Reconfigurable assembly of superparamagnetic colloids confined in thermo-reversible microtubes.

Structural transformations of superparamagnetic colloids confined within self-assembled microtubes are studied by systematically varying tube-colloid size ratios and external magnetic field directions. A magnetic field parallel to microtubes may stretch non-linear chains like zigzag chains into linear chains. Non-parallel fields induce new structures including repulsive chains of single colloids, kinked chains and repulsive dimers, which are not observed for unconfined magnetic colloids in the bulk.

Particle shape anisotropy in pickering emulsions: cubes and peanuts.

We have investigated the effect of particle shape in Pickering emulsions by employing, for the first time, cubic and peanut-shaped particles. The interfacial packing and orientation of anisotropic microparticles are revealed at the single-particle level by direct microscopy observations. The uniform anisotropic hematite microparticles adsorb irreversibly at the oil-water interface in monolayers and form solid-stabilized o/w emulsions via the process of limited coalescence.

Evolution of equilibrium Pickering emulsions--a matter of time scales.

A new class of equilibrium solid-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions harbors a competition of two processes on disparate time scales that affect the equilibrium droplet size in opposing ways. The aim of this work is to elucidate the molecular origins of these two time scales and demonstrate their effects on the evolution of the emulsion droplet size. First, spontaneous emulsification into particle-covered droplets occurs through in situ generation of surface-active molecules by hydrolysis of molecules of the oil phase.

Conditions for equilibrium solid-stabilized emulsions.

Particular types of solid-stabilized emulsions can be thermodynamically stable as evidenced by their spontaneous formation and monodisperse droplet size, which only depends on system parameters. Here, we investigate the generality of these equilibrium solid-stabilized emulsions with respect to the basic constituents: aqueous phase with ions, oil, and stabilizing particles. From systematic variations of these constituents, we identify general conditions for the spontaneous formation of monodisperse solid-stabilized emulsions droplets.

Dipolar structures in colloidal dispersions of PbSe and CdSe quantum dots.

We show by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy that PbSe and CdSe nanocrystals of various shapes in a liquid colloidal dispersion self-assemble into equilibrium structures that have a pronounced dipolar character, to an extent that depends on particle concentration and size. Analyzing the cluster-size distributions with a one-dimensional (1D) aggregation model yields a dipolar pair attraction of 8-10 kBT at room temperature. This accounts for the long-range alignment of the crystal planes of individual nanocrystals in self-assembled superstructures and for anisotropic nanostructures grown via oriented attachment.