Defined core-shell particles as the key to complex interfacial self-assembly

Modulating the conformation of microgels by complexation with inorganic nanoparticles

HYPOTHESIS

The complexation of microgels with rigid nanoparticles is an effective way to impart novel properties and functions to the resulting hybrid particles for applications such as in optics, catalysis, or for the stabilization of foams/emulsions. The nanoparticles affect the conformation of the polymer network, both in bulk aqueous environments and when the microgels are adsorbed at a fluid interface, in a non-trivial manner by modulating the microgel size, stiffness and apparent contact angle.

EXPERIMENTS

Here, we provide a detailed investigation, using light scattering, in-situ atomic force microscopy and nano-indentation experiments, of the interaction between poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels and hydrophobized silica nanoparticles after mixing in aqueous suspension to shed light on the network reorganization upon nanoparticle incorporation.

FINDINGS

The addition of nanoparticles decreases the microgels' bulk swelling and thermal response. When adsorbed at an oil-water interface, a higher ratio of nanoparticles influences the microgel's stiffness as well as their hydrophobic/hydrophilic character by increasing their effective contact angle, consequently modulating the monolayer response upon interfacial compression. Overall, these results provide fundamental understanding on the complex conformation of hybrid microgels in different environments and give inspiration to design new materials where the combination of a soft polymer network and nanoparticles might result in additional functionalities.

Core-softened colloid under extreme geometrical confinement

Geometrical constraints offer a promising strategy for assembling colloidal crystal structures that are not typically observed in bulk or under 2D conditions. Core-softened colloids, in particular, have emerged as versatile chemical building blocks with applications across various scientific and technological areas. In this study, we investigate the behavior of a core-softened model confined between two parallel walls. Employing molecular dynamics simulations, we analyze the system's response under extreme confinement, where only one or two layers of colloids are permitted. The system comprises particles modeled by a ramp-like potential confined within slit nanoslits created by two flat, purely repulsive walls with a lateral side L separated by a distance Lz. Through a systematic analysis of the phase behavior as Lz increases, or as the system undergoes decompression, for different values of L, we identified a mono-to-bilayer transition associated with changes in the colloidal structure. In the monolayer regime, we observed solid phases at lower densities than those observed in the 2D case. Importantly, we demonstrated that confinement at specific Lz values, allowing particle arrangement into two layers, can lead to the emergence of the square phase, which was not observed under monolayer or 2D conditions. By correlating thermodynamic, translational, and orientational ordering, as well as the dynamics of this confined colloidal system, our findings offer valuable insights into the utilization of geometrical constraints to induce and manipulate structural changes.

The compression of deformed microgels at an air/water interface

The compression of deformed hydrogel microspheres (microgels) at air/water interfaces was investigated using a Langmuir-Blodgett trough with simultaneous in situ visualization of the process using a fluorescent microscope. The relationship between the structure of the microgel arrays and the compression behavior was clarified using microgels with different degrees of crosslinking.

Exploring the 3D Conformation of Hard-Core Soft-Shell Particles Adsorbed at a Fluid Interface

The encapsulation of a rigid core within a soft polymeric shell allows obtaining composite colloidal particles that retain functional properties, e.g., optical or mechanical. At the same time, it favors their adsorption at fluid interfaces with a tunable interaction potential to realize tailored two-dimensional (2D) materials. Although they have already been employed for 2D assembly, the conformation of single particles, which is essential to define the monolayer properties, has been largely inferred via indirect or ex situ techniques. Here, by means of in situ atomic force microscopy experiments, the authors uncover the interfacial morphology of hard-core soft-shell microgels, integrating the data with numerical simulations to elucidate the role of the core properties, of the shell thicknesses, and that of the grafting density. They identify that the hard core can influence the conformation of the polymer shells. In particular, for the case of small shell thickness, low grafting density, or poor core affinity for water, the core protrudes more into the organic phase, and the authors observe a decrease in-plane stretching of the network at the interface. By rationalizing their general wetting behavior, such composite particles can be designed to exhibit specific inter-particle interactions of importance both for the stabilization of interfaces and for the fabrication of 2D materials with tailored functional properties.

