How do polydisperse repulsive colloids crystallize?

Robert Botet (1) , Bernard Cabane (2) , Lucas Goehring (3) , Joaquim Li (3) , Franck Artzner (4, 5)

1 LPS - Laboratoire de Physique des Solides
2 LCMD - Laboratoire Colloïdes et Matériaux Divisés
3 MPIDS - Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
4 GMCM - Groupe matière condensée et matériaux
5 IPR - Institut de Physique de Rennes

A modified version of the Gibbs-ensemble Monte-Carlo method reveals how polydisperse charged colloidal particles can build complex colloidal crystals. It provides general rules that are applicable to this fractionated crystallization that stems from size segregation. It explains the spontaneous formation of complex crystals with very large unit-cells in suspensions of nanoparticles with a broad size distribution

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Robert Botet, Bernard Cabane, Lucas Goehring, Joaquim Li, Franck Artzner. How do polydisperse repulsive colloids crystallize?. Faraday Discussions, 2016, 186, pp.229-240. ⟨10.1039/c5fd00145e⟩. ⟨hal-01259510⟩