The Analysis of Periodic Order in Monolayers of Colloidal Superballs

The characterization of periodic order in assemblies of colloidal particles can be complicated by the coincidence of Bragg diffraction peaks of the structure and minima in the form factor of the particles. Here, we demonstrate a general strategy to overcome this problem that is applicable to all low...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences 2021-06, Vol.11 (11), p.5117
Main Authors: Napel, Daniël N. ten, Meijer, Janne-Mieke, Petukhov, Andrei V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
colloidal monolayers
colloidal superballs
Colloids
Diffraction
Diffraction patterns
form factor
Form factors
Methods
Microscopy
Monolayers
Neutron scattering
Phase transitions
Polydimethylsiloxane
Rubbing
SAXS
scattering
Silica
Spheres
X-ray scattering
X-rays
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Summary:The characterization of periodic order in assemblies of colloidal particles can be complicated by the coincidence of Bragg diffraction peaks of the structure and minima in the form factor of the particles. Here, we demonstrate a general strategy to overcome this problem that is applicable to all low-dimensional structures. This approach is demonstrated in the application of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) for the characterization of monolayers of colloidal silica superballs prepared using the unidirectional rubbing method. In this method, the ordering of the colloidal superballs is achieved by mechanically rubbing them onto a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated surface. Using three differently shaped superballs, ranging from spherical to almost cubic, we show that certain Bragg peaks may not appear in the diffraction patterns due to the presence of minima in the form factor. We show that these missing Bragg peaks can be visualized by imaging the colloidal monolayers at various orientations. Moreover, we argue that the same strategy can be applied to other techniques, such as neutron scattering.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app11115117