Thermogelling aqueous fluids containing low concentrations of Pluronic F127 and laponite nanoparticles.

The triblock copolymer Pluronic F127 (PF127) is frequently used in colloidal and pharmaceutical formulations. Concentrated aqueous solutions of PF127 (>15 wt %) are known to undergo thermogelling (i.e., a sol-to-gel transition upon heating), which is attributed to the formation of a volume-filling cubic array of micelles. Here, we report that thermogelling can occur at much lower PF127 concentrations (1.2 to 8 wt %) if nanoparticles of laponite (25-nm-diameter disks) are also present in the formulation. Thermogelling in laponite/PF127 mixtures requires each component to be present above a minimum level. The gels have moduli around 100 Pa, and they can be reversibly liquefied to sols upon cooling. Rheological techniques, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to characterize the thermogels. We attribute the onset of thermogelling to depletion flocculation of the laponite particles into a network by spherical micelles of PF127.