Two-step crystallization and solid-solid transitions in binary colloidal mixtures.

ABSTRACT: Crystallization is fundamental to materials science and is central to a variety of applications, ranging from the fabrication of silicon wafers for microelectronics to the determination of protein structures. The basic picture is that a crystal nucleates from a homogeneous fluid by a spontaneous fluctuation that kicks the system over a single free-energy barrier. However, it is becoming apparent that nucleation is often more complicated than this simple picture and, instead, can proceed via multiple transformations of metastable structures along the pathway to the thermodynamic minimum. In this article, we observe, characterize, and model crystallization pathways using DNA-coated colloids. We use optical microscopy to investigate the crystallization of a binary colloidal mixture with singl

SUBMITTER: Fang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7668103 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature