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Related Concept Videos

Colloidal precipitates01:09

Colloidal precipitates

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The high insolubility of some precipitates can result in an unfavorable relative supersaturation. This can lead to colloidal particles with a large surface-to-mass ratio, where adsorption is promoted. For instance, in the precipitation of silver chloride, silver ions are adsorbed on the surface of the colloidal particles, forming a primary layer. This layer attracts ions of opposite charge (such as nitrate ions), forming a diffuse secondary layer of adsorbed ions. This electric double layer...
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Step growth polymerization involves bi or multifunctional monomers. Bifunctional monomers react to form linear step growth polymers, whereas multifunctional monomers react to form non-linear or branched polymers.
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Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism00:57

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The cationic polymerization mechanism consists of three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination. In the initiation step of the polymerization process, the π bond of a monomer gets protonated by the Lewis acid catalyst, which is formed from boron trifluoride and water. The protonation of the π bond generates a carbocation stabilized by the electron‐donating group. In the propagation step, the π bond of the second monomer acts as a nucleophile and attacks the...
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Step-growth or condensation polymerization is a stepwise reaction of bi or multifunctional monomers to form long-chain polymers. As all the monomers are reactive, most of the monomers are consumed at the early stages of the reaction to form small chains of reactive oligomers, which then combine to form long polymer chains in the late stages. Hence, the reaction has to proceed for a long time to achieve high molecular weight polymers.
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Colloids03:22

Colloids

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Children at play often make suspensions such as mixtures of mud and water, flour and water, or a suspension of solid pigments in water known as tempera paint. These suspensions are heterogeneous mixtures composed of relatively large particles that are visible to the naked eye or can be seen with a magnifying glass. They are cloudy, and the suspended particles settle out after mixing. On the other hand, a solution is a homogeneous mixture in which no settling occurs and in which the dissolved...
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The radical chain-growth polymerization mechanism consists of three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination of polymerization. The polymerization initiates when a free radical generated from the radical initiator adds to the unsaturated bond in the monomer. The unpaired electron of the free radical and one π electron in the unsaturated bond creates a σ bond between the free radical and the monomer. As a result, the other π electron in the unsaturated bond converts this...
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Updated: Oct 19, 2025

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
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Revealing Polymerization Kinetics with Colloidal Dipatch Particles.

Simon Stuij1, Joep Rouwhorst1, Hannah J Jonas2

  • 1Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Physical Review Letters
|September 17, 2021
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Colloidal particles self-assemble into 2D polymers. Concentrated samples show slowed growth due to an isotropic-to-nematic transition, but higher-valency particles form networks, overcoming this arrest.

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Area of Science:

  • Soft Matter Physics
  • Polymer Science
  • Colloidal Self-Assembly

Background:

  • Limited-valency colloidal particles self-assemble into polymers.
  • Understanding the dynamics of these 2D polymer systems is challenging.
  • Reversible critical Casimir forces enable tunable polymerization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate the polymerization dynamics of semiflexible polymers in 2D.
  • Analyze the influence of particle valency and interactions on polymer formation.
  • Explore the role of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in 2D polymer dynamics.

Main Methods:

  • Direct observation of assembling divalent colloidal particles.
  • Utilizing critical Casimir forces for reversible bonding.
  • Studying polymerization dynamics in both dilute and concentrated regimes.

Main Results:

  • Dilute polymer size distributions agree with Flory theory.
  • Concentrated 2D polymers exhibit arrested diffusion due to an isotropic-to-nematic transition.
  • Higher-valency particles lead to network formation, circumventing diffusion arrest.

Conclusions:

  • Polymer flexibility and interactions, along with 2D phase transitions, govern polymerization dynamics.
  • Findings provide insight into synthetic 2D polymers and biopolymers at interfaces.
  • Critical Casimir forces offer a tunable route to living polymerization.