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Tracking the interfacial dynamics of PNiPAM soft microgels particles adsorbed at the air–water interface and in thin liquid films

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Abstract

We report the behavior of thermosensitive soft microgel particles adsorbed at the air–water interface. We study the effect of temperature on the adsorption, interfacial diffusion, and surface rheology of pure N-isopropylacrylamide (NiPAM) microgel particles at the air–water interface. We find that the surface tensions of the solutions are the same as those of polyNiPAM solution; hence, their adsorption properties are dominated by the surface activity of the NiPAM repeat units of the particles. Particle-tracking experiments show that the particles adsorb irreversibly at the interface and form stable clusters at very low concentrations, e.g., 5.10-3 wt%. We suggest that attractions between dangling arms or capillary interaction may be responsible for the formation of these clusters. For concentrations above 10-2 wt%, the interface is filled with particles, and their Brownian diffusivity is arrested. The compression elastic moduli—measured using the pendant drop method—are one or two orders of magnitude below those obtained for hard particles and NiPAM chains, and their value is probably dominated by the intrinsic compressibility of the particles. The thin liquid films made from microgels exhibit a symmetric drainage, consistent with a high surface viscosity, but their lifetime is surprisingly short, illustrating the fragility of the films. We observed the formation of a monolayer of microgels bridging the two interfaces of the film outside the dimple. This zone grows and thins over time to a point where the microgels are highly compressed and stretched, resulting in the rupture of the film.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank D. Leiske for her help with the ISR measurements as well as Cynthia Wu for bulk rheological measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PPMD/SIMM, Laboratoire de Physicochimie des Polymères et Milieux Dispersés-Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matière molle, UMR 7615, UPMC Sorbonne Universités, ESPCI ParisTech, CNRS, Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Yann Cohin, Maelle Fisson, Kévin Jourde, Nicolas Sanson, Laurence Talini & Cécile Monteux

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Gerald G. Fuller

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  1. Yann Cohin
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  2. Maelle Fisson
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  3. Kévin Jourde
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  5. Nicolas Sanson
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Correspondence to Cécile Monteux.

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Cohin, Y., Fisson, M., Jourde, K. et al. Tracking the interfacial dynamics of PNiPAM soft microgels particles adsorbed at the air–water interface and in thin liquid films. Rheol Acta 52, 445–454 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-013-0697-3

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