On September 26, 2019, Professor Igor I. Potemkin, from Moscow State University, visited our school for an academic visit, at the invitation of Prof. Feng Shi, the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, and made a speech entitled “Polymer Microgel: Soft Colloid A wonderful academic report on the complex performance of particle permeability.
The report describes the preparation of microgels with soft gel particle properties by covalent attachment of linear chains to a three-dimensional framework between tens of nanometers to several micrometers. These soft gel particles are permeable to solvents and dissolved (macro) molecules. The most striking property of microgels is their ability to expand and collapse under varying environmental conditions (temperature, pH, etc.). This property can be effectively applied in many fields, especially for the absorption and release of guest molecules. Recent studies have shown that spherical microgels can be used as a substitute for soft, penetrating and stimulating sensitive solid particles to stabilize emulsions. This emulsion is easily destroyed under external stimuli, giving the microgel particles a unique property of desorption.
The report points out some phenomena with microgel properties. In particular, we have demonstrated that polyelectrolyte core-shell microgels act as Coulomb traps, and the charged shell of microgels can act as a potential barrier, forcing similar charged nanoparticles (proteins) to suspend in the nucleus, preventing them from spreading. . Microgels adsorbed at the water-oil interface exhibit unique properties, including the uniform mixing of two immiscible liquids (oil and water) within the microgel. In the microgel, the two immiscible reactants are mixed and reacted in the presence of a catalyst, showing very effective catalytic activity. The report also investigated the permeability of microgels adsorbed on a porous substrate.
After the report, teachers and clas**ates in the meeting discussed and exchanged thoughts and ideas on the report enthusiastically with Professor Igor I. Potemkin.
Personal profile of Professor Igor I. Potemkin:
Professor Igor I. Potemkin, Director of the Polymer and Soft Matter Theory Laboratory, and Director of the Department of Polymer and Crystal Physics, Department of Physics, Moscow State University. He graduated from the Moscow State University in 1994 and received his Ph.D. from the Moscow State University in 1997. In 2005, he received a Ph.D. in Physics from the Moscow State University. He has been working at the Moscow State University since 1997.
Dr. Potemkin specializes in polymer physics (theory and computer simulation), self-assembly in polymer systems, polymer microgels and macrogels, polyelectrolytes, polymer films, branched macromolecules, ionic liquids, molecular motors, liquid crystal. He has won the European Youth Russian Scientists Society Award, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award (Germany), the I.I Shuvalov Prize, and the Dynasty Foundation Research Award (Russia).