title: Colloidal crystals and water: Perspectives on liquid-solid nanoscale phenomena in wet particulate media.
abstract: Solid colloidal ensembles inherently contain water adsorbed from the ambient moisture. This water, confined in the porous network formed by the building submicron spheres, greatly affects the ensemble properties. Inversely, one can benefit from such influence on collective features to explore the water behavior in such nanoconfinements. Recently, novel approaches have been developed to investigate in-depth where and how water is placed in the nanometric pores of self-assembled colloidal crystals. Here, we summarize these advances, along with new ones, that are linked to general interfacial water phenomena like adsorption, capillary forces, and flow. Water-dependent structural properties of the colloidal crystal give clues to the interplay between nanoconfined water and solid fine particles that determines the behavior of ensembles. We elaborate on how the knowledge gained on water in colloidal crystals provides new opportunities for multidisciplinary study of interfacial and nanoconfined liquids and their essential role in the physics of utmost important systems such as particulate media.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), c/ Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), c/ Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: francisco.gallego@icmm.csic.es.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gallego-Gómez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad de Sevilla, Av. Reina Mercedes, 41012 Seville, Spain; ICMS (CSIC-US), Av. Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Morales-Flórez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), c/ Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), c/ Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), c/ Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Cefe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López
keywords: Colloidal crystal; Interfacial water; Micromechanical properties; Particulate media; Wet granular materials