3 research outputs found
Size-Dependent Dynamics of Nanoparticles in Unentangled Polyelectrolyte Solutions
The mobility of polystyrene nanoparticles
ranging in diameter from
300 nm to 2 ÎĽm was measured in dilute and semidilute solutions
of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide. In this model system, the
ratio of particle to polymer size controls the long-time diffusivity
of nanoparticles. The particle dynamics transition from subdiffusive
on short time scales to Fickian on long time scales, qualitatively
similar to predictions for polymer dynamics using a Rouse model. The
diffusivities extracted from the long-time Fickian regime, however,
are larger than those predicted by the Stokes–Einstein equation
and the bulk zero-shear viscosity and moreover do not collapse according
to hydrodynamic models. The size-dependent deviations of the long-time
particle diffusivities derive instead from the coupling between the
dynamics of the particle and the polymer over the length scale of
the particle. Although the long-time diffusivities collapse according
to predictions, deviations of the short-time scaling exponents and
the crossover time between subdiffusive and Fickian dynamics indicate
that the particles are only partially coupled to the relaxation modes
of the polymer
Mobility of Nanoparticles in Semidilute Polyelectrolyte Solutions
We
measure the mobility of nanoparticles at low concentrations
in non-Newtonian semidilute aqueous solutions of high-molecular-weight
polyelectrolyte polymers. Using optical microscopy and particle tracking
algorithms, we image and track hydrophilic polystyrene nanoparticles
of diameter 400 nm moving in aqueous solutions of partially hydrolyzed
polyacrylamide of molecular weight 8 000 000 Da and
concentration of 0.042î—¸4.2 g/L. The effective diffusivity of
the nanoparticles in the semidilute polymer solutions, extracted from
the long-time limit of the mean-squared displacement using the Stokes–Einstein
relation, is greater than that calculated from the zero-shear-rate
viscosity measured using bulk rheology. For concentrations <i>c</i> > 0.42 g/L, the mean-square displacements (MSD) of
particles
measured as a function of lag time revealed that the particle dynamics
are subdiffusive at short time scales and are Fickian on long time
scales. The time scale for the crossover from subdiffusive to Fickian
dynamics increases with increasing polymer concentration; moreover,
it is longer than the relaxation time scale for polymer blobs and
shorter than that for the chain. Our results suggest that the nanoparticle
dynamics are coupled to those of the polymers on a length scale intermediate
between the blob size and the end-to-end distance of the polymer
Confined Dynamics of Grafted Polymer Chains in Solutions of Linear Polymer
We measure the dynamics
of high molecular weight polystyrene grafted
to silica nanoparticles dispersed in semidilute solutions of linear
polymer. Structurally, the linear free chains do not penetrate the
grafted corona but increase the osmotic pressure of the solution,
collapsing the grafted polymer and leading to eventual aggregation
of the grafted particles at high matrix concentrations. Dynamically,
the relaxations of the grafted polymer are controlled by the solvent
viscosity according to the Zimm model on short time scales. On longer
time scales, the grafted chains are confined by neighboring grafted
chains, preventing full relaxation over the experimental time scale.
Adding free linear polymer to the solution does not affect the initial
Zimm relaxations of the grafted polymer but does increase the confinement
of the grafted chains. Our results elucidate the physics underlying
the slow relaxations of grafted polymer