Diffusion of Gold Nanoparticles in Entangled Poly (vinyl alcohol) Solutions and Gels.

Dynamical studies of nanoparticles in concentrated polymer solutions have importance in industrial and medical applications. We study the diffusion of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in high molecular weight poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) entangled solutions and gels. Using fluctuation correlation spectroscopy, diffusion coefficients of different sized AuNPs in different volume fractions above the entanglement volume fraction of PVA were determined. Comparison of results with the recent scaling theories will be presented.