The forces at work in colloidal self-assembly: a review on fundamental interactions between colloidal particles

Colloidal particles with well-defined sizes can self-assemble into ordered, crystalline structures under non-equilibrium conditions. This phenomenon originates from the various forces acting upon them. In this article, we provide an overview on the forces at work in a colloidal system, in particular, the roles of these forces at various stages in colloidal self-assembly. Van der Waals, electrostatic, hydrodynamic, and capillary forces, as well as Brownian motions, are extensively discussed, whereas other types of interactions are briefly introduced and summarized.

[1]  D. A. Saville,et al.  Field-Induced Layering of Colloidal Crystals , 1996, Science.

[2]  Zuocheng Zhou,et al.  Inward-growing self-assembly of colloidal crystal films on horizontal substrates. , 2005, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[3]  Zbigniew Adamczyk,et al.  Application of the DLVO theory for particle deposition problems , 1999 .

[4]  Håkan Wennerström,et al.  Role of hydration and water structure in biological and colloidal interactions , 1996, Nature.

[5]  O. Park,et al.  Three‐Dimensional Self‐Assembly of Colloids at a Water–Air Interface: A Novel Technique for the Fabrication of Photonic Bandgap Crystals , 2002 .

[6]  D A Saville,et al.  Electrically guided assembly of planar superlattices in binary colloidal suspensions. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[7]  J. Aizenberg,et al.  Patterned colloidal deposition controlled by electrostatic and capillary forces. , 2000, Physical review letters.

[8]  P. Kralchevsky,et al.  Capillary forces and structuring in layers of colloid particles , 2001 .

[9]  Geoffrey A. Ozin,et al.  Self‐Assembled Surface Patterns of Binary Colloidal Crystals , 2003 .

[10]  David G. Grier,et al.  Like-charge attractions in metastable colloidal crystallites , 1997, Nature.

[11]  T. Dupont,et al.  Capillary flow as the cause of ring stains from dried liquid drops , 1997, Nature.

[12]  J. Hansen,et al.  Effective interactions between electric double layers. , 2000, Annual review of physical chemistry.

[13]  Barry W. Ninham,et al.  On Progress in Forces Since the DLVO Theory , 1999 .

[14]  H. C. Hamaker.  The London—van der Waals attraction between spherical particles , 1937 .

[15]  Norio Ise,et al.  On the electrostatic interaction in macroionic solutions , 1984 .

[16]  D. A. Saville,et al.  Colloidal Dispersions: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS , 1989 .

[17]  Barry W. Ninham,et al.  Effect of divalent electrolyte on the hydrophobic attraction , 1990 .

[18]  David G. Grier,et al.  VIDEO MICROSCOPY OF MONODISPERSE COLLOIDAL SYSTEMS , 1996 .

[19]  Hideyuki Yoshimura,et al.  Mechanism of formation of two-dimensional crystals from latex particles on substrates , 1992 .

[20]  Brenner,et al.  Like-charge attraction and hydrodynamic interaction , 2000, Physical review letters.

[21]  Hiroyuki Nishikawa,et al.  Self-Assembling Process of Colloidal Particles into Two-Dimensional Arrays Induced by Capillary Immersion Force: A Simulation Study With Discrete Element Method , 2003 .

[22]  Yurii A. Vlasov,et al.  Synthesis of Photonic Crystals for Optical Wavelengths from Semiconductor Quantum Dots , 1999 .

[23]  Likui Wang,et al.  The Effects of Surfactants on the Morphology of Colloidal Crystals in Self-assembly , 2006 .

[24]  Phil Attard,et al.  Nanobubbles: the big picture , 2002 .

[25]  Gunnar Glasser,et al.  Parameters influencing the templated growth of colloidal crystals on chemically patterned surfaces. , 2004, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[26]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Self-Assembly of Mesoscale Objects into Ordered Two-Dimensional Arrays , 1997, Science.

[27]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Self-Assembly at All Scales , 2002, Science.

[28]  Adel O. Sharif,et al.  Long-range electrostatic attraction between like-charge spheres in a charged pore , 1998, Nature.

[29]  Richard M. Pashley,et al.  Dlvo and hydration forces between mica surfaces in Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ chloride solutions , 1984 .

[30]  H. Christenson,et al.  Forces between fluorocarbon surfactant monolayers: salt effects on the hydrophobic interaction , 1989 .

[31]  Vo-Van Truong,et al.  High-quality colloidal photonic crystals obtained by optimizing growth parameters in a vertical deposition technique , 2004 .

[32]  Richard M. Pashley,et al.  Hydration forces between mica surfaces in electrolyte solutions , 1982 .

[33]  Sader,et al.  Electrical Double-Layer Interaction between Charged Particles near Surfaces and in Confined Geometries. , 1999, Journal of colloid and interface science.

[34]  Wei Wang,et al.  Self-assembly of two- and three-dimensional particle arrays by manipulating the hydrophobicity of silica nanospheres. , 2005, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[35]  I. Shimoyama,et al.  Two-dimensional micro-self-assembly using the surface tension of water , 1996 .

[36]  Fraden,et al.  Attractive potential between confined colloids at low ionic strength. , 1994, Physical review letters.

[37]  Wolfgang Knoll,et al.  Preparation of multilayered trimodal colloid crystals and binary inverse opals. , 2006, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[38]  K. Nagayama,et al.  Capillary interactions between particles bound to interfaces, liquid films and biomembranes. , 2000, Advances in colloid and interface science.

[39]  Zuocheng Zhou,et al.  Evolution of interparticle capillary forces during drying of colloidal crystals. , 2006, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[40]  Richard M. Pashley,et al.  Hydration forces between mica surfaces in aqueous electrolyte solutions , 1981 .

[41]  Phil Attard,et al.  BUBBLES, CAVITIES, AND THE LONG-RANGED ATTRACTION BETWEEN HYDROPHOBIC SURFACES , 1994 .

[42]  Kuniaki Nagayama,et al.  Capillary forces between colloidal particles , 1994 .

[43]  Christian Krüger,et al.  The effect of polar, nonpolar, and electrostatic interactions and wetting behavior on the particle assembly at patterned surfaces , 2002 .

[44]  Masanobu Sakamoto,et al.  Attraction between hydrophobic surfaces with and without gas phase , 2000 .

[45]  D. Grier,et al.  When Like Charges Attract: The Effects of Geometrical Confinement on Long-Range Colloidal Interactions. , 1996, Physical review letters.

[46]  Richard M. Pashley,et al.  DLVO and hydration forces between mica surfaces in Li+, Na+, K+, and Cs+ electrolyte solutions: A correlation of double-layer and hydration forces with surface cation exchange properties , 1981 .

[47]  I. B. Ivanov,et al.  Two-dimensional crystallization , 1993, Nature.