Colloidal photonic crystals formation studied by real-time light diffraction.

ABSTRACT: Colloidal suspensions crystallize by a natural sedimentation process under certain conditions, the initial volume fraction being one of the parameters that govern this process. Here, we have developed a simple in-situ, real-time, optical characterization technique to study silica colloidal suspensions during natural sedimentation in order to shed new light on this crystallization process. This technique monitors small variations in the wavelength of the reflectance features, allowing the analysis of the formation of the first layers of the crystal with sub-nanometer precision, and their dynamics, which is crucial to ensure a high quality in the final sample. The experimental results indicate that, in certain range of volume fraction, spontaneous crystallization of a colloidal fluid

SUBMITTER: Pariente JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11501291 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature