Magnetically induced stress birefringence in stimuli-responsive hydrogels

We report the appearance of stress birefringence induced by an external magnetic field in stimuliresponsive hydrogels containing magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4). The measurement of the magnetooptical Faraday effect confirmed the superparamagnetic behaviour of those nanoparticles (NPs), its magnitude...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Arranz Monge, Miguel Ángel, Martín Andreu, Carlos, Román Barranco, Jesús, Vázquez Fernández-Pacheco, Ester
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/38264
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TC04115A
https://hdl.handle.net/10578/38264
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Stress birefringence
Stimuli-responsive hydrogels
Magnetic nanoparticles
Magnetic field
Superparamagnetic behaviour
Descripción
Sumario:We report the appearance of stress birefringence induced by an external magnetic field in stimuliresponsive hydrogels containing magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4). The measurement of the magnetooptical Faraday effect confirmed the superparamagnetic behaviour of those nanoparticles (NPs), its magnitude depending on NPs concentration. The results obtained from both magneto-optical Faraday and Voigt effects showed the magnetic field to induce a stress birefringence in the non-rigid structure of the magnetic hydrogel. The additional ellipsometric characterization of the transmitted light allowed us to fully characterize its polarization state, revealing the magnetic field direction as the optic axis of that birefringent system. These results are discussed in the frame of a local rearrangement and stretching of polymeric chains parallel to the magnetic coupling direction of NPs. Such induced alignment would break the inherent optical isotropy of the hydrogel, providing an axis of anisotropy which is responsible for turning its disordered polymeric structure into a birefringent system.