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Anomalous electrophoretic mobility of microgel particles in buffer solutions

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Abstract

The electrophoretic mobility (μ) of tunable surface charge poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgel particles (PNIPAM) was measured vs pH, using different anionic buffers. Two minima, just at the buffers’ pK values, were found for the μ-pH curve. The preferential penetration of the small counterions into the soft-charged shell explains the electrokinetic charge reduction. For pH values higher than the pK, the charge screening leads to electrostatic repulsions among coions. It pushes them towards the particles; thus, balancing the global ionic distribution.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia under Projects No. MAT 2003-03051-C03-01 and MAT 2004-03581.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group of Complex Fluid Physics, Department of Applied Physics, University of Almería, Almería, 04120, Spain

    B. Sierra-Martín, M. S. Romero-Cano & A. Fernández-Barbero

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  1. B. Sierra-Martín
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  2. M. S. Romero-Cano
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  3. A. Fernández-Barbero
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Correspondence to M. S. Romero-Cano.

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Sierra-Martín, B., Romero-Cano, M.S. & Fernández-Barbero, A. Anomalous electrophoretic mobility of microgel particles in buffer solutions. Colloid Polym Sci 284, 941–945 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-006-1481-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-006-1481-z

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