Quantitative 3D real-space analysis of Laves phase supraparticles

Da Wang (), Ernest B. Wee, Daniele Zanaga, Thomas Altantzis, Yaoting Wu, Tonnishtha Dasgupta, Marjolein Dijkstra, Christopher B. Murray, Sara Bals and Alfons Blaaderen ()
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Da Wang: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University
Ernest B. Wee: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University
Daniele Zanaga: Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp
Thomas Altantzis: Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp
Yaoting Wu: Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
Tonnishtha Dasgupta: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University
Marjolein Dijkstra: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University
Christopher B. Murray: Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
Sara Bals: Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp
Alfons Blaaderen: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Assembling binary mixtures of nanoparticles into crystals, gives rise to collective properties depending on the crystal structure and the individual properties of both species. However, quantitative 3D real-space analysis of binary colloidal crystals with a thickness of more than 10 layers of particles has rarely been performed. Here we demonstrate that an excess of one species in the binary nanoparticle mixture suppresses the formation of icosahedral order in the self-assembly in droplets, allowing the study of bulk-like binary crystal structures with a spherical morphology also called supraparticles. As example of the approach, we show single-particle level analysis of over 50 layers of Laves phase binary crystals of hard-sphere-like nanoparticles using electron tomography. We observe a crystalline lattice composed of a random mixture of the Laves phases. The number ratio of the binary species in the crystal lattice matches that of a perfect Laves crystal. Our methodology can be applied to study the structure of a broad range of binary crystals, giving insights into the structure formation mechanisms and structure-property relations of nanomaterials.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24227-0

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