hard X-ray microscopy of self-assembly in colloidal suspensions

• Published in: RSC advances 2013-08, Vol.3 (36), p.1567-15677
• Main Authors: Byelov, Dmytro V, Meijer, Janne-Mieke, Snigireva, Irina, Snigirev, Anatoly, Rossi, Laura, van den Pol, Esther, Kuijk, Anke, Philipse, Albert, Imhof, Arnout, van Blaaderen, Alfons, Vroege, Gert Jan, Petukhov, Andrei V
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c3ra41223g

An experimental setup combining full-field transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) and microradian X-ray diffraction (μradXRD) is tested for the in situ study of self-organization of colloidal dispersions of anisotropic particles. Averaged structural information of the samples is determined by μradXRD and local morphology is determined by TXM. Utilization of hard X-rays (12.2 keV) and the ease of switching from diffraction mode to microscopy mode makes such a setup a unique tool, especially for the study of opaque colloidal systems. We demonstrate diffraction patterns together with real space images of the following morphologies: smectic structures in the sediment of colloidal silica rods, the reorientation of a smectic phase of goethite particles in an elevated magnetic field and an interface region between isotropic and ordered phases in a dispersion of colloidal hematite cubes. Full-field transmission hard X-ray microscopy allows in situ study of local morphologies of opaque, bulky and highly adsorbing samples as illustrated here by the sediment of hematite colloidal cubes.