ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Cellulose-based polyelectrolytes for microencapsulation: conformational transitions triggered by multivalent salts

Abstract: Addition of multivalent salts to water soluble polyelectrolytes, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC), induces conformational change to the polyelectrolyte structure, resulting in aggregation and precipitation, or gel formation, with increasing salt concentration. We have demonstrated that this transition can be exploited with NaCMC for encapsulation, specifically with microfluidic techniques. Whilst the phenomena has been previously reported, the complex effects of salt addition on polyelectrolyte conformation (charge screening, ion bridging and charge inversion) have not been fundamentally answered. We aim to address the equilibrium state of polyelectrolyte-salt mixtures, and mechanistic understanding of the conformational transition, to enable us to precisely design a (non-equilibrium) framework for directional solidification of these materials for encapsulation.

Principal Investigator: Professor Joao Cabral
Experimenter: Dr Sarah Rogers
Experimenter: Mr Carlos Gonzalez Lopez
Experimenter: Dr Carlos Lopez
Experimenter: Dr William Sharratt
Experimenter: Miss Roisin O'Connell

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1720083

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1720083

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Joao Cabral et al; (2018): Cellulose-based polyelectrolytes for microencapsulation: conformational transitions triggered by multivalent salts, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1720083

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.