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Updated: Aug 19, 2025
Advanced Compositional Analysis of Nanoparticle-polymer Composites Using Direct Fluorescence Imaging
Published on: July 19, 2016
Behaviour of polymer-coated composite nanoparticles at bubble-stabilizing interfaces during bubble coarsening and
Kai Yu1, Liuhao Chen1, Weifeng Zhang1
1School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
Hypothesis:
Dynamics of polymer-coated silica composite nanoparticles (CPs) during bubble coarsening is highly dominated by the behaviour of the polymer layer, while in-situ particle aggregation would lead to accelerated bubble coalescence.
Experiments:
CPs-stabilized foams were prepared in 0.1 M and 0.55 M Na2SO4 solution, referring to the 0.1 M and 0.55 M foam/bubble respectively. The 0.1 M to 0.55 M transition foam was also prepared. High resolution Cryo-SEM was originally used to investigate the CPs behaviour at the bubble-stabilizing interface during bubble coarsening and accelerated coalescence.
Findings:
The 0.1 M bubble-stabilizing interface buckles in uniaxial compression due to coarsening, with the CPs being observed to desorb from the interface. While the CPs were visualized to rearrange into crumpled particle multi-layers surrounding the shrinking 0.55 M bubbles, due to the adhesion between interpenetrating polymer chains and the unique lubrication effect of the PVP layers. The 0.1 M to 0.55 M transition foaming behaviour was also studied. Cracks and voids were observed at interfaces surrounding the transition bubbles driven by in-situ particle aggregation, resulting in accelerated bubble coalescence during the transition process.
