Diffusion-Limited Aggregation, a Kinetic Critical Phenomenon

Witten, Thomas A.; Sander, Leonard M.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.47.1400

Cited by 5,246 publications

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References 6 publications

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“…Diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) 33,34 is the most dramatic diffusion instability, where a rule dictating how a single atom is added to an existing cluster of atoms causes the cluster to grow by one particle at a time. Regular DLA does not have analogues to surface tension and to anisotropy, and undercooling does not play a role.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern Formation and Morphology Evolution in Langmuir Monolayers

et al. 2006

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We present a study of how patterns formed by Langmuir monolayer domains of a stable phase, usually solid or liquid condensed, propagate into a metastable one, usually liquid expanded. During this propagation, the interface between the two phases moves as the metastable phase is transformed into the more stable one. The interface becomes unstable and forms patterns as a result of the competition between a chemical potential gradient that destabilizes the interface on one hand and line tension that stabilizes the interface on the other. During domain growth, we found a morphology transition from tip splitting to side branching; doublons were also found. These morphological features were observed with Brewster angle microscopy in three different monolayers at the water/air interface: dioctadecylamine, ethyl palmitate, and ethyl stearate. In addition, we observed the onset of the instability in round domains when an abrupt lateral pressure jump is made on the monolayer. Frequency histograms of unstable wavelengths are consistent with the linear-instability dispersion relation of classical free-boundary models. For the case of dendritic morphologies, we measured the radius of the dendrite tip as a function of the dendrite length as well as the spacing of the side branches along a dendrite. Finally, a possible explanation of why Langmuir monolayers present this kind of nonequilibrium growth patterns is presented. In the steady state, the growth behavior is determined by Laplace's equation in the particle density with specific boundary conditions. These equations are equivalent to those used in the theory of morphology diagrams for two-dimensional diffusional growth, where morphological transitions of the kind observed here have been predicted.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern Formation and Morphology Evolution in Langmuir Monolayers

et al. 2006

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“…Outer membrane protein F (OmpF) is the major porin in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli, where it forms trimeric channels for the passage of water, ions, sugars, polar nutrients and waste up to 700 Da in weight 5,6 . Diffusion in the membrane is an important factor in the function of OmpF as it has to be widely distributed on the cell surface for phage recognition 7 to occur, and also has to form a transient translocon with vitamin B 12 receptor BtuB for colicin import 8,9 .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The overall molecular distribution of the OmpF in the membrane showed a highly intricate geometry with high fractal dimension D ≈ 1.73+0.01 ( Supplementary Fig. S2), which is characteristic of diffusion-limited aggregation 12 . Such a fractality optimizes the membrane distribution of OmpF to provide a wide variety of local environments and interaction possibilities for individual molecules, which is probably important for the dynamic formation of translocon complexes 13 .…”

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Characterization of the motion of membrane proteins using high-speed atomic force microscopy

et al. 2012

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“…Generally, diffusion limitations mean that exposed ends of gold nanobranches tend to grow more rapidly than the perimeter sites with the result of promoting anisotropic growth. Similarly diffusion limitation inhibits the growth of less accessible seeds, contrarily to the case of nanoshell growth 37 .…”

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Engineering the synthesis of silica–gold nano-urchin particles using continuous synthesis

2014

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Compared to freestanding nanoparticles, supported nanostructures typically show better mechanical stability as well as ease of handling. Unique shapes such as core-shells, raspberries and crescents have been developed on supported materials to gain improved chemical and optical properties along with versatility and tunability. We report the formation of hyperbranched gold structures on silica particles, silica-gold nano-urchin (SGNU) particles. Kinetic control of crystallization, fast mass transfer as well as a bumped surface morphology of the silica particles are important factors for the growth of gold branches on the silica support. Using a microfluidic platform, continuous synthesis of SGNUs is achieved with increased reaction rate (less than 12 min. of residence time), better controllability and reproducibility than that obtained in batch synthesis. The hyper-branched gold structures display surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Introduction.Microfluidic systems offer excellent conditions for synthesis of nanomaterials by control of mixing, temperature, and pressure combined with fast heat and mass transfer. 1, 2 Moreover, they enable controlled synthesis under higher temperature and pressure conditions than typically feasible in batch with resulting faster synthesis. 1, 3 Herein, we report batch and microfluidic synthesis of hyper-branched gold structures on silica particles, silica-gold nano-urchin (SGNU) particles. The formed particles consist of a dielectric silica core decorated with densely packed gold nanobranches stretching outward. The morphology serves as an active substrate for tip-enhanced Raman scattering, 4 and could additional have applications in catalysis and bio-imaging. 5,6 Gold nanoparticles have been synthesized by a variety of approaches for diverse applications in catalysis, bio-imaging, drug delivery and photovoltaics. Their surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) properties have been of particular interest for photothermal therapy and molecular sensing, respectively [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] . SERS active structures have been fabricated by complex with top-down methods, 4,12,16,17 but wet-chemical synthesis of gold nanoparticles offer potential advantages in simple, high yield, and limited scalable synthesis. 12,18,19,20,21,22 Gold nanostructures, such as nanorods, nanowires, tetrapods, nanoplates and star-shaped particles are particularly attractive for many applications because of their strong confinement of the electromagnetic field and high enhancement that can be tuned over a wide range of optical wave lengths in comparison with ordinary spherical structures. 11,[23][24][25][26][27] Combination of the metal nanostructure with a support material, such as in core-shells, raspberries, and crescents, affords additional advantages in tuning optical properties, improved chemical/mechanical stability, and ease of handling compared to free-standing nanoparticles.Batch methods, 20 specialized ligands 28 and additional electrochemical treat...

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Diffusion-Limited Aggregation, a Kinetic Critical Phenomenon

Cited by 5,246 publications

References 6 publications

Pattern Formation and Morphology Evolution in Langmuir Monolayers

Pattern Formation and Morphology Evolution in Langmuir Monolayers

Characterization of the motion of membrane proteins using high-speed atomic force microscopy

Engineering the synthesis of silica–gold nano-urchin particles using continuous synthesis

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