title: Molecular Origins of Mesoscale Ordering in a Metalloamphiphile Phase.
abstract: Controlling the assembly of soft and deformable molecular aggregates into mesoscale structures is essential for understanding and developing a broad range of processes including rare earth extraction and cleaning of water, as well as for developing materials with unique properties. By combined synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering with large-scale atomistic molecular dynamics simulations we analyze here a metalloamphiphile-oil solution that organizes on multiple length scales. The molecules associate into aggregates, and aggregates flocculate into meso-ordered phases. Our study demonstrates that dipolar interactions, centered on the amphiphile headgroup, bridge ionic aggregate cores and drive aggregate flocculation. By identifying specific intermolecular interactions that drive mesoscale ordering in solution, we bridge two different length scales that are classically addressed separately. Our results highlight the importance of individual intermolecular interactions in driving mesoscale ordering.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory , Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Baofu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory , Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Geoffroy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferru
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States; Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olvera de la Cruz
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory , Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Ross J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ellis