Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

26 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Magnetic Coupling in Colloidal Clusters for Hierarchical Self-Assembly.

ABSTRACT: Manipulating the way in which colloidal particles self-organize is a central challenge in the design of functional soft materials. Meeting this challenge requires the use of building blocks that interact with one another in a highly specific manner. Their fabrication, however, is limited by the complexity of the available synthesis procedures. Here, we demonstrate that, starting from experimentally available magnetic colloids, we can create a variety of complex building blocks suitable for hierarchical self-organization through a simple scalable process. Using computer simulations, we compress spherical and cubic magnetic colloids in spherical confinement, and investigate their suitability to form small clusters with reproducible structural and magnetic properties. We find that, while the structure of these clusters is highly reproducible, their magnetic character depends on the particle shape. Only spherical particles have the rotational degrees of freedom to produce consistent magnetic configurations, whereas cubic particles frustrate the minimization of the cluster energy, resulting in various magnetic configurations. To highlight their potential for self-assembly, we demonstrate that already clusters of three magnetic particles form highly nontrivial Archimedean lattices, namely, staggered kagome, bounce, and honeycomb, when focusing on different aspects of the same monolayer structure. The work presented here offers a conceptually different way to design materials by utilizing preassembled magnetic building blocks that can readily self-organize into complex structures.

SUBMITTER: Donaldson JG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8155334 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Leveraging Hierarchical Self-Assembly Pathways for Realizing Colloidal Photonic Crystals.

Project description:Colloidal open crystals are attractive materials, especially for their photonic applications. Self-assembly appeals as a bottom-up route for structure fabrication, but self-assembly of colloidal open crystals has proven to be elusive for their mechanical instability due to being low-coordinated. For such a bottom-up route to yield a desired colloidal open crystal, the target structure is required to be thermodynamically favored for designer building blocks and also kinetically accessible via self-assembly pathways in preference to metastable structures. Additionally, the selection of a particular polymorph poses a challenge for certain much sought-after colloidal open crystals for their applications as photonic crystals. Here, we devise hierarchical self-assembly pathways, which, starting from designer triblock patchy particles, yield in a cascade of well-separated associations first tetrahedral clusters and then tetrastack crystals. The designed pathways avoid trapping into an amorphous phase. Our analysis reveals how such a two-stage self-assembly pathway via tetrahedral clusters promotes crystallization by suppressing five- and seven-membered rings that hinder the emergence of the ordered structure. We also find that slow annealing promotes a bias toward the cubic polymorph relative to the hexagonal counterpart. Finally, we calculate the photonic band structures, showing that the cubic polymorph exhibits a complete photonic band gap for the dielectric filling fraction directly realizable from the designer triblock patchy particles. Unexpectedly, we find that the hexagonal polymorph also supports a complete photonic band gap, albeit only for an increased filling fraction, which can be realized via postassembly processing.

| S-EPMC7304928 | biostudies-literature

Template-assisted colloidal self-assembly of macroscopic magnetic metasurfaces.

Project description:We demonstrate a template-assisted colloidal self-assembly approach for magnetic metasurfaces on macroscopic areas. The choice of anisotropic colloidal particle geometry, assembly pattern and metallic film is based on rational design criteria, taking advantage of mirror-charge effects for gold nanorods placed on gold film. Monodisperse gold nanorods prepared utilizing wet-chemistry are arranged with high precision on wrinkled templates to form linear array-type assemblies and subsequently transferred to a thin gold film. Due to the obtained particle-to-film distance of 1.1 nm, the plasmonic mode of the nanorod is able to couple efficiently with the supporting metallic film, giving rise to a magnetic mode in the visible spectrum (721 nm). Conventional UV-vis-NIR measurements in close correlation with electromagnetic simulations provide evidence for the presence of a magnetic resonance on the macroscopic area. The herein presented scalable lithography-free fabrication process paves the road towards colloidal functional metasurfaces with an optical response in the effective magnetic permeability.

| S-EPMC5058348 | biostudies-literature

Self-replicating colloidal clusters.

Project description:We construct schemes for self-replicating clusters of spherical particles, validated with computer simulations in a finite-temperature heat bath. Each particle has stickers uniformly distributed over its surface, and the rules for self-replication are encoded into the specificity and strength of interactions. Geometrical constraints imply that a compact cluster can copy itself only with help of a catalyst, a smaller cluster that increases the surface area to form a template. Replication efficiency requires optimizing interaction energies to destabilize all kinetic traps along the reaction pathway, as well as initiating a trigger event that specifies when the new cluster disassociates from its parent. Although there is a reasonably wide parameter range for self-replication, there is a subtle balance between the speed of the reaction, and the error rate. As a proof of principle, we construct interactions that self-replicate an octahedron, requiring a two-particle dimer for a catalyst. The resulting self-replication scheme is a hypercycle, and computer simulations confirm the exponential growth of both octahedron and catalyst replicas.

| S-EPMC3918771 | biostudies-literature

Hierarchical self-assembly of polydisperse colloidal bananas into a two-dimensional vortex phase.

Project description:Self-assembly of microscopic building blocks into highly ordered and functional structures is ubiquitous in nature and found at all length scales. Hierarchical structures formed by colloidal building blocks are typically assembled from monodisperse particles interacting via engineered directional interactions. Here, we show that polydisperse colloidal bananas self-assemble into a complex and hierarchical quasi-two-dimensional structure, called the vortex phase, only due to excluded volume interactions and polydispersity in the particle curvature. Using confocal microscopy, we uncover the remarkable formation mechanism of the vortex phase and characterize its exotic structure and dynamics at the single-particle level. These results demonstrate that hierarchical self-assembly of complex materials can be solely driven by entropy and shape polydispersity of the constituting particles.

| S-EPMC8379995 | biostudies-literature

Precursor Self-Assembly Identified as a General Pathway for Colloidal Semiconductor Magic-Size Clusters.

Project description:Little is known about the formation pathway of colloidal semiconductor magic-size clusters (MSCs). Here, the synthesis of the first single-ensemble ZnSe MSCs, which exhibit a sharp optical absorption singlet peaking at 299 nm, is reported; their formation is independent of Zn and Se precursors used. It is proposed that the formation of MSCs starts with precursor self-assembly followed by Zn and Se covalent bond formation to result in immediate precursors (IPs) which can transform into the MSCs. It is demonstrated that the IPs in cyclohexane appear transparent in optical absorption, and become visible as MSCs exhibiting one sharp optical absorption peak when a primary amine is added at room temperature. It is shown that when the preparation of the IP is controlled to be within the induction period, which occurs prior to nucleation and growth of conventional quantum dots (QDs), the resulting MSCs can be produced without the complication of the simultaneous coproduction of conventional QDs. The present study reveals the existence of precursor self-assembly which leads to the formation of colloidal semiconductor MSCs and provides insights into a multistep nucleation process in cluster science.

| S-EPMC6299716 | biostudies-literature

Electric-field-induced assembly and propulsion of chiral colloidal clusters.

Project description:Chiral molecules with opposite handedness exhibit distinct physical, chemical, or biological properties. They pose challenges as well as opportunities in understanding the phase behavior of soft matter, designing enantioselective catalysts, and manufacturing single-handed pharmaceuticals. Microscopic particles, arranged in a chiral configuration, could also exhibit unusual optical, electric, or magnetic responses. Here we report a simple method to assemble achiral building blocks, i.e., the asymmetric colloidal dimers, into a family of chiral clusters. Under alternating current electric fields, two to four lying dimers associate closely with a central standing dimer and form both right- and left-handed clusters on a conducting substrate. The cluster configuration is primarily determined by the induced dipolar interactions between constituent dimers. Our theoretical model reveals that in-plane dipolar repulsion between petals in the cluster favors the achiral configuration, whereas out-of-plane attraction between the central dimer and surrounding petals favors a chiral arrangement. It is the competition between these two interactions that dictates the final configuration. The theoretical chirality phase diagram is found to be in excellent agreement with experimental observations. We further demonstrate that the broken symmetry in chiral clusters induces an unbalanced electrohydrodynamic flow surrounding them. As a result, they rotate in opposite directions according to their handedness. Both the assembly and propulsion mechanisms revealed here can be potentially applied to other types of asymmetric particles. Such kinds of chiral colloids will be useful for fabricating metamaterials, making model systems for both chiral molecules and active matter, or building propellers for microscale transport.

| S-EPMC4443365 | biostudies-literature

Relevance of packing to colloidal self-assembly.

