Fabrication of polyhedral particles from spherical colloids and their self-assembly into rotator phases.

ABSTRACT: Particle shape is a critical parameter that plays an important role in self-assembly, for example, in designing targeted complex structures with desired properties. Over the last decades, an unprecedented range of monodisperse nanoparticle systems with control over the shape of the particles have become available. In contrast, the choice of micrometer-sized colloidal building blocks of particles with flat facets, that is, particles with polygonal shapes, is significantly more limited. This can be attributed to the fact that in contrast to nanoparticles, the larger colloids are significantly harder to synthesize as single crystals. It is now shown that a very simple building block, such as a micrometer-sized polymeric spherical colloidal particle, is already enough to fabricate particles wi

SUBMITTER: Vutukuri HR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4502970 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature