Melting Kinetics of Thermally Responsive Microgel Crystals Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The melting kinetics of three-dimensional colloidal crystals consisting of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels was investigated by using UV - visible transmission spectroscopy. It was found that the melting was initiated with a decrease of the interplanar spacing of the crystals and that crystallites broke into smaller pieces at large overheating temperatures. The crystallites reach a minimum burst size before completely broken apart. The complete melting occurs as the average thermal fluctuation of the particles reach around 19%. The experimental results corroborate with recent computer simulations that conciliate the Lindemann criterion of melting with Born's mechanical instability. © 2007 American Chemical Society.

author list (cited authors)

  • Tang, S., Hu, Z., Zhou, B. o., Cheng, Z., Wu, J., & Marquez, M.

complete list of authors

  • Tang, Shijun||Hu, Zhibing||Zhou, Bo||Cheng, Zhengdong||Wu, Jianzhong||Marquez, Manuel

publication date

  • January 2007