Attractive interaction energy polymer-coated particles

FIG. 13.13 Interaction between polymer-coated particles. Overlap of adsorbed polymer layers on close approach of dispersed solid particles (parts a and b). The figure also illustrates the repulsive interaction energy due to the overlap of the polymer layers (dark line in part c). Depending on the nature of the particles, a strong van der Waals attraction and perhaps electrostatic repulsion may exist between the particles in the absence of polymer layers (dashed line in part c), and the steric repulsion stabilizes the dispersion against coagulation in the primary minimum in the interaction potential. 

Fig. 31 Overall interaction energy between two DNA-coated colloids, (a) Sketch of the interacting surfaces of two spheres of radius R0 separated by d. The maximum length of hybridized strands is 2L. (b) Total interaction energy as a function of d. It is the sum of the attractive I/DNA from the binding of accessible DNA strands, the repulsive I/rep from electrostatics and/or polymer steric effect, and the van der Waals attraction t/vdw. (c) For weak, short-range I/rep, particles which are unbound at high temperatures are irreversibly trapped in the van der Waals well after DNA hybridization at low temperatures, (d) For strong, medium-range I/rep, DNA binding produces a secondary minimum of reversible aggregation. Reproduced with permission from [138]...

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