When a droplet of colloidal dispersions dries on a solid surface, a thin ring-like stain is typically left, wherein most of the solid material is deposited after evaporation. In contrast, when the dilute dispersions of the microgel which is composed of poly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) were dried, a thin film was formed and the film showed iridescent color. In microscopic scale, the microgels were arranged to non-close packed structure. So far, there were many studies of drying phenomena in order to control the properties of the resultant films. However, to the best our knowledge few works have been reported on drying mechanism of the microgel dispersions in detail. If the key factor of forming mechanism was revealed, we would be able to control the assemble structure of microgels. Therefore, we have investigated the forming mechanism of the microgel. We found that the microgels were spontaneously adsorbed at the air/water interface, and then they were arranged at the interface. In addition, when the cationic and anionic microgels were mixed, they assembled into chain-like structures at the air water interface (<b>Figure 1</b>). The forming mechanism, the structure of microgel strings, and the other approaches related to the assembly of cationic and anionic microgels will be discussed at the poster presentation.

Dynamics of binary mixtures of cationic and anionic microgels at the air water interface

249th National Meeting (2015)

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