title: From repulsive to attractive glass: A rheological investigation.
abstract: Linear rheological properties and yielding behavior of polystyrene core and poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) shell microgels were investigated to understand the transition from repulsive glass (RG) to attractive glass (AG) and the A3 singularity. Due to the volume phase transition of PNIPAM in aqueous solution, the microgel-microgel interaction potential gradually changes from repulsive to attractive. In temperature and frequency sweep experiments, the storage modulus (G') and loss modulus (G″) increased discontinuously when crossing the RG-to-AG transition line, while G' at low frequency exhibited a different volume fraction (Φ) dependence. By fitting the data of RG and AG, and then extrapolating to high volume fraction, the difference between RG and AG decreased and the existence of A3 singularity was verified. Dynamic strain sweep experiments were conducted to confirm these findings. RG at 25 °C exhibited one-step yielding, whereas AG at 40 °C showed a typical two-step yielding behavior; the first yielding strain remained constant and the second one gradually decreased as the volume fraction increased. By extrapolating the second yield strain to that of the first one, the predicted A3 singularity was at 0.61 ± 0.02. At 37 °C, when Φeff = 0.59, AG showed one step yielding as the length of the attractive bond increased. The consistency and agreement of the experimental results reaffirmed the existence of A3 singularity, where the yielding behavior of RG and AG became identical.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Joint Laboratory of Polymer Science and Materials, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Joint Laboratory of Polymer Science and Materials, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas 77006, USA.
authors.forename: Javoris V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Hollingsworth
authors.affiliation: China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Dongguan 523803, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Joint Laboratory of Polymer Science and Materials, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Charles C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Han