Microrheology and electrical conductivity of a dilute PNIPAM suspension

We study on a suspension of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) at a low concentration using particle-tracking microrheology in two modalities: at constant temperatures and during a heating ramp. The dilute suspensions do not present a glass state at low temperatures, and at high temperatures, the polymer particles collapse, giving rise to entropic forces that induce aggregation of the tracking colloids. The viscoelastic moduli of the system, which drastically change with temperature, allow us to follow this dynamics. Furthermore, the viscosity of the system remains approximately constant with temperature but suddenly increases as it passes the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Such effect is probably associated to hydration before the collapse of the polymer, as verified by electrical conductivity measurements.