Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Rheology Reveal the Onset of Interparticle Correlations during Nanoparticle Immobilization in Polystyrene
- 1Faculty of Chemistry and Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE)
- 2University of Duisburg-Essen
Abstract
The immobilization of nanoparticles in polymer matrices is a key strategy to suppress Brownian motion while preserving nanoparticle functionality. In this work, monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles with mean diameters of 6.4, 7.1, and 8.8 nm were synthesized via thermal decomposition of an iron–oleate complex and immobilized in a styrene matrix by radical polymerization. TEM and SAXS confirm that particle size and morphology remain unchanged, whereas interparticle correlations and larger-scale clusters develop during immobilization. Combined in-situ SAXS and rheological measurements reveal that the timing of structure formation is governed by polymerization kinetics. At 80 °C, rapid polymerization leads to the early development of structure factor contributions and a steep viscosity increase. At 60 °C, polymerization proceeds substantially more slowly, allowing the early stage of structure formation to be resolved in which interparticle correlations develop before the viscosity increases steeply. Larger nanoparticles follow the same sequence of structural changes with a progressively earlier onset, indicating that particle size affects the timing of structure formation. These findings indicate that interparticle correlations form as the medium surrounding the still mobile nanoparticles changes during polymerization, with polymerization kinetics setting the time scale until the solidifying matrix freezes in the structure.
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BibTeX
@misc{rouzbeh2026smallangle,
title = {{Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Rheology Reveal the Onset of Interparticle Correlations during Nanoparticle Immobilization in Polystyrene}},
author = {Nahal Rouzbeh and Eui-young Shin and Niklas Berndt and Jochen S. Gutmann and Sabrina Disch},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009953/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009953/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Rheology Reveal the Onset of Interparticle Correlations during Nanoparticle Immobilization in Polystyrene
AU - Nahal Rouzbeh
AU - Eui-young Shin
AU - Niklas Berndt
AU - Jochen S. Gutmann
AU - Sabrina Disch
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009953/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009953/v1
AB - The immobilization of nanoparticles in polymer matrices is a key strategy to suppress Brownian motion while preserving nanoparticle functionality. In this work, monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles with mean diameters of 6.4, 7.1, and 8.8 nm were synthesized via thermal decomposition of an iron–oleate complex and immobilized in a styrene matrix by radical polymerization. TEM and SAXS confirm that particle size and morphology remain unchanged, whereas interparticle correlations and larger-scale clusters develop during immobilization. Combined in-situ SAXS and rheological measurements reveal that the timing of structure formation is governed by polymerization kinetics. At 80 °C, rapid polymerization leads to the early development of structure factor contributions and a steep viscosity increase. At 60 °C, polymerization proceeds substantially more slowly, allowing the early stage of structure formation to be resolved in which interparticle correlations develop before the viscosity increases steeply. Larger nanoparticles follow the same sequence of structural changes with a progressively earlier onset, indicating that particle size affects the timing of structure formation. These findings indicate that interparticle correlations form as the medium surrounding the still mobile nanoparticles changes during polymerization, with polymerization kinetics setting the time scale until the solidifying matrix freezes in the structure.
ER -