Accessing the free expansion of a crystalline colloidal drop by optical experiments.
Soft Matter
; 20(41): 8185-8197, 2024 Oct 23.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39189313
ABSTRACT
We study poly-crystalline spherical drops of an aqueous suspension of highly charged colloidal spheres exposed to a colloid-free aqueous environment. Crystal contours were obtained from standard optical imaging. The crystal spheres first expand to nearly four times their initial volume before slowly shrinking due to dilution-induced melting. Exploiting coherent multiple-scattering by (110) Bragg reflecting crystals, time-dependent density profiles were recorded within the drop interior. These show a continuously flattening radial density gradient and a decreasing central density. Expansion curves and density profiles are qualitatively consistent with theoretical expectations based on dynamical density functional theory for the expansion of a spherical crystallite made of charged Brownian spheres. We anticipate that our study opens novel experimental access to density determination in turbid crystals.
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1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Soft Matter
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Alemania
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido