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Peng Y, Li W, Still T, Yodh AG, Han Y. In situ observation of coalescence of nuclei in colloidal crystal-crystal transitions. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4905. [PMID: 37582924 PMCID: PMC10427646 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40627-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Coalescence of nuclei in phase transitions significantly influences the transition rate and the properties of product materials, but these processes occur rapidly and are difficult to observe at the microscopic scale. Here, we directly image the coalescence of nuclei with single particle resolution during the crystal-crystal transition from a multilayer square to triangular lattices. The coalescence process exhibits three similar stages across a variety of scenarios: coupled growth of two nuclei, their attachment, and relaxation of the coalesced nucleus. The kinetics vary with nucleus size, interface, and lattice orientation; the kinetics include acceleration of nucleus growth, small nucleus liquefaction, and generation/annihilation of defects. Related mechanisms, such as strain induced by nucleus growth and the lower energy of liquid-crystal versus crystal-crystal interfaces, appear to be common to both atomic and colloidal crystals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Peng
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
- Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tim Still
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Arjun G Yodh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Yilong Han
- Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
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2
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Erik Beck E, Weimer A, Feld A, Vonk V, Noei H, Lott D, Jeromin A, Kulkarni S, Giuntini D, Plunkett A, Domènech B, Schneider GA, Vossmeyer T, Weller H, Keller TF, Stierle A. Solvent controlled 2D structures of bottom-up fabricated nanoparticle superlattices. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:4506-4514. [PMID: 36753337 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr03043h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate that oleyl phosphate ligand-stabilized iron oxide nanocubes as building blocks can be assembled into 2D supercrystalline mono- and multilayers on flat YSZ substrates within a few minutes using a simple spin-coating process. As a bottom-up process, the growth takes place in a layer-by-layer mode and therefore by tuning the spin-coating parameters, the exact number of deposited monolayers can be controlled. Furthermore, ex situ scanning electron and atomic force microscopy as well as X-ray reflectivity measurements give evidence that the choice of solvent allows the control of the lattice type of the final supercrystalline monolayers. This observation can be assigned to the different Hansen solubilities of the solvents used for the nanoparticle dispersion because it determines the size and morphology of the ligand shell surrounding the nanoparticle core. Here, by using toluene and chloroform as solvents, it can be controlled whether the resulting monolayers are ordered in a square or hexagonal supercrystalline lattice.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Erik Beck
- Centre for X-ray and Nano Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany.
| | - Agnes Weimer
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Universität Hamburg, Germany
| | - Artur Feld
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Universität Hamburg, Germany
| | - Vedran Vonk
- Centre for X-ray and Nano Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany.
| | - Heshmat Noei
- Centre for X-ray and Nano Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany.
| | | | - Arno Jeromin
- Centre for X-ray and Nano Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany.
| | - Satishkumar Kulkarni
- Centre for X-ray and Nano Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany.
| | - Diletta Giuntini
- Institute of Advanced Ceramics, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
| | - Alexander Plunkett
- Institute of Advanced Ceramics, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
| | - Berta Domènech
- Institute of Advanced Ceramics, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
- ams-OSRAM International GmbH, ams OSRAM Group, Leibnizstr. 4, 93055 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Gerold A Schneider
- Institute of Advanced Ceramics, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
| | | | - Horst Weller
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Universität Hamburg, Germany
- Fraunhofer Center for Applied Nanotechnology, Grindelallee 117, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Thomas F Keller
- Centre for X-ray and Nano Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany.
