title: Universality in structure and elasticity of polymer-nanoparticle gels.
abstract: We propose a combination of polymer field theory and off-lattice computer simulations to study polymer-bridged gelation in polymer-nanoparticle mixtures. We use this method to study the structure of gels formed in attractive polymer-colloid systems. Our results indicate that such gels exhibit a universal structure with a fractal dimension d(f) approximately 2.5 characteristic of random percolation. By mapping to an affine-network model, the enhancement in elastic moduli is predicted to follow a critical exponent nu(eta) approximately 1.8 characteristic of the resistor network percolation. We analyze selected experimental results to suggest the existence of a universality class corresponding to our results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Megha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Surve
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pryamitsyn
authors.forename: Venkat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ganesan
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004548:Elasticity; D019277:Entropy; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D049329:Nanostructures; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D005782:Gels; D011108:Polymers