Surface Pressure-Area Mechanics of Water-Spread Poly(ethylene glycol)-Based Block Copolymer Micelle Monolayers at the Air-Water Interface: Effect of Hydrophobic Block Chemistry

Amphiphilic block copolymer micelles can mimic the ability of natural lung surfactant to reduce the air-water interfacial tension close to zero and prevent the Laplace pressure-induced alveolar collapse. In this work, we investigated the air-water interfacial behaviors of polymer micelles derived from eight different poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based block copolymers having different hydrophobic block chemistries to elucidate the effect of the core block chemistry on the surface mechanics of the block copolymer micelles. Aqueous micelles of about 30 nm in hydrodynamic diameter were prepared from the PEG-based block copolymers via equilibration-nanoprecipitation (ENP) and spread on the water surface using water as the spreading medium. Surface pressure-area isotherm and quantitative Brewster angle microscopy (QBAM) measurements were performed to investigate how the micelle/monolayer structures change during lateral compression of the monolayer; widely varying structural behaviors were observed, including the wrinkling/collapse of micelle monolayers and deformation and/or the desorption of individual micelles. By bivariate correlation regression analysis of surface pressure-area isotherm data, it was found that the rigidity and hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic core domain, which are quantified by glass-transition temperature (Tg) and water contact angle (θ) measurements, respectively, are coupled factors that need to be taken into account concurrently in order to control the surface mechanical properties of polymer micelle monolayers; micelles having rigid and strongly hydrophobic cores exhibited high surface pressure and a high compressibility modulus under high compression. High surface pressure and a high compressibility modulus were also found to be correlated with the formation of wrinkles in the micelle monolayer (visualized by Brewster angle microscopy (BAM)). From this study, we conclude that polymer micelles based on hydrophobic block materials having higher Tg and θ are more suitable for surfactant replacement therapy applications that require the therapeutic surfactant to produce a high surface pressure and modulus at the alveolar air-water interface.

Nanoscale Porosity in Microellipsoids Cloaks Interparticle Capillary Attraction at Fluid Interfaces

Anisotropic particles pinned at fluid interfaces tend toward disordered multiparticle configurations due to large, orientationally dependent, capillary forces, which is a significant barrier to exploiting these particles to create functional self-assembled materials. Therefore, current interfacial assembly methods typically focus on isotropic spheres, which have minimal capillary attraction and no dependence on orientation in the plane of the interface. In order to create long-range ordered structures with complex configurations via interfacially trapped anisotropic particles, control over the interparticle interaction energy via external fields and/or particle engineering is necessary. Here, we synthesize colloidal ellipsoids with nanoscale porosity and show that their interparticle capillary attraction at a water-air interface is reduced by an order of magnitude compared to their smooth counterparts. This is accomplished by comparing the behavior of smooth, rough, and porous ellipsoids at a water-air interface. By monitoring the dynamics of two particles approaching one another, we show that the porous particles exhibit a much shorter-range capillary interaction potential, with scaling intriguingly different than theory describing the behavior of smooth ellipsoids. Further, interferometry measurements of the fluid deformation surrounding a single particle shows that the interface around porous ellipsoids does not possess the characteristic quadrupolar symmetry of smooth ellipsoids, and quantitatively confirms the decrease in capillary interaction energy. By engineering nanostructured surface features in this fashion, the interfacial capillary interactions between particles may be controlled, informing an approach for the self-assembly of complex two-dimensional microstructures composed of anisotropic particles.

Capillary Assembly of Anisotropic Particles at Cylindrical Fluid-Fluid Interfaces

The unique behavior of colloids at liquid interfaces provides exciting opportunities for engineering the assembly of colloidal particles into functional materials. The deformable nature of fluid-fluid interfaces means that we can use the interfacial curvature, in addition to particle properties, to direct self-assembly. To this end, we use a finite element method (Surface Evolver) to study the self-assembly of rod-shaped particles adsorbed at a simple curved fluid-fluid interface formed by a sessile liquid drop with cylindrical geometry. Specifically, we study the self-assembly of single and multiple rods as a function of drop curvature and particle properties such as shape (ellipsoid, cylinder, and spherocylinder), contact angle, aspect ratio, and chemical heterogeneity (homogeneous and triblock patchy). We find that the curved interface allows us to effectively control the orientation of the rods, allowing us to achieve parallel, perpendicular, or novel obliquely orientations with respect to the cylindrical drop. In addition, by tuning particle properties to achieve parallel alignment of the rods, we show that the cylindrical drop geometry favors tip-to-tip assembly of the rods, not just for cylinders, but also for ellipsoids and triblock patchy rods. Finally, for triblock patchy rods with larger contact line undulations, we can achieve strong spatial confinement of the rods transverse to the cylindrical drop due to the capillary repulsion between the contact line undulations of the particle and the pinned contact lines of the sessile drop. Our capillary assembly method allows us to manipulate the configuration of single and multiple rod-like particles and therefore offers a facile strategy for organizing such particles into useful functional materials.

Compression of colloidal monolayers at liquid interfaces: in situ vs. ex situ investigation

The assembly of colloidal particles at liquid/liquid or air/liquid interfaces is a versatile procedure to create microstructured monolayers and study their behavior under compression. When combined with soft and deformable particles such as microgels, compression is used to tune not only the interparticle distance but also the underlying microstructure of the monolayer. So far, the great majority of studies on microgel-laden interfaces are conducted ex situ after transfer to solid substrates, for example, via Langmuir-Blodgett deposition. This type of analysis relies on the stringent assumption that the microstructure is conserved during transfer and subsequent drying. In this work, we couple a Langmuir trough to a custom-built small-angle light scattering setup to monitor colloidal monolayers in situ during compression. By comparing the results with ex situ and in situ microscopy measurements, we conclude that Langmuir-Blodgett deposition can alter the structural properties of the colloidal monolayers significantly.

