Abstract
In this chapter the sedimentation of hollow silica cubes into dense packings is investigated. The effect of the Debye screening length on the close-packed structures as well as on sedimentation behavior is studied. The sediment structures are characterized in detail using small angle X-ray scattering. Remarkably, despite their rapid sedimentation the cubes order into a dense structure with both translational and orientational ordering. The structure consists of layers of cubes aligned against the capillary walls. The layers possess rhombic intra-layer ordering described by the Λ1-lattice as predicted for 2D rounded cube structures and are stacked with an ABA type stacking.
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Acknowledgments
Antara Pal is thanked for useful discussions and contributions to the data analysis. The Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) is acknowledged for the provided beam-time. Anke Leferink op Reinink and Joost Wolters are thanked for their assistance during the SAXS measurements. The whole DUBBLE team and especially Guiseppe Portale and Daniel Hermida Merino are thanked for their excellent support during the SAXS measurements.
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Appendix
Appendix
1.1 A.1 Form Factor Contributions in Different Directions
For the high q features in the 2D SAXS patterns shown in Fig. 8.11a, good form factor fits were obtained using Eq. (6.2) for that of a shell. For the vertical peaks (Fig. 8.11b) a shell with an inner diameter D 1 = 1.37 μm and outer diameter D 2 = 1.47 μm was found to provide a good match. These diameters correspond to the precursor hematite cube and hollow silica cube face diagonals, L, as determined via Eq. (5.2). For the diagonal peaks (Fig. 8.11c) a shell with D 1 = 1.18 μm and D 2 = 1.27 μm provided the best match, which correspond to the edge lengths D of the cubes (see Sect. 8.2.1). These form factor fits indicate that the cubes are oriented with one face against the capillary walls and the the face diagonal is alligned to the capillary length and gravity.
a 2D SAXS pattern of sample T in the single crystal region. b Vertical profile fitted with P(q)shell based on the long diagonal L. c Diagonal profile along high q features fitted with P(q)shell for the edge length D as well as P(q)shell for L, which have different minima
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Meijer, JM. (2015). Self-assembly of Colloidal Cubes Induced by Sedimentation. In: Colloidal Crystals of Spheres and Cubes in Real and Reciprocal Space. Springer Theses. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14809-0_8
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