Self-assembly of colloidal lattices at pickering emulsion interfaces

Date

2007-08

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Abstract

Self-assembly of colloidal lattices has been of tremendous interest due to their potential applications in advanced materials, sensors, and electro-optical devices. However, most research has been focused on lattices at the three-dimension level and much less is known at the two-dimensional level, especially at liquid-liquid interfaces. One of the challenges of forming two-dimensional colloidal lattices is the requirement of an effective experimental template. Here we use Pickering emulsions as a template to investigate the formation of colloidal lattices at polydimethylsiloxane-water interfaces. We have found that single species sulfate-treated polystyrene particles of 0.2 ìm, 1 ìm, and 4 ìm form ordered colloidal lattices at the oil-water interfaces. The colloidal particles oscillate around their equilibrium positions. We also found that the self-assembly of colloidal lattices at Pickering emulsions interfaces depends largely on the surface chemistry of the particles. Finally, we studied the influence of particle size, surface chemistry, concentration, and charge sign in self-assembly of heterogenous particles at oil-water interfaces.

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Keywords

Colloidal lattices, Emulsion interfaces, Pickering

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