Acoustic Crystallization of 2D Colloidal Crystals

2D colloidal crystallization provides a simple strategy to produce defined nanostructure arrays over macroscopic areas. Regularity and long-range order of such crystals is essential to ensure functionality, but difficult to achieve in self-assembling systems. Here, a simple loudspeaker setup for the acoustic crystallization of 2D colloidal crystals (ACDC) of polystyrene, microgels, and core-shell particles at liquid interfaces is introduced. This setup anneals an interfacial colloidal monolayer and affords an increase in average grain size by almost two orders of magnitude. The order is characterized via the structural color of the colloidal crystal, the acoustic annealing process is optimized via the frequency and the amplitude of the applied sound wave, and its efficiency is rationalized via the surface coverage-dependent interactions within the interfacial colloidal monolayer. Computer simulations show that multiple rearrangement mechanisms at different length scales, from the local motion around voids to grain boundary movements via consecutive particle rotations around common centers, collude to remove defects. The experimentally simple ACDC process, paired with the demonstrated applicability toward complex particle systems, provides access to highly defined nanostructure arrays for a wide range of research communities.

In situ imaging of the three-dimensional shape of soft responsive particles at fluid interfaces by atomic force microscopy

The reconfiguration of individual soft and deformable particles upon adsorption at a fluid interface underpins many aspects of their dynamics and interactions, ultimately regulating the properties of monolayers of relevance for applications. In this work, we demonstrate that atomic force microscopy can be used for the in situ reconstruction of the three-dimensional conformation of model poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels adsorbed at an oil-water interface. We image the particle topography from both sides of the interface to characterize its in-plane deformation and to visualize the occurrence of asymmetric swelling in the two fluids. In addition, the technique enables investigating different fluid phases and particle architectures, as well as studying the effect of temperature variations on particle conformation in situ. We envisage that these results open up an exciting range of possibilities to provide microscopic insights into the single-particle behavior of soft objects at fluid interfaces and into the resulting macroscopic material properties.

Percolation transition in phase-separating active fluid

The motility-induced phase separation exhibited by active particles with repulsive interactions is well known. We show that the interaction softness of active particles destabilizes the highly ordered dense phase, leading to the formation of a porous cluster which spans the system. This soft limit can also be achieved if the particle motility is increased beyond a critical value, at which the system clearly exhibits all the characteristics of a standard percolation transition. We also show that in the athermal limit, active particles exhibit similar transitions even at low motility. With these additional new phases, the phase diagram of repulsive active particles is revealed to be richer than what was previously conceived.

Fluid interface-assisted assembly of soft microgels: recent developments for structures beyond hexagonal packing

Microgels adsorb to air/water and oil/water interfaces - a process driven by a significant reduction in interfacial tension. Depending on the available interface area per microgel, strong lateral deformation can be observed. Typically, hexagonally ordered structures appear spontaneously upon contact of the microgel shells. Transfer from the interface to solid substrates gives access to macroscopically sized microgel monolayers that are interesting for photonic and plasmonic studies as well as colloid-based lithography, for example. Significant efforts have been made to understand the phase behavior of microgels at different interfaces and to explore the available parameter space for achieving complex tessellations. In this review, we will discuss the most recent developments in the realization of microgel monolayers with structures beyond hexagonal packing.

Micron-Sized Silica-PNIPAM Core-Shell Microgels with Tunable Shell-To-Core Ratio

Micron-sized hard core-soft shell hybrid microgels are promising model systems for studies of soft matter as they enable in-situ optical investigations and their structures/morphologies can be engineered with a great variety. Yet, protocols that yield micron-sized core-shell microgels with a tailorable shell-to-core size ratio are rarely available. In this work, we report on the one-pot synthesis protocol for micron-sized silica-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) core-shell microgels that has excellent control over the shell-to-core ratio. Small-angle light scattering and microscopy of 2- and 3-dimensional assemblies of the synthesized microgels confirm that the produced microgels are monodisperse and suitable for optical investigation even at high packing fractions.

