure, interfacial cohesion, adsorbed layers, and thermodynamics in dense polymer-nanoparticle
So Youn Kim1, Kenneth S Schweizer, Charles F Zukoski
1Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Abstract:
We establish the existence and size of adsorbed polymer layers in miscible dense nanocomposites and their consequences on microstructure and the bulk modulus. Using contrast-matching small-angle neutron scattering to characterize all partial collective structure factors of polymers, particles, and their interface, we demonstrate qualitative failure of the random phase approximation, accuracy of the polymer reference site interaction model theory, ability to deduce the adsorbed polymer layer thickness, and high sensitivity of the nanocomposite bulk modulus to interfacial cohesion.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Intermolecular Forces and Physical Properties
Determination of Molar Masses of Polymers I
Polymers: Molecular Weight Distribution
Polymer Classification: Architecture
The Colloidal State

