%0 Journal Article
%A Houston, Judith Elizabeth
%A Fruhner, Lisa
%A de la Cotte, Alexis
%A Rojo González, Javier
%A Petrunin, Alexander Valerievich
%A Gasser, Urs
%A Schweins, Ralf
%A Allgaier, J.
%A Richtering, Walter
%A Fernandez-Nieves, Alberto
%A Scotti, Andrea
%T Resolving the different bulk moduli within individual soft nanogels using small-angle neutron scattering
%J Science advances
%V 8
%N 26
%@ 2375-2548
%C Washington, DC [u.a.]
%I Assoc.
%M FZJ-2023-00999
%P eabn6129
%D 2022
%X The bulk modulus, K, quantifies the elastic response of an object to an isotropic compression. For soft compressible colloids, knowing K is essential to accurately predict the suspension response to crowding. Most colloids have complex architectures characterized by different softness, which additionally depends on compression. Here, we determine the different values of K for the various morphological parts of individual nanogels and probe the changes of K with compression. Our method uses a partially deuterated polymer, which exerts the required isotropic stress, and small-angle neutron scattering with contrast matching to determine the form factor of the particles without any scattering contribution from the polymer. We show a clear difference in softness, compressibility, and evolution of K between the shell of the nanogel and the rest of the particle, depending on the amount of cross-linker used in their synthesis.
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%$ 35776796
%U <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000823432200010
%R 10.1126/sciadv.abn6129
%U https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/943413