Surfactant-mediated two-dimensional crystallization of colloidal crystals
Colloidal particles can form unexpected two-dimensional ordered colloidal crystals when they interact with surfactants of the opposite charge. Coulomb interactions lead to self-limited adsorption of the particles on the surface of vesicles formed by the surfactants. The adsorbed particles form ordered but fluid rafts on the vesicle surfaces, and these ultimately form robust two-dimensional crystals. This use of attractive Coulomb interaction between colloidal particles and surfactant structures offers a potential new route to self-assembly of ordered colloidal structures.
Ramos
L
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Department of Chemical Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Lubensky
TC
Dan
N
Nelson
P
Weitz
DA