Magnetically induced structural anisotropy in binary colloidal gels and its effect on diffusion and pressure driven permeability
Date
2014
Authors
Abrahamsson, C.
Nordstierna, L.
Bergenholtz, J.
Altskär, A.
Nyden, M.
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Journal article
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Soft Matter, 2014; 10(24):4403-4412
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Abstract
We report on the synthesis, microstructure and mass transport properties of a colloidal hydrogel self-assembled from a mixture of colloidal silica and nontronite clay plates at different particle concentrations. The gel-structure had uniaxial long-range anisotropy caused by alignment of the clay particles in a strong external magnetic field. After gelation the colloidal silica covered the clay particle network, fixing the orientation of the clay plates. Comparing gels with a clay concentration between 0 and 0.7 vol%, the magnetically oriented gels had a maximum water permeability and self-diffusion coefficient at 0.3 and 0.7 vol% clay, respectively. Hence the specific clay concentration resulting in the highest liquid flux was pressure dependent. This study gives new insight into the effect of anisotropy, particle concentration and bound water on mass transport properties in nano/microporous materials. Such findings merit consideration when designing porous composite materials for use in for example fuel cell, chromatography and membrane technology.
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Data source: Supplementary information, http://www.rsc.org.access.library.unisa.edu.au/suppdata/sm/c4/c4sm00315b/c4sm00315b1.pdf
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Copyright 2014 The Royal Society of Chemistry. his article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Material from this article can be used in other publications provided that the correct acknowledgement is given with the reproduced material. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Access Condition Notes: Postprint available 21 March 2015