Journal
COLLOID AND POLYMER SCIENCE
Volume 291, Issue 4, Pages 971-979Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00396-012-2818-4
Keywords
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels; Color-tunable materials; Fabry-Perot etalon; Stimuli-responsive polymers; Metal-polymer hybrid structures; Microgel deswelling kinetics; Solvent exchange
Categories
Funding
- University of Alberta (the Department of Chemistry)
- University of Alberta (the Faculty of Science)
- Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
- Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
- Alberta Advanced Education & Technology Small Equipment Grants Program (AET/SEGP)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-acrylic acid (pNIPAm-co-AAc) microgel-based etalons are constructed by depositing thin Au layers (mirrors) on either side of a planar microgel layer. When immersed in water, the microgel layer swells and the etalon exhibits visual color. The thermoresponsivity of the pNIPAm-based microgels allows the Au mirror spacing, and hence the device color, to be dynamically modulated. Necessarily, when the mirror spacing is modulated solvent in the microgel layer must be expelled to the surroundings. Previously, we determined that the etalon deswelling kinetics depended critically on the thickness of the Au layer covering the microgels. Here, we report on solvent exchange kinetics. We found that the time required for solvent entry into the microgel layer is much longer than solvent exit. In addition, the rate was found to again depend critically on the thickness of the Au layer covering the microgel layer; thicker Au layers corresponded to slower solvent exchange kinetics.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available