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Roughening up polymer microspheres and their diffusion in a liquid.
Brooke W Longbottom1, Birsen Somuncuoğlu, Jacob J Punter
1The Department of Chemistry, The University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK. S.Bon@warwick.ac.uk www.bonlab.info.
Soft Matter
|June 3, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed a novel method to roughen polymer microparticle surfaces using a deformation technique. This process creates textured particles that still follow standard laws of motion, even with significant surface roughness.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Colloid Science
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Polymer microparticles are widely used in various applications.
- Controlling surface properties of microparticles is crucial for their performance.
- Existing methods for surface modification can be complex or limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a simple and versatile method for roughening polymer microparticle surfaces.
- To investigate the impact of surface roughness on particle dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Preparation of a bicomposite colloidal sol (polymer and inorganic particles).
- Drying the sol, heating above the polymer's glass transition temperature, and re-dispersing.
- Chemical etching of the inorganic matrix to reveal the roughened polymer surface.
- 2D particle tracking experiments to analyze diffusional behavior.
Main Results:
- A straightforward, deformation-based technique successfully roughened polymer microparticle surfaces.
- The roughening process involves capillary imbibition of polymer melt into an inorganic template.
- Roughened particles, despite significant surface asperities (up to 10% of diameter), obeyed Stokes' law.
- Particle motion of roughened particles was accurately modeled using the Stokes-Einstein-Sutherland relation.
Conclusions:
- The developed method offers a versatile approach for creating polymer microparticles with controlled surface roughness.
- Surface roughening does not fundamentally alter the hydrodynamic behavior of microparticles at the studied scale.
- This technique has potential applications in fields requiring tailored microparticle surface properties.
