Université de Fribourg

Visualization of polymer deformation using microcapsules filled with charge-transfer complex precursors

Lavrenova, Anna ; Farkas, Jacob ; Weder, Christoph ; Simon, Yoan C.

In: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2015, vol. 7, no. 39, p. 21828–21834

The visualization of polymer deformation using microcapsules filled with charge- transfer complex precursors is reported. Poly(urea-formaldehyde) microcapsules filled with toluene and either hexamethylbenzene as donor or chloranil as acceptor were prepared by in situ polymerization of an oil-in-water emulsion. The resulting microcapsules were incorporated in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) matrix by...

Université de Fribourg

Thermally reversible self-assembly of nanoparticles via polymer crystallization

Kinnear, Calum ; Balog, Sandor ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2014, vol. 35, no. 23, p. 2012–2017

The directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles through the crystallization of surface-grafted polyethylene oxide (PEO) in ethanol–water mixtures is described. This process is fully reversible and tunable through either the size of the core or the polymeric coating. Characterization by X-ray scattering and electron microscopy of the self-assembled structures reveals order at the nanoscale,...