Figure 2.
Proposed mechanisms of the freeze–thaw‐directed gelation process. a) Model for the gelation process, following (i) the original NP solution, (ii) the freeze‐induced assembly, (iii) the thaw‐induced unlocking of aggregates, and (iv) the gravity‐ and self‐healing‐driven gel formation. b)–d) MC simulations for systems with various particle concentrations (c 0, 5 c 0, 20 c 0, and 100 c 0): The distributions of b) the required steps to form one single aggregate, c) the number of remaining aggregates (N agg) after 10 000 MC steps, and d) the average radius of gyration (R g) of the resulting aggregates after 10 000 MC steps. e) Typical MC snapshots of the systems with indicated particle concentrations after 10 000 MC steps.