Project description:Since the 1920s, packing arguments have been used to rationalize crystal structures in systems ranging from atomic mixtures to colloidal crystals. Packing arguments have recently been applied to complex nanoparticle structures, where they often, but not always, work. We examine when, if ever, packing is a causal mechanism in hard particle approximations of colloidal crystals. We investigate three crystal structures composed of their ideal packing shapes. We show that, contrary to expectations, the ordering mechanism cannot be packing, even when the thermodynamically self-assembled structure is the same as that of the densest packing. We also show that the best particle shapes for hard particle colloidal crystals at any finite pressure are imperfect versions of the ideal packing shape.

| S-EPMC5816204 | biostudies-literature

Surface Properties of Colloidal Particles Affect Colloidal Self-Assembly in Evaporating Self-Lubricating Ternary Droplets.

Project description:In this work, we unravel the role of surface properties of colloidal particles on the formation of supraparticles (clusters of colloidal particles) in a colloidal Ouzo droplet. Self-lubricating colloidal Ouzo droplets are an efficient and simple approach to form supraparticles, overcoming the challenge of the coffee stain effect in situ. Supraparticles are an efficient route to high-performance materials in various fields, from catalysis to carriers for therapeutics. Yet, the role of the surface of colloidal particles in the formation of supraparticles using Ouzo droplets remains unknown. Therefore, we used silica particles as a model system and compared sterically stabilized versus electrostatically stabilized silica particles─positively and negatively charged. Additionally, we studied the effect of hydration. Hydrated negatively charged silica particles and sterically stabilized silica particles form supraparticles. Conversely, dehydrated negatively charged silica particles and positively charged amine-coated particles form flat film-like deposits. Notably, the assembly process is different for all the four types of particles. The surface modifications alter (a) the contact line motion of the Ouzo droplet and (b) the particle-oil and particle-substrate interactions. These alterations modify the particle accumulation at the various interfaces, which ultimately determines the shape of the final deposit. Thus, by modulating the surface properties of the colloidal particles, we can tune the shape of the final deposit, from a spheroidal supraparticle to a flat deposit. In the future, this approach can be used to tailor the supraparticles for applications such as optics and catalysis, where the shape affects the functionality.

| S-EPMC8763378 | biostudies-literature

Coupling morphological and magnetic anisotropy for assembling tetragonal colloidal crystals.

Project description:[Figure: see text].

| S-EPMC8442868 | biostudies-literature

High-Throughput Acoustofluidic Self-Assembly of Colloidal Crystals.

Project description:Colloidal crystals are encountered in a variety of energy-harvesting applications, where they serve as waveguides or filters for electromagnetic and electro-optic energy. Techniques such as electric or magnetic assembly are used to assemble colloidal crystals, but are limited by crystal size, yield, and throughput. This article demonstrates the continuous, high-throughput assembly of two-dimensional (2D)-colloidal crystals in an acoustofluidic flow cell. The device is fabricated using off-the-shelf components and does not require a clean-room access. An experimental state diagram shows how the fluid flow rate and voltage applied to the piezoelectric element in our device can tune the crystal microstructure. Highly ordered colloidal crystals are continuously assembled in less than a minute with a throughput yield of several hundred particles per minute using this device. The acoustically assembled ordered 2D crystals are immobilized using a UV-curable resin and extracted as ordered polymer-particle fibers, demonstrating the ability of using acoustic fields to assemble ordered structures embedded in bulk materials. Particle tracking is used to construct the cross-channel particle distribution to understand the effect of acoustic compression on colloidal crystal assembly. Microparticle image velocimetry data is compared to a theoretical transport model to quantify the effect fluid flow and acoustic trapping has on the colloidal crystal ensemble.

| S-EPMC6641480 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data