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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2891-6075

AccessType

Campus-Only Access for One (1) Year

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Polymer Science and Engineering

Year Degree Awarded

2023

Month Degree Awarded

May

First Advisor

Murugappan Muthukumar

Subject Categories

Polymer and Organic Materials

Abstract

By experimentally investigating the invasion of a polyelectrolyte into a charged hydrogel, we report a novel coacervate band formation deep inside the gel, unlike in equilibrated coacervate gel composites. The mobility and the position of this band are found to be controlled by the concentration gradient of the invasive species and the pH gradient within the gel matrix. Using turbidimetry, static and dynamic light scattering, and rheology, we have monitored the beginning location and time of birth of the coacervate band inside the gel and its time evolution. Once a band is born, with time, it becomes more intense and broadens downstream with the permanent localization of the initial beginning location. Even more remarkably, it forms daughter bands upstream at later stages of the band’s life, suggesting a backflow of the guest molecules. The various quantitative features of the band depend crucially on the initial concentration gradient of the invader. Our observations open a new direction in coacervate gel systems under non-equilibrium conditions.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/34957006

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