Search results for "Colloid"
showing 10 items of 1288 documents
Unusual crystallization kinetics in a hard sphere colloid-polymer mixture.
2008
We investigated the crystallization kinetics of a hard sphere colloid-polymer mixture at conditions where about 95% of solid coexists with about 5% of fluid. From time resolved Bragg and small angle light scattering, we find that the crystallite size increases with a power law of exponent alpha approximately 1/3 during both the conversion and the coarsening stage. This observation points to a single conserved order parameter for both stages and cannot be explained if the mixture is regarded as an effective one-component system. We alternatively suggest that--based on local geometric demixing--the polymer density takes the role of the conserved order parameter.
Re-entrant glass transition in a colloid-polymer mixture with depletion attractions.
2002
Performing light scattering experiments we show that introducing short-ranged attraction to a colloidal suspension of nearly hard spheres by addition of free polymer produces new glass transition phenomena. We observe a dramatic acceleration of the density fluctuations amounting to the melting of a colloidal glass. Increasing the strength of the attractions the system freezes into another nonergodic state sharing some qualitative features with gel states occurring at lower colloid packing fractions. This reentrant glass transition is in qualitative agreement with recent theoretical predictions.
Controlling the wetting properties of the Asakura-Oosawa model and applications to spherical confinement.
2012
We demonstrate for the Asakura-Oosawa model and an extension of this model that uses continuous rather than hard potentials, how wetting properties at walls can be easily controlled. By increasing the interaction range of the repulsive wall potential acting on the colloids (while keeping the polymer-wall interactions constant) polymers begin to substitute colloids at walls and the system can be driven from complete wetting of colloids via partial wetting to complete wetting of polymers. As an application, we discuss the morphology and wetting behavior of colloid-polymer mixtures in spherical confinement. We apply the recently developed 'ensemble switch method' where the Hamiltonian is exten…
(Co-)solvent selection for single-wall carbon nanotubes: best solvents, acids, superacids and guest-host inclusion complexes.
2011
Analysis of 1-octanol-water, cyclohexane-water and chloroform (CHCl(3))-water partition coefficients P(o-ch-cf) allows calculation of molecular lipophilicity patterns, which show that for a given atom log P(o-ch-cf) is sensitive to the presence of functional groups. Program CDHI does not properly differentiate between non-equivalent atoms. The most abundant single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT), (10,10), presents a relatively small aqueous solubility and large elementary polarizability, P(o-ch-cf) and kinetic stability. The SWNT solubility is studied in various solvents, finding a class of non-hydrogen-bonding Lewis bases with good solubility. Solvents group into three classes. The SWNTs in so…
Physicochemical Properties of Copper(II) Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Sulfosuccinate Reversed Micelles
1998
Abstract Measurements of some physicochemical properties (density, viscosity, conductance, UV–vis spectra, IR spectra) of the water/copper(II) bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (Cu(DEHSS) 2 )/CCl 4 microemulsions, at a fixed surfactant molal concentration ([Cu (DEHSS) 2 ] = 0.05003 mol kg −1 ), as function of the molar ratio R ( R = [water]/[DEHSS − ]) have been performed at 25°C. Information on some structural and dynamical properties of the water-containing Cu(DEHSS) 2 reversed micelles and of their evolution with R are derived from the experimental results. The comparison with the same properties of water-containing sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate reversed micelles allows to evide…
FT-IR and nuclear overhauser enhancement study of the state of urea confined in AOT-reversed micelles
2003
Abstract The system urea/sodium-bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) dispersed in CCl 4 and benzene-d6 was investigated by viscosimetry, FT-IR and high-resolution 1 H NMR spectroscopy, as a function of urea/AOT molar ratio ( R urea ) at fixed AOT molal concentration (0.3467 mol kg −1 ) and as a function of AOT concentration at fixed R urea (0.5) at 25 °C. The experimental data are consistent with the hypothesis that urea is encapsulated as small-size hydrogen-bonded cluster in the hydrophilic micellar core of the AOT-reversed micelles and that this structure is maintained well above the volume fraction of the dispersed phase, where a percolative transition occurs. Intermolecular nuclear ov…
Self-assembly and anion encapsulation properties of cavitand-based coordination cages.
2001
Two novel classes of cavitand-based coordination cages 7a--j and 8a--d have been synthesized via self-assembly procedures. The main factors controlling cage self-assembly (CSA) have been identified in (i) a P--M--P angle close to 90 degrees between the chelating ligand and the metal precursor, (ii) Pd and Pt as metal centers, (iii) a weakly coordinated counterion, and (iv) preorganization of the tetradentate cavitand ligand. Calorimetric measurements and dynamic (1)H and (19)F NMR experiments indicated that CSA is entropy driven. The temperature range of the equilibrium cage-oligomers is determined by the level of preorganization of the cavitand component. The crystal structure of cage 7d r…
Morphology control in biphasic hybrid systems of semiconducting materials.
2015
Simple blends of inorganic nanocrystals and organic (semiconducting) polymers usually lead to macroscopic segregation. Thus, such blends typically exhibit inferior properties than expected. To overcome the problem of segregation, polymer coated nanocrystals (nanocomposites) have been developed. Such nanocomposites are highly miscible within the polymer matrix. In this Review, a summary of synthetic approaches to achieve stable nanocomposites in a semiconducting polymer matrix is presented. Furthermore, a theoretical background as well as an overview concerning morphology control of inorganic NCs in polymer matrices are provided. In addition, the morphologic behavior of highly anisotropic na…
Chemical Approach to Functional Artificial Opals
2007
Artificial opals are self-assembled colloidal crystals, which consist of a cubic dense packing (fcc) of hard (not film-forming) colloids with diameters ranging from 200 to 900 nm. Because of their periodic nanostructure the assemblies are able to reflect light that matches their periodicity, i.e., UV- to IR-radiation depending on the size of the colloids. Thus, they present a subgroup of 'photonic crystals'. While, originally, the chemistry inside the colloids and the resulting opals was of minor significance, nowadays the chemical variation of opals is becoming more and more important for the preparation of functional and patterned opals. The search for functional opals is, therefore, espe…
Living Light-Induced Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly for Rapid Preparation of Semiconducting Nanofibers.
2018
Well-defined nanostructures composed of conjugated polymers have attracted significant attention due to their intriguing electronic and optical properties. However, precise control of the size and uniformity of these semiconducting nanostructures is still rare and challenging, despite recent advances in strategies to obtain self-assembled nanostructures with narrow dispersions. Herein, we demonstrate the preparation of fluorescent conjugated block copolymers by one-shot polymerization and rapid formation of nanofibers in a few minutes via light-induced crystallization-driven self-assembly, driven by facile cis-to- trans photoisomerization of its poly( p-phenylenevinylene) blocks. Furthermor…