Phase transformations in binary colloidal monolayers.

Effective Interactions and Phase Behavior of Colloidal Monolayers in the Presence of Light-Induced Substrate Potentials

Melting of colloidal crystal films.

We study melting mechanisms in single and polycrystalline colloidal films composed of diameter-tunable microgel spheres with short-ranged repulsive interactions and confined between two glass walls. Thick films (>4 layers), thin-films (≤4 layers), and monolayers exhibit different melting behaviors. Thick films melt from grain boundaries in polycrystalline solid films and from film-wall interfac...

Stability of fatty acid monolayers and the relationship between equilibrium spreading pressure, phase transformations, and polymorphic crystal forms.

Force-area isotherms were obtained for hexadecanoic, octadecanoic, eicosanoic, and docosanoic acid monolayers at different compression rates. Equilibrium spreading pressures were determined both by monolayer collapse and by spreading from the bulk phase. Monolayers formed metastable phases at all pressures above their equilibrium spreading pressures and at all surface areas smaller than the sur...

Theoretical calculation of the phase behavior of colloidal membranes.

We formulate a density functional theory that describes the phase behavior of hard rods and depleting polymers, as realized in recent experiments on suspensions of fd virus and nonadsorbing polymer. The theory predicts the relative stability of nematic droplets, stacked smectic columns, and a recently discovered phase of isolated monolayers of rods, or colloidal membranes. We find that a minimu...

Electrochemical detection of nanoscale phase separation in binary self-assembled monolayers.

Developing methods to probe the nature and structure of nanoscale environments continues to be a challenge in nanoscience. We report a cyclic voltammetry investigation of the internal, hydrogen-bond-driven phase separation of amide-containing thiols and alkanethiols. Amide-containing thiols with a terminal ferrocene carboxylate functional group were investigated in two binary monolayers, one ho...