Related papers: Assembling of three-dimensional crystals by large …
Colloidal assembly represents a powerful method for the fabrication of functional materials. In this article, we describe how acoustic radiation forces can guide the assembly of colloidal particles into structures that serve as microscopic…
Hypothesis: Colloidal molecules with anisotropic shapes and interactions are powerful model systems for deciphering the behavior of real molecules and building units for creating materials with designed properties. While many strategies for…
The design of complex materials and the formation of specific patterns often arise from the properties of the individual building blocks. In this respect, colloidal systems offer a unique opportunity because nowadays they can be synthesized…
We propose a novel actuation mechanism for colloids, which is based on the Seebeck effect of the electrolyte solution: Laser heating of a nonionic particle accumulates in its vicinity a net charge Q, which is proportional to the excess…
The influence of poor solvent quality on fluid demixing of a model mixture of colloids and nonadsorbing polymers is investigated using density functional theory. The colloidal particles are modelled as hard spheres and the polymer coils as…
Self-assembly of colloidal particles is poised to become a powerful composite material fabrication technique, but remains challenged by a limited control over the ensuing structures. We develop a new breed of nematic colloids that are…
Monodisperse rod-like colloidal particles are known for spontaneously forming both nematic and smectic liquid crystal phases, but their self-assembly was typically exploited from the fundamental soft condensed matter physics perspective.…
We present thermophoretic measurements in aqueous suspensions of three different polystyrene (PS) particles of varying negative charge, size and surface coating. Our measurement technique is based on the observation of the colloidal…
We propose coating spherical particles or droplets with anisotropic nano-sized objects to allow micron-scale colloids to link or functionalize with a four-fold valence, similar to the sp3 hybridized chemical bonds associated with, e.g.,…
Colloidal particles or nanoparticles, with equal affinity for two fluids, are known to adsorb irreversibly to the fluid-fluid interface. We present large-scale computer simulations of the demixing of a binary solvent containing such…
While evaporating solvent is a widely used technique to assemble nano-sized objects into desired superstructures, there has been limited work on how the assembled structures are affected by the physical aspects of the process. We present…
Cholesteric liquid crystals can exhibit spatial patterns in molecular alignment at interfaces that can be exploited for particle assembly. These patterns emerge from the competition between bulk and surface energies, tunable with the system…
We investigate by scattering techniques the structure of water-based soft composite materials comprising a crystal made of Pluronic block-copolymer micelles arranged in a face-centered cubic lattice and a small amount (at most 2% by volume)…
Micrometre sized colloidal particles can be viewed as large atoms with tailorable size, shape and interactions. These building blocks can assemble into extremely rich structures and phases, in which the thermal motions of particles can be…
In an elegant paper, D. Nelson suggested a method to produce tetravalent colloids based on a tetrahedral configuration created on the surface of a spherical particle. It emerges from a two-dimensional nematic liquid crystal placed on a…
The paper presents the results of investigation of the structure of porous condensates of Ag-NaCl and Cu-NaCl composition; chemical and phase compositions and dimensions of nanoparticles, produced from the vapour phase by EBPVD method.…
Spatial ordering of matter elicits exotic properties sometimes absent from a material's constituents. A few highly mineralised natural materials achieve high toughness through delocalised damage, whereas synthetic particulate composites…
At the nanometric scale, the synthesis of a random alloy (i.e. without phase segregation, whatever the composition) by chemical synthesis remains a not easy task, even for simple binary type systems. In this context, a unique approach based…
Colloidal particles with appropriate wetting properties can become very strongly trapped at an interface between two immiscible fluids. We have harnessed this phenomenon to create a new class of soft materials with intriguing and…
Non-equilibrium assembly, driven by fluxes controllable by continuous external energy inputs, enables dynamic and reconfigurable structures. Such controlled 3D assembly is desired for the design of adaptive materials that exploit…