- Physics Department, Universität Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Stierle
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Universität Hamburg, Germany
- Physics Department, Universität Hamburg, Germany
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3
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Wan D. Configurational entropy of colloidal particles in a confined space. Phys Rev E 2022; 106:034609. [PMID: 36266835 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.106.034609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
We calculate the configurational entropy of colloidal particles in a confined geometry interacting as hard disks using Monte Carlo integration. In particular, we consider systems with three kinds of boundary conditions: hard, periodic, and spherical. For small to moderate packing fraction ϕ values, we find the entropies per particle for systems with the periodic and the spherical boundary conditions tend to reach the same value with the increase of the particle number N, while that for the system with the hard boundary conditions still has obvious differences compared to them within the studied N range. Surprisingly, despite the small system sizes, the estimated entropies per particle at infinite system size from extrapolations in the periodic and spherical systems are in reasonable agreement with that calculated using thermodynamic integration. Besides, as N increases we find the pair correlation function begins to exhibit similar features as that of a thermally equilibrated hard-disk fluid at the same packing fraction. Our findings may contribute to a better understanding of how the configurational entropy changes with the system size and the influence of boundary conditions, and provide insights relevant to engineering particles in confined spaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duanduan Wan
- School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
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Missoni L, Tagliazucchi M. Body centered tetragonal nanoparticle superlattices: why and when they form? NANOSCALE 2021; 13:14371-14381. [PMID: 34473819 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr08312g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Body centered tetragonal (BCT) phases are structural intermediates between body centered cubic (BCC) and face centered cubic (FCC) structures. However, BCC ↔ FCC transitions may or may not involve a stable BCT intermediate. Interestingly, nanoparticle superlattices usually crystallize in BCT structures, but this phase is much less frequent for colloidal crystals of micrometer-sized particles. Two origins have been proposed for the formation of BCT NPSLs: (i) the influence of the substrate on which the nanoparticle superlattice is deposited, and (ii) non-spherical nanoparticle shapes, combined with the fact that different crystal facets have different ligand organizations. Notably, none of these two mechanisms alone is able to explain the set of available experimental observations. In this work, these two hypotheses were independently tested using a recently developed molecular theory for nanoparticle superlattices that explicitly captures the degrees of freedom associated with the ligands on the nanoparticle surface and the crystallization solvent. We show that the presence of a substrate can stabilize the BCT structure for spherical nanoparticles, but only for very specific combinations of parameters. On the other hand, a truncated-octahedron nanoparticle shape strongly stabilizes BCT structures in a wide region of the phase diagram. In the latter case, we show that the stabilization of BCT results from the geometry of the system and it does not require different crystal facets to have different ligand properties, as previously proposed. These results shed light on the mechanisms of BCT stabilization in nanoparticle superlattices and provide guidelines to control its formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leandro Missoni
- Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Medio Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mario Tagliazucchi
- Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Química de los Materiales, Medio Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Li M, Yue Z, Chen Y, Tong H, Tanaka H, Tan P. Revealing thermally-activated nucleation pathways of diffusionless solid-to-solid transition. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4042. [PMID: 34193874 PMCID: PMC8245452 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24256-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Solid-to-solid transitions usually occur via athermal nucleation pathways on pre-existing defects due to immense strain energy. However, the extent to which athermal nucleation persists under low strain energy comparable to the interface energy, and whether thermally-activated nucleation is still possible are mostly unknown. To address these questions, the microscopic observation of the transformation dynamics is a prerequisite. Using a charged colloidal system that allows the triggering of an fcc-to-bcc transition while enabling in-situ single-particle-level observation, we experimentally find both athermal and thermally-activated pathways controlled by the softness of the parent crystal. In particular, we reveal three new transition pathways: ingrain homogeneous nucleation driven by spontaneous dislocation generation, heterogeneous nucleation assisted by premelting grain boundaries, and wall-assisted growth. Our findings reveal the physical principles behind the system-dependent pathway selection and shed light on the control of solid-to-solid transitions through the parent phase's softness and defect landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minhuan Li
- State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhengyuan Yue
- State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanshuang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hua Tong
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Department of Fundamental Engineering, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hajime Tanaka
- Department of Fundamental Engineering, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Peng Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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Wan D, Glotzer SC. Unexpected Dependence of Photonic Band Gap Size on Randomness in Self-Assembled Colloidal Crystals. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2021; 126:208002. [PMID: 34110222 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.126.208002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 03/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Using computer simulations, we explore how thermal noise-induced randomness in a self-assembled photonic crystal affects its photonic band gaps (PBGs). We consider a two-dimensional photonic crystal composed of a self-assembled array of parallel dielectric hard rods of infinite length with circular or square cross section. We find that PBGs can exist over a large range of intermediate packing densities and the largest band gap does not always appear at the highest packing density studied. Remarkably, for rods with square cross section at intermediate packing densities, the transverse magnetic (TM) band gap of the self-assembled (i.e., thermal) system can be larger than that of identical rods arranged in a perfect square lattice. By considering hollow rods, we find the band gap of transverse electric modes can be substantially increased while that of TM modes show no obvious improvement over solid rods. Our study suggests that particle shape and internal structure can be used to engineer the PBG of a self-assembled system despite the positional and orientational randomness arising from thermal noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duanduan Wan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
- School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Sharon C Glotzer
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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Fiorucci G, Dijkstra M. Oscillatory shear-induced bcc-fcc martensitic transformation in a colloidal suspension with long-range repulsive interactions. J Chem Phys 2021; 154:164903. [PMID: 33940813 DOI: 10.1063/5.0045537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
We perform non-equilibrium Brownian dynamics simulations to investigate the out-of-equilibrium phase behavior of a suspension of charged colloids under external oscillatory shear. We independently vary the frequency f and the maximum strain amplitude γmax of the oscillations and map out an out-of-equilibrium phase diagram in the f-γmax plane. Similar to what has been observed in earlier studies on colloidal hard spheres, we find the formation of a twinned face-centered-cubic phase in a specific range of γmax, which displays a martensitic transition to a body-centered-cubic crystal within half of the oscillation cycle. We provide a comprehensive analysis of these structures and show how the system transforms from one to the other. We also report evidence of a sliding layer phase and a string phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Fiorucci
- Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Department of Physics, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 1, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Marjolein Dijkstra
- Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Department of Physics, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 1, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands
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