Polyacrylamide Gels Synthesized in the Presence of Surfactants

• Other Authors: Chakrapani, Mukundan (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Physics
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-3935

The polymerization of acrylamide monomers in the presence of surfactant selfassemblies produces gels with variable pore architecture. Polyacrylamide gels were formed by polymerizing acrylamide plus a cross-linker in the presence of surfactants, which were then removed by soaking in distilled water. Gels formed in the presence of over 28% surfactant (by weight) formed clear, but became opaque upon removal of the surfactants. Other gels formed and remained clear. Several analytical techniques such as X-ray Scattering, Dynamic Rheology measurements, Optical Polarized Microscopy, and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) have been used to characterize the formation and the resulting gel structure. The surface morphology as imaged by AFM was studied by numerical scaling analysis. The surface morphology of the gels was studied by several one- and two-dimensional numerical scaling methods. The structure of the final gels were highly dependent on the amount of surfactant present during the formation of gels. At low surfactant concentrations ( === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Fall Semester, 2002. === September 4, 2002. === Synthesis, Polyacrylamide Gels, Surfactants === Includes bibliographical references. === David H. Van Winkle, Professor Directing Dissertation; Randolph L. Rill, Outside Committee Member; Stephan von Molnár, Committee Member; Per A. Rikvold, Committee Member; Jorge Piekarewicz, Committee Member.