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Critical Conditions Regulating the Gelation in Macroionic Cluster Solutions
Xiaohan Xu1, Yuqing Yang1, Yifan Zhou1
1School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325, USA.
Abstract:
The critical gelation conditions observed in dilute aqueous solutions of multiple nanoscale uranyl peroxide molecular clusters are reported, in the presence of multivalent cations. This gelation is dominantly driven by counterion-mediated attraction. The gelation areas in the corresponding phase diagrams all appear in similar locations, with a characteristic triangle shape outlining three critical boundary conditions, corresponding to the critical cluster concentration, cation/cluster ratio, and the degree of counterion association with increasing cluster concentration. These interesting phrasal observations reveal general conditions for gelation driven by electrostatic interactions in hydrophilic macroionic solutions.
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