Interfacial self-assembly of SiO2-PNIPAM core-shell particles with varied crosslinking density

Spherical particles confined to liquid interfaces generally self-assemble into hexagonal patterns. It was theoretically predicted by Jagla two decades ago that such particles interacting via a soft repulsive potential are able to form complex, anisotropic assembly phases. Depending on the shape and range of the potential, the predicted minimum energy configurations include chains, rhomboid and square phases. We recently demonstrated that deformable core-shell particles consisting of a hard silica core and a soft poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) shell adsorbed at an air/water interface can form chain phases if the crosslinker is primarily incorporated around the silica core. Here, we systematically investigate the interfacial self-assembly behavior of such SiO₂-PNIPAM core-shell particles as a function of crosslinker content and core size. We observe chain networks predominantly at low crosslinking densities and smaller core sizes, whereas higher crosslinking densities lead to the formation of rhomboid packing. We correlate these results with the interfacial morphologies of the different particle systems, where the ability to expand at the interface and form a thin corona at the periphery depends on the degree of crosslinking close to the core. We perform minimum energy calculations based on Jagla-type pair potentials with different shapes of the soft repulsive shoulder. We compare the theoretical phase diagram with experimental findings to infer to which extent the interfacial interactions of the experimental system may be captured by Jagla pair-wise interaction potentials.

In-situ study of the impact of temperature and architecture on the interfacial structure of microgels

The structural characterization of microgels at interfaces is fundamental to understand both their 2D phase behavior and their role as stabilizers that enable emulsions to be broken on demand. However, this characterization is usually limited by available experimental techniques, which do not allow a direct investigation at interfaces. To overcome this difficulty, here we employ neutron reflectometry, which allows us to probe the structure and responsiveness of the microgels in-situ at the air-water interface. We investigate two types of microgels with different cross-link density, thus having different softness and deformability, both below and above their volume phase transition temperature, by combining experiments with computer simulations of in silico synthesized microgels. We find that temperature only affects the portion of microgels in water, while the strongest effect of the microgels softness is observed in their ability to protrude into the air. In particular, standard microgels have an apparent contact angle of few degrees, while ultra-low cross-linked microgels form a flat polymeric layer with zero contact angle. Altogether, this study provides an in-depth microscopic description of how different microgel architectures affect their arrangements at interfaces, and will be the foundation for a better understanding of their phase behavior and assembly.

Using adsorption kinetics to assemble vertically aligned nanorods at liquid interfaces for metamaterial applications

Vertically aligned monolayers of metallic nanorods have a wide range of applications as metamaterials or in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. However the fabrication of such structures using current top-down methods or through assembly on solid substrates is either difficult to scale up or have limited possibilities for further modification after assembly. The aim of this paper is to use the adsorption kinetics of cylindrical nanorods at a liquid interface as a novel route for assembling vertically aligned nanorod arrays that overcomes these problems. Specifically, we model the adsorption kinetics of the particle using Langevin dynamics coupled to a finite element model, accurately capturing the deformation of the liquid meniscus and particle friction coefficients during adsorption. We find that the final orientation of the cylindrical nanorod is determined by their initial attack angle when they contact the liquid interface, and that the range of attack angles leading to the end-on state is maximised when nanorods approach the liquid interface from the bulk phase that is more energetically favorable. In the absence of an external field, only a fraction of adsorbing nanorods end up in the end-on state (≲40% even for nanorods approaching from the energetically favourable phase). However, by pre-aligning the metallic nanorods with experimentally achievable electric fields, this fraction can be effectively increased to 100%. Using nanophotonic calculations, we also demonstrate that the resultant vertically aligned structures can be used as epsilon-near-zero and hyperbolic metamaterials. Our kinetic assembly method is applicable to nanorods with a range of diameters, aspect ratios and materials and therefore represents a versatile, low-cost and powerful platform for fabricating vertically aligned nanorods for metamaterial applications.

Surface mechanical behavior of water-spread poly(styrene)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PS-PEG) micelles at the air-water interface: Effect of micelle size and polymer end/linking group chemistry

HYPOTHESIS

The surface mechanical properties of poly(styrene)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PS-PEG) micelles are influenced by the PEG corona structure. Changes in micelle aggregation number as well as changes in the PEG end group and linking group chemistry of the PS-PEG block copolymer are expected to alter PEG corona characteristics and therefore affect surface mechanical properties of the resulting micelle film.

EXPERIMENTS

Different sized micelles comprised of PS-PEG block copolymer chains were formulated by equilibrating micelles in different ratios of acetone/water mixtures and subsequently removing acetone using dialysis. Additionally, micelles of a similar size and PS-PEG molecular weight but slightly different chemistry were formulated. The micelles were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ¹H NMR, surface pressure-area isotherms and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM).

FINDINGS

The reduction in micelle aggregation number results in the subsequent monolayer having higher compressibility moduli and bending stiffnesses and collapsing at lower surface pressures. Micelle hydrophobicity was shown to improve readsorption of micelles to interface after collapse. Analysis of Brewster angle microscopy images of out-of-plane wrinkle structures which formed upon monolayer collapse indicates the presence of continuous 1 nm thick PEG layer which allows micelle monolayers to bend under high compression.