Fabrication, dynamics and self-assembly of anisotropic colloidal particles

"The self-assembly of colloidal particles into larger structures is of interest both scientifically and technologically. The range of possible structures that may be formed by isotropically-interacting spherical particles is narrow, encompassing only a few possibilities. To overcome this limitation, one can introduce one or more forms of anisotropy to the particles to guide their self-assembly.In this work, we study the fabrication and behavior of polymeric microparticles that are chemically- and shape-anisotropic. Single-component, rod-shaped particles are fabricated by stop-flow lithography (SFL) using either hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials. SFL is also used to fabricateJanus particles that incorporate both chemistries within a single particle. The dynamical behavior and self-assembly of these rods are investigated using fluorescence and confocal microscopy over a rangeof different aspect ratios and environmental conditions. We also developed image processing algorithms to enable the quantitative analysis of these data, adapting standard particle identification and tracking techniques to the analysis of rod-shaped colloids.Finally, we demonstrated the fabrication of colloidal particles with branched and more complex morphologies, and briefly studied the self-assembly of these ""patchy"" particles."

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Materials Science & Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Deconinck, Adam J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lewis, Jennifer A.

• colloids
• patchy particles
• self-assembly
• dynamics
• particle tracking

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2010 Adam J. DeConinck

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18385

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/18385