0000000000323464
AUTHOR
Axel Habicht
showing 4 related works from this author
Self-Diffusion of Associating Star-Shaped Polymers
2016
The dynamics of associating bonds in transient polymer networks exerts a paramount influence on their relaxation and time-dependent mechanical properties. In particular, diffusive motion of polymers mediated by the dissociation and association equilibrium of reversible junctions can affect the materials’ structural stability, dynamic mechanical properties, and a broad spectrum of functionality that arises from the constant motion of polymer chains. In this work, forced Rayleigh scattering is used to measure the diffusion of terpyridine end-functionalized four-arm poly(ethylene glycol) polymers transiently interlinked by zinc ions in organic solvent across a wide range of length and time sca…
Local dynamics in supramolecular polymer networks probed by magnetic particle nanorheology
2019
Transient supramolecular polymer networks are promising candidates as soft self-healing or stimuli-sensitive materials. In this paper, we employ a novel nanorheological approach, magnetic particle nanorheology (MPN), in order to better understand the local dynamic properties of model supramolecular networks from a molecular point of view. Hence, the bond strength between four-arm star-shaped polyethylene glycol (PEG) functionalized at the four extremities with terpyridine ligands is tuned by implementing different metal ions with variable complexation affinities for the ligand. We show that MNP allows for the evaluation of the strength and connectivity of the polymer networks by the estimat…
Energy Consumption for the Desalination of Salt Water Using Polyelectrolyte Hydrogels as the Separation Agent
2017
The energy consumption for a novel desalination approach using charged hydrogels under externally applied pressure is experimentally measured and calculated. The salt separation is based on a partial rejection of mobile salt ions caused by the fixed charges inside the polyelectrolyte network. Self-synthesized and commercial poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels are used to study the desalination performance in reference to sodium chloride solutions within the concentration range of 0.1–35 g L−1. The influence of various synthetic parameters, such as the degree of crosslinking (DC) and the size and shape of the particles, is investigated. Furthermore, the effect of process parameters including the am…
Connectivity defects enhance chain dynamics in supramolecular polymer model-network gels
2016
Supramolecular polymer networks exhibit twofold dynamics: that of their polymer chains and that of the transient bonds between them, which is further complexed when irregular network structures lead to local variation of both. A typical irregularity is imperfect network-chain connectivity. To assess the impact of that, we study the diffusion of three different types of tracer polymers in supramolecular model networks of four-arm star-shaped poly(ethylene glycol). First, we focus on tracers that carry three stickers and one fluorescent label at their four arms, thereby creating an inherent network connectivity defect in their vicinity. Second, we embed tracers that carry four stickers and fo…