We successfully fabricated large grains of silica colloidal crystals in an inverted-triangle internal-shaped container (inverted-triangle container) by centrifugation. The largest grain in the container was much larger than that in a container which has a flat bottom and constant width (flat-bottomed container). The edged bottom of the inverted-triangle container eliminated the number of the grains, and then the broadened shape of the container effectively widened the grains.
We show the possibility of unidirectional freezing of colloidal random suspensions as a novel method for growing colloidal crystals. First we confirmed the rejection of polystyrene particles from unidirectionally growing ice-water interfaces by observing color gradations of colloidal crystals formed in front of the interfaces. The rejection of particles ColloidalCrystallizationByFreezing-Manuscript_Rev 06.doc Click here to view linked References 2 from the growing interfaces increased particle concentration in the colloidal crystals. Then we succeeded in achieving colloidal crystallization in front of ice-water interfaces during the unidirectional freezing of water suspensions of polystyrene particles. The colloidal crystals thus obtained exhibited a columnar shape that is typically observed in the unidirectional colloidal crystallization using centrifugation.
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