Da Wang1,2,Ernest van der Wee1,Tonnishtha Dasgupta1,Michiel Hermes1,Thomas Altantzis2,Daniele Zanaga2,Yaoting Wu3,Daniel Arenas Esteban2,Ajinkya Anil Kadu2,Luis Liz-Marzan4,Christopher Murray3,Marjolein Dijkstra1,Sara Bals2,Alfons van Blaaderen1
Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University1,Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp2,Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States3,CIC biomaGUNE, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain4
Da Wang1,2,Ernest van der Wee1,Tonnishtha Dasgupta1,Michiel Hermes1,Thomas Altantzis2,Daniele Zanaga2,Yaoting Wu3,Daniel Arenas Esteban2,Ajinkya Anil Kadu2,Luis Liz-Marzan4,Christopher Murray3,Marjolein Dijkstra1,Sara Bals2,Alfons van Blaaderen1
Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University1,Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp2,Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States3,CIC biomaGUNE, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain4
The synthesis of monodisperse colloidal particles with controllable size, shape, composition, interaction which act as “artificial atoms” has progressed significantly in the past decades. Studies on the self-assembly of multicomponent colloidal particles with controllable size, component and properties provides insight into the fundamental understanding of formation of hierarchical matter on multiple length scales and bring new opportunities for structuring functional materials with collective and synergistic properties on mesoscale. Here, we will demonstrate that slow drying emulsion droplets containing colloidal particles is a robust way to make hierarchical superstructures, the so-called supraparticles [1] (particles made of particles), which can be applied as building blocks for further step self-assembly. We show that both single component and binary sized colloids interacting with a hard interaction potential self-assembly in a spherical confinement leads to equilibrium phases with icosahedral symmetry when supraparticles are composed of 100,000 particles, which are different from bulk stable structures [1,2]. Intriguingly, an excess of one species in the binary colloidal mixture negates the spherical confinement effect, leading to a bulk-like crystal with a spherical geometry [3]. Moreover, the interplay between the flat facets, sharp corners of convex-shaped hard colloidal particles and spherical confinement can be used to tune both positional- and orientational order of the building blocks in 3D [4]. Quantitative electron tomography allows us to track both positions and orientations of colloidal building blocks at a single particle scale [1-4]. By integrating experiments and computer simulations, we can understand the underlying driving force for the formation of supraparticles. Going one step further, we will outlook the possibility of characterizing 3D structures of colloidal self-assemblies in a realistic condition, which is expected to be beneficial for structure analysis of beam-sensitive materials.<br/><br/>References<br/>[1] B. de Nijs, S. Dussi, F. Smallenburg, J. D. Meeldijk, D. J. Groenendijk, L. Filion, A. Imhof, A, van Blaaderen and M. Dijkstra, <i>Nat. Mater.</i>, 14, 50 (2015).<br/>[2] D. Wang, T. Dasgupta, E. B. van der Wee, D. Zanaga, T. Altantzis, Y. Wu, G. M. Coli, C. B. Murray, S. Bals, M. Dijkstra and A. van Blaaderen, <i>Nat. Phys.</i>, 17, 128 (2021).<br/>[3] D. Wang, E. B. van der Wee, D. Zanaga, T. Altantzis, Y. Wu, T. Dasgupta, M. Dijkstra, C. B. Murray, S. Bals, and A. van Blaaderen, <i>Nat. Commun.</i>, 12, 3980 (2021).<br/>[4] D. Wang, M. Hermes, R. Kotni, Y. Wu, N. Tasios, Y. Liu, B. de Dijs, E. B. van der Wee, C. B. Murray, M. Dijkstra and A. van Blaaderen, <i>Nat. Commun.</i>, 9, 2228 (2018).