Ricerc@Sapienza

Interpenetrated polymer network microgels, composed of crosslinked networks of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and Polyacrylic acid (PAAc), have been investigated through rheological measurements at four different amounts of Polyacrylic acid. Both PAAc content and crosslinking degree modify particle dimensions, mass and softness, thereby strongly affecting the volume fraction and the system viscosity.

While colloids have been widely employed as models for atoms and molecules, the current study proposes to extend their use as building blocks for supracolloidal frameworks. Hereby, the self-assembly between highly anisotropic supramolecular microtubules and soft spherical fluorescent microgels is explored using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The influence of the particle size and charge with respect to the catanionic tubule composition, which consists of two oppositely charged bile salt derivatives, is investigated.