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Chains of cubic colloids at fluid–fluid interfaces†
Carmine Anzivino,Giuseppe Soligno,René van Roij,Marjolein Dijkstra
Soft Matter Pub Date : 11/26/2020 00:00:00 , DOI:10.1039/D0SM01815E
Abstract

Inspired by recent experimental observations of spontaneous chain formation of cubic particles adsorbed at a fluid–fluid interface, we theoretically investigate whether capillary interactions can be responsible for this self-assembly process. We calculate adsorption energies, equilibrium particle orientations, and interfacial deformations, not only for a variety of contact angles but also for single cubes as well as an infinite 2D lattice of cubes at the interface. This allows us to construct a ground-state phase diagram as a function of areal density for several contact angles, and upon combining the capillary energy of a 2D lattice with a simple expression for the entropy of a 2D fluid we also construct temperature–density or size–density phase diagrams that exhibit large two-phase regions and triple points. We identify several regimes with stable chainlike structures, in line with the experimental observations.

Graphical abstract: Chains of cubic colloids at fluid–fluid interfaces
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