Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties

Many soft matter systems have properties which depend on their processing history. It is generally accepted that material properties can be finely tuned by carefully directing self-assembly. However, for gelling colloidal systems, it is difficult to characterize such path-dependent effects since the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cheng, Li-Chiun, Godfrin, Paul Douglas, Swan, James W, Doyle, Patrick S
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Format: Article
Published: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116930
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5393-1982
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0546-0690
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4244-8204
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2147-9172
_version_ 1811085708499091456
author Cheng, Li-Chiun
Godfrin, Paul Douglas
Swan, James W
Doyle, Patrick S
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Cheng, Li-Chiun
Godfrin, Paul Douglas
Swan, James W
Doyle, Patrick S
author_sort Cheng, Li-Chiun
collection MIT
description Many soft matter systems have properties which depend on their processing history. It is generally accepted that material properties can be finely tuned by carefully directing self-assembly. However, for gelling colloidal systems, it is difficult to characterize such path-dependent effects since the colloidal attraction is often provided by adding another component to the system such as salts or depletants. Therefore, studies of and an understanding of the role of processing on the material properties of attractive colloidal systems are largely lacking. In this work, we systematically studied how processing greatly influences the properties and the microstructures of model attractive colloidal systems. We perform experiments using a thermogelling nanoemulsion as a model system where the isotropic attraction can be precisely tuned via the temperature. The effects of processing conditions on gel formation and properties is tested by performing well-designed sequential temperature jumps. By properly controlling the thermal history, we demonstrate that properties of colloidal gels can be beyond the limit set by direct quenching, which has been a major focus in literature, and that otherwise slow aging of the system associated with a decrease in elasticity can be prevented. Our results provide new experimental evidence of path-dependent rheology and associated microstructures in attractive colloidal systems and provide guidance to future applications in manufacturing complex colloid-based materials.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T13:14:19Z
format Article
id mit-1721.1/116930
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
last_indexed 2024-09-23T13:14:19Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1169302022-09-28T12:52:52Z Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties Cheng, Li-Chiun Godfrin, Paul Douglas Swan, James W Doyle, Patrick S Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Cheng, Li-Chiun Godfrin, Paul Douglas Swan, James W Doyle, Patrick S Many soft matter systems have properties which depend on their processing history. It is generally accepted that material properties can be finely tuned by carefully directing self-assembly. However, for gelling colloidal systems, it is difficult to characterize such path-dependent effects since the colloidal attraction is often provided by adding another component to the system such as salts or depletants. Therefore, studies of and an understanding of the role of processing on the material properties of attractive colloidal systems are largely lacking. In this work, we systematically studied how processing greatly influences the properties and the microstructures of model attractive colloidal systems. We perform experiments using a thermogelling nanoemulsion as a model system where the isotropic attraction can be precisely tuned via the temperature. The effects of processing conditions on gel formation and properties is tested by performing well-designed sequential temperature jumps. By properly controlling the thermal history, we demonstrate that properties of colloidal gels can be beyond the limit set by direct quenching, which has been a major focus in literature, and that otherwise slow aging of the system associated with a decrease in elasticity can be prevented. Our results provide new experimental evidence of path-dependent rheology and associated microstructures in attractive colloidal systems and provide guidance to future applications in manufacturing complex colloid-based materials. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DMR – 1419807) Think Global Education Trust (Taiwan) (scholarship) 2018-07-12T14:55:54Z 2018-07-12T14:55:54Z 2018-07-12 2018-06 2018-07-11T16:18:29Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1744-683X 1744-6848 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116930 Cheng, Li-Chiun, P. Douglas Godfrin, James W. Swan, and Patrick S. Doyle. “Thermal Processing of Thermogelling Nanoemulsions as a Route to Tune Material Properties.” Soft Matter 14, no. 27 (2018): 5604–5614. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5393-1982 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0546-0690 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4244-8204 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2147-9172 http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c8sm00814k Soft Matter Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ application/pdf Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Royal Society of Chemistry
spellingShingle Cheng, Li-Chiun
Godfrin, Paul Douglas
Swan, James W
Doyle, Patrick S
Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties
title Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties
title_full Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties
title_fullStr Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties
title_full_unstemmed Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties
title_short Thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties
title_sort thermal processing of thermogelling nanoemulsions as a route to tune material properties
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116930
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5393-1982
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0546-0690
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4244-8204
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2147-9172
work_keys_str_mv AT chenglichiun thermalprocessingofthermogellingnanoemulsionsasaroutetotunematerialproperties
AT godfrinpauldouglas thermalprocessingofthermogellingnanoemulsionsasaroutetotunematerialproperties
AT swanjamesw thermalprocessingofthermogellingnanoemulsionsasaroutetotunematerialproperties
AT doylepatricks thermalprocessingofthermogellingnanoemulsionsasaroutetotunematerialproperties