Direction dependent diffusion of aligned magnetic rods by means of x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy

Self-diffusion in isotropic and liquid crystalline phases of fd virus colloidal rods: a combined single particle tracking and differential dynamic microscopy study

In this article, we investigate the dynamics of self-organised suspensions formed by rod-like fd virus colloids. Two methods have been employed for analysing fluorescence microscopy movies: single particle tracking (SPT) in direct space and differential dynamic microscopy (DDM) in reciprocal space. We perform a quantitative analysis on this anisotropic system with complex diffusion across different self-assembled states, ranging from dilute and semi-dilute liquids to nematic and smectic organisations. By leveraging the complementary strengths of SPT and DDM, we provide new insights in the dynamics of viral colloidal rods, such as long time diffusion coefficients in the smectic phase. We further discuss the advantages and limitations of both methods for studying the intricate dynamics of anisotropic colloidal systems.

Measuring Absolute Velocities from Nonequilibrium Oscillations via Single-Detector 3D Dynamic Light Scattering

Single-detector 3D dynamic light scattering (3D DLS) emerges as a reliable technique to determine the drift velocity of out-of-equilibrium colloidal particles. In particular, our investigation reveals the appearance of oscillations of a well-defined frequency in the autocorrelation function of the scattered intensity when particles are immersed in a medium exposed to thermally induced convection. These oscillations arise as a consequence of the directed motion of particles due to the convection of the fluid. The experimental results obtained for different colloidal systems are corroborated by a theoretical model and thoroughly validated with fluid dynamics and Brownian dynamics simulations. The excellent agreement between experimental, theoretical and simulation data allows us to provide a solid and comprehensive explanation of the observed physical phenomena. This Letter, using an advanced dynamic light scattering technique, offers insights into the field of nonequilibrium particle dynamics, applicable not only to colloidal suspensions affected by steady-state diffusion-convection but also to other nonequilibrium scenarios, such as systems driven by external fields (e.g., gravitational, electric or magnetic fields).

Dynamics of anisotropic colloidal systems: What to choose, DLS, DDