In situ X-ray scattering observation of two-dimensional interfacial colloidal crystallization

Longlong Wu, Xiao Wang, Geng Wang and Gang Chen ()
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Longlong Wu: ShanghaiTech University
Xiao Wang: ShanghaiTech University
Geng Wang: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Gang Chen: ShanghaiTech University

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Charged colloids at interfaces hold such a simple configuration that their interactions are supposed to be fully elucidated in the framework of classical electrostatics, yet the mysterious existence of attractive forces between these like-charged particles has puzzled the scientific community for decades. Here, we perform the in situ grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering study of the dynamic self-assembling process of two-dimensional interfacial colloids. This approach allows simultaneous monitoring of the in-plane structure and ordering and the out-of-plane immersion depth variation. Upon compression, the system undergoes multiple metastable intermediate states before the stable hexagonal close-packed monolayer forms under van der Waals attraction. Remarkably, the immersion depth of colloidal particles is found to increase as the interparticle distance decreases. Numerical simulations demonstrate the interface around a colloid is deformed by the electrostatic force from its neighboring particles, which induces the long-range capillary attraction.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03767-y

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