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Metastable Self‐Assembly of Theta‐Shaped Colloids and Twinning of Their Crystal Phases
Author(s) -
Wang Linna,
Lu Jiawei,
Liu Bing
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201908256
Subject(s) - crystal twinning , metastability , chemical physics , crystallography , crystal (programming language) , materials science , particle (ecology) , self assembly , anisotropy , colloid , phase (matter) , colloidal particle , condensed matter physics , nanotechnology , chemistry , physics , optics , microstructure , oceanography , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language , geology
Anisotropic colloids self‐assemble into different crystal structures compared to spherical colloids. Exploring and understanding their self‐assembly behavior could lead to creation of new materials with hierarchical structures through a bottom‐up process. Herein, we report metastable self‐assembly of theta‐shaped SiO 2 colloids interacting with a depletion force in a quasi‐two‐dimensional space and we demonstrate that both a metastable “prone” crystal phase and a stable “standing” crystal phase can be formed, depending on the self‐assembly path. Path selection stems from an interplay between particle–particle interactions and particle–wall interactions. In particular, a twinning of the metastable crystals was observed and two twinning mirror axes were found. A variety of complex twinned crystals were formed by each individual mirror axis or their combinations.