No abstract

92 bead colloids are used to study the self-assembly of large surface anistropic particles.

Hypothesis Inverse patchy colloids (IPCs) are promising building blocks to create new materials using their self-organization. For example, the control of the self-assembly of oxide-based IPCs is interesting for ceramic shaping. Thus, the synthesis of silica based IPCs as well as a detailed study of their behavior in suspension are presented in this paper. Experiments Fluorescent silica particles are partially modified in surface by grafting amine groups using a Pickering emulsion route. Zeta potential measurements, sedimentation tests and confocal microscopy observations are carried out to analyze the aggregation of the obtained particles in aqueous suspension as a function of the patch size and of the pH. Brownian dynamics simulations are also performed to better understand the aggregate structures. Findings The aggregation of the synthesized silica-based IPCs can be tuned by modifying both the patch size and the pH of the suspensions. Different aggregate structures, from elongated to compact ones, are obtained. This control of aggregation makes such particles promising to build new ceramic materials.

No abstract