Long-range forces extending from polymer-gel surfaces.

Author: Zheng JM, Pollack GH.
Affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Box 357962, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Conference/Journal: Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys.
Date published: 2003 Sep
Other: Issue ID: 3 Pt 1 , Pages: 031408 , Word Count: 62



Aqueous suspensions of microspheres were infused around gels of varying composition. The solutes were excluded from zones on the order of 100 microm from the gel surface. We present evidence that this finding is not an artifact, and that solute-repulsion forces exist at distances far greater than conventional theory predicts. The observations imply that solutes may interact over an unexpectedly long range.
PMID: 14524770