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Facile Fabrication of Anisotropic Colloidal Particles with Controlled Shapes and Shape Dependence of Their Elastic Properties
Author(s) -
Zheng Lu,
Huang Peng,
Zhang Lijing,
Guo Dan,
Yan Qingfeng
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
particle and particle systems characterization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-4117
pISSN - 0934-0866
DOI - 10.1002/ppsc.201600119
Subject(s) - microscale chemistry , fabrication , materials science , anisotropy , colloid , particle (ecology) , elastic modulus , nanotechnology , polymer , colloidal particle , nanoparticle , chemical physics , composite material , chemical engineering , optics , chemistry , physics , medicine , oceanography , alternative medicine , mathematics , mathematics education , pathology , geology , engineering
A facile technique with only one step for fabrication of anisotropic colloidal particles at the air/water interface is demonstrated. Anisotropic colloidal particles with controlled shapes can be easily obtained by tuning the incubation time in solvent vapor at room temperature. The formation of separate anisotropic particles is attributed to the lateral stretch on the particles by the interfacial forces and repulsion among the neighboring particles by the generation of the polymer solution flows. To further explain the proposed formation mechanism of the colloidal particles with shape anisotropy, an in situ experiment is designed for direct observation of the arrangement change of the colloidal particles. This fabrication technique is general and applicable to polymer colloidal particles with various initial sizes ranging from microscale to nanoscale. Moreover, the elastic properties of the anisotropic colloidal particles are measured which exhibit a prominent change with different shapes and the change trend of the elastic moduli is similar for particles with different original sizes. This work provides a versatile approach for fabrication of anisotropic colloidal particles with tunable shapes and sizes and establishes the interplay between particle shape and elastic property, which is much valuable for further research on the effect of particle parameters on drug delivery process.