Molecular motions in low cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels

Non-ionic N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) microgel is employed to investigate the molecular motion of polymer chains in the swollen and collapsed states. This study is performed using incoherent elastic (IES) and quasielastic neutron scattering (IQNS). IES measurements show an increase of both, the elastic intensity and the oscillations of the polymer network vibrational amplitude at the transition temperature. IQNS was measured at two different selected temperatures 290 K and 327 K corresponding to the swollen and collapsed states, respectively. The diffusion constant from IQNS experiments decreases nearly two orders of magnitude when the microgel de-swells and finally collapses.