Microgels are particles made mostly of water, polymer chains, and crosslinks. These crosslinks are typically established by both chemical and physical means. Microgel particles, which are most often used in drug delivery, cosmetics, and tissue regeneration applications, typically contain chemical crosslinks from a crosslinking agent that was added during the synthesis. Microgel particles are also most often studied as particulates in a colloidal suspension. In this project, the interfacial properties between poly <i>n</i>-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) polymer microgel particles and adhesive surfaces were analyzed. NIPAM microgel particles were synthesized with varying molar densities of n,n’methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) crosslinking agent, ranging between 0 – 2%. It is expected that the microgels containing 0% BIS should be the most deformable on an adhesive surface, compared to microgels containing 2% BIS. This hypothesis was verified by exposing biotinylated-microgel particles to flat, avidin-functiontionalized surfaces and measuring the degree of particle spreading along these surfaces. NIPAM microgels were surface-functionalized with biotinylated-BSA (albumin bovine serum) and exposed to glass coverslips that had been functionalized with avidin. The diameter of the particles was measured using light microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). As expected, the diameter of the 0% BIS microgel particles was larger than the 2% BIS microgel particles. The results from these experiments will provide new knowledge on the interfacial material properties of microgel particles, which will aid in the future development of other microgel containing applications.

Deformability analysis of ultra-soft microgel particle to adhesive surfaces

2019 Spring National Meeting

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