Superlattice formation in binary mixtures of hard-sphere colloids

Bartlett, Paul; Ottewill, R. H.; Pusey, P. N.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.68.3801

Cited by 361 publications

(285 citation statements)

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“…Th e value of this observation would have been largely academic were it not for the fact that later experiments demonstrated the feasibility of making suspensions of uncharged colloids that behave like hard spheres in the theoretical prediction 4 . Subsequent experimental work 5 showed that binary systems of hard colloids can pack into surprisingly complex crystal forms, such as the AB 13 structure where icosahedra consisting of 13 B particles are embedded in a simple cubic lattice of large A particles. Again, the high entropy of the AB 13 crystal is responsible for the formation of this phase 6 .…”

Section: Colloidal Crystalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plenty of room at the top

Frenkel

2006

Nature Mater

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Section: Colloidal Crystalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plenty of room at the top

Frenkel

2006

Nature Mater

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“…Various AB 2 phases are well known in binary mixtures of hard spheres [38][39][40][41][42][43]. For example, the AlB 2 structure is a preferred crystal phase for binary mixtures with a size ratio of the smaller to larger particles between approximately 0.4 and 0.6 [39] and occurs in gem opals [40,41], while the MgCu 2 phase can be templated by walls [43].…”

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Hiding in Plain View: Colloidal Self-Assembly from Polydisperse Populations

Cabane

Artzner

et al. 2016

Phys. Rev. Lett.

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We report small-angle x-ray scattering experiments on aqueous dispersions of colloidal silica with a broad monomodal size distribution (polydispersity, 14%; size, 8 nm). Over a range of volume fractions, the silica particles segregate to build first one, then two distinct sets of colloidal crystals. These dispersions thus demonstrate fractional crystallization and multiple-phase (bcc, Laves AB 2 , liquid) coexistence. Their remarkable ability to build complex crystal structures from a polydisperse population originates from the intermediate-range nature of interparticle forces, and it suggests routes for designing self-assembling colloidal crystals from the bottom up.

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“…Already, the simplest conceivable multicomponent system, i.e., a binary mixture of hard spheres, exhibits interesting and complex behavior. Just a few examples include entropy driven formation of binary crystals [1][2][3], frustrated crystal growth [4], the Brazil nut effect [5], glass-formation [6,7], and entropic selectivity in external fields [8]. Although interaction potentials in atomic systems are more complex than those of hard spheres, the principle of volume exclusion is ubiquitous and thus always dominates the short-range order in liquids [9].…”

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Experimental Observation of Structural Crossover in Binary Mixtures of Colloidal Hard Spheres

et al. 2007

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Using confocal microscopy, we investigate the structure of binary mixtures of colloidal hard spheres with size ratio q 0:61. As a function of the packing fraction of the two particle species, we observe a marked change of the dominant wavelength in the pair-correlation function. This behavior is in excellent agreement with a recently predicted structural crossover in such mixtures. In addition, the repercussions of structural crossover on the real-space structure of a binary fluid are analyzed. We suggest a relation between crossover and the lateral extension of networks containing only equally-sized particles that are connected by nearest-neighbor bonds. This is supported by Monte Carlo simulations which are performed at different packing fractions and size ratios. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.198303 PACS numbers: 82.70.Dd, 61.20.ÿp Most systems in nature and technology are mixtures of differently sized particles. Each distinct particle size introduces another length scale, and its competition gives rise to an exceedingly rich phenomenology in comparison with single-component systems. Already, the simplest conceivable multicomponent system, i.e., a binary mixture of hard spheres, exhibits interesting and complex behavior. Just a few examples include entropy driven formation of binary crystals [1][2][3], frustrated crystal growth [4], the Brazil nut effect [5], glass-formation [6,7], and entropic selectivity in external fields [8]. Although interaction potentials in atomic systems are more complex than those of hard spheres, the principle of volume exclusion is ubiquitous and thus always dominates the short-range order in liquids [9]. Accordingly, hard spheres form one of the most important and successful model systems in describing fundamental properties of fluids and solids. It has been demonstrated that many of their features can be directly transferred to atomic systems where fundamental mechanisms are often obstructed by additional material specific effects [10]. Binary hard-sphere systems are fully characterized by their size ratio q S = B with i the diameters of the small (S) and big (B) spheres and the small and big sphere packing fractions S , B , respectively.The pair-correlation functions, g ij r , are the central measure of structure in fluids; they describe the probability of finding a particle of size i at distance r from another particle of size j. It is well known that all pair-correlation functions in any (isotropic) fluid mixture with short-ranged interactions (not just hard spheres) exhibit the same type of asymptotic decay, which can be either purely (monotonic) exponential or exponentially damped oscillatory [11] (and references therein). This prediction, which is valid in all dimensions [12] as well as for anisotropic pair interactions [13], suggests that all pair-correlation functions decay with a common wavelength and decay length in the asymptotic regime r ! 1. For binary hard-sphere mixtures where B S or S B , this is rather obvious since the system is dominated by either big or smal...

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Superlattice formation in binary mixtures of hard-sphere colloids

Cited by 361 publications

References 14 publications

Plenty of room at the top

Plenty of room at the top

Hiding in Plain View: Colloidal Self-Assembly from Polydisperse Populations

Experimental Observation of Structural Crossover in Binary Mixtures of Colloidal Hard Spheres

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