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Colloids

Colloids

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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Microfluidic Synthesis of Microgel Building Blocks for Microporous Annealed Particle Scaffold

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Published on: June 16, 2022

Toughening colloidal gels using rough building blocks.

Florence J Müller¹, Lucio Isa¹, Jan Vermant²

¹Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

Nature Communications

|August 31, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Introducing surface roughness to colloidal gel particles significantly enhances their toughness and self-healing capabilities. This innovation improves material properties for applications like 3D printing and xerogel fabrication.

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Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids

Published on: April 22, 2016

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Colloid Science
Polymer Chemistry

Background:

Colloidal gels are widely used but limited by brittleness and low yield strain.
Particle surface morphology and interaction forces (central forces) restrict gel performance.
Improving gel toughness and deformability is crucial for advanced material applications.

Purpose of the Study:

To enhance the mechanical properties of colloidal gels.
To investigate the impact of particle surface roughness on gel behavior.
To develop improved colloidal gels for functional material applications.

Main Methods:

Preparation of thermoreversible colloidal gels using silica particles with controlled surface roughness (rough vs. smooth).
Utilized a click-like-chemistry-based surface grafting technique for particle modification.
Characterized gel properties using rheological and optical techniques.

Main Results:

Gels composed of rough silica particles demonstrated significantly enhanced toughness and yield strain compared to smooth particle gels.
Rough particle gels exhibited notable self-healing properties.
The introduction of surface roughness led to non-central interparticle interactions, improving gel resilience.

Conclusions:

Particle surface roughness is a key factor in improving the mechanical robustness and self-healing of colloidal gels.
The developed rough particle gels show promise for applications requiring high performance, such as xerogel fabrication and extrusion 3D printing.
This approach offers a viable strategy for designing advanced functional soft materials.