NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Rheology and Dynamics of a Solvent Segregation Driven Gel (SeedGel)
Published
Author(s)
Yuyin Xi, Ryan Murphy, Qingteng Zhang, Aurora Zemborain, Suresh Narayanan, Junsu Chae, Siyoung Choi, Andrei Fluerasu, Lutz Wiegart, Yun Liu
Abstract
Bicontinuous structures promise applications in a broad range of research fields, such as energy storage, membrane science, and biomaterials. Kinetically arrested spinodal decomposition is found responsible for stabilizing such structures in different types of materials. Recently, a newly developed solvent segregation driven gel (SeedGel) is demonstrated to realize bicontinuous channels in a thermally reversible and greatly tunable way. Here, the mechanical and dynamic properties of one model SeedGel system prepared with charged silica particles dispersed in water/ 2,6-lutidine are characterized with temperature-dependent rheology, small-angle neutron scattering, and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. The storage modulus shows good thermo-reproducibility, and an intermediate temperature range (around 30 ˚C) is identified to achieve the largest storage modulus. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements are conducted at different temperatures and the macroscopic solvent phase separation is found to coincide with the gelation transition. The dynamics probed by X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS) are consistent with the temperature dependence of the storage modulus. The localization of nanoparticles is strongly correlated to the arrested dynamics of the domains. A slow, hyper-diffusive motion is observed in SeedGel at about 30 ˚C.
Xi, Y.
, Murphy, R.
, Zhang, Q.
, Zemborain, A.
, Narayanan, S.
, Chae, J.
, Choi, S.
, Fluerasu, A.
, Wiegart, L.
and Liu, Y.
(2023),
Rheology and Dynamics of a Solvent Segregation Driven Gel (SeedGel), Soft Matter, [online], https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/D2SM01129H
(Accessed October 10, 2025)