We present a robust and straightforward approach for fabricating a novel colloidosome system where colloidal particles are assembled to form colloidal shells on the surface of stimuli-responsive microgel scaffolds. We demonstrate that the structural properties of the colloidal shells can be controlled through the colloidal particle size and modulus, and the state of supporting microgel particle...

Colloidosomes are aqueous cores surrounded by a shell composed of packed colloidal particles. Recent studies suggest that these colloidal shells reduce, or even inhibit, the transport of molecular species (diffusants). However, the effect of the colloidal shell on transport is unclear: In some cases, the reduction in transport of diffusants through the shell was found to be independent of the s...

We developed a simple method to fabricate colloidal crystal heterostructures (CCHs) with two or three stacked poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particle two-dimensional (2D) colloidal monolayer arrays of different particle spacings that independently diffract light. The 2D colloidal monolayer arrays of PMMA were prepared by using the air/water interface self-assembly method we recently developed...

Defect control in colloidal crystals is essential for these nanostructures to be effective as photonic bandgap (PBG) materials. We have used in-situ monitoring of the PBG of a colloidal crystal to study the structural changes during colloidal self assembly, with a focus on the formation of macroscopic defects such as cracks. These findings allow us to model the final stages of colloidal self as...

Applications for photonic crystals and metamaterials put stringent requirements on the characteristics of advanced optical materials, demanding tunability, high Q factors, applicability in visible range, and large-scale self-assembly. Exploiting the interplay between structural and optical properties, colloidal lattices embedded in liquid crystals (LCs) are promising candidates for such materia...

Colloidal clay in water suspensions are known to exhibit a multitude of bulk phases depending on initial colloidal concentration and ionic strength, and examples of this include repulsive Wigner colloidal glasses at low ionic strength and attractive gels at higher ionic strength due to screened electrostatic forces by the electrolyte. From confocal Raman microscopy combined with elasticity meas...

Crack formation is a frequent result of residual stress release from colloidal films made by the evaporation of colloidal droplets containing nanoparticles. Crack prevention is a significant task in industrial applications such as painting and inkjet printing with colloidal nanoparticles. Here, we illustrate how colloidal drops evaporate and how crack generation is dependent on the particle siz...

We perform a linearization of the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) density functional for spherical WignerSeitz cells that yields Debye-Hückel-like equations agreeing asymptotically with the PB results in the weak-coupling (high-temperature) limit. Both the canonical (fixed number of microions) as well as the semi-grand-canonical (in contact with an infinite salt reservoir) cases are considered and discu...