Shaping nanoparticle fingerprints at the interface of cholesteric droplets

Abstract

Nanoparticles are organized into tunable, periodic patterns by controlling interfacial assembly with cholesteric liquid crystals.

Interfacial Activity of Amine‐Functionalized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes (POSS): A Simple Strategy To Structure Liquids

“…Nanoparticle assemblies at liquid–liquid interfaces open new horizons for the generation of structured liquids, a new concept in materials, which have unique optical, magnetic, and electronic properties. The interfacial assembly of nanoparticles is dictated by a minimization of the Helmholtz free energy.…”

Interfacial Activity of Amine‐Functionalized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes (POSS): A Simple Strategy To Structure Liquids

“…new horizons for the generation of structured liquids,anew concept in materials, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] which have unique optical, [10][11][12][13][14] magnetic, [15,16] and electronic [16][17][18][19] properties.T he interfacial assembly of nanoparticles is dictated by aminimization of the Helmholtz free energy.T he energy difference DE must be negative to reduce the total free energy.Contributions to the interfacial energy arise from the interfacial tensions of the particle-oil (g P/O ), particle-water (g P/W ), and oil-water (g O/W ) interfaces. DE for asingle particle at the oil-water interface is given by Eq.…”

“…Thet ime dependence of the interfacial tension and the equilibrium interfacial tension as afunction of pH are shown in Figure 3. POSS-8A is interfacially active over the full pH range studied here (pH [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Under acidic conditions (pH 4), POSS-8A is Figure 2.…”

“…

Amine-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS), the smallest, monodisperse cage-shaped silica cubic nanoparticle,i se xceptionally interfacially active and can form assemblies that jam the toluene/water interface, locking in non-equilibrium shapes of one liquid phase in another.T he packing density of the amine-functionalized POSS assembly at the water/toluene interface can be tuned by varying the concentration, the pH value,a nd the degree of POSS functionalization. Functionalized POSS gives ah igher interface coverage,and hence alower interfacial tension, than nanoparticle surfactants formed by interactions between functionalized nanoparticles and polymeric ligands.H ydrogenbonded POSS surfactants are more stable at the interface, offering some unique advantages for generating Pickering emulsions over typical micron-sized colloidal particles and ligand-stabilized nanoparticle surfactants.

Nanoparticle assemblies at liquid-liquid interfaces opennew horizons for the generation of structured liquids,anew concept in materials, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] which have unique optical, [10][11][12][13][14] magnetic, [15,16] and electronic [16][17][18][19] properties.T he interfacial assembly of nanoparticles is dictated by aminimization of the Helmholtz free energy.T he energy difference DE must be negative to reduce the total free energy.Contributions to the interfacial energy arise from the interfacial tensions of the particle-oil (g P/O ), particle-water (g P/W ), and oil-water (g O/W ) interfaces. DE for asingle particle at the oil-water interface is given by Eq.

…”

Optical Textures and Orientational Structures in Cholesteric Droplets with Conical Boundary Conditions

“…Recently, the droplet dispersions of liquid crystals (LCs) in a solid or liquid matrix attract more interest of researchers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. The optical properties of such materials depend on the orientational structures (director configurations) formed in LC droplets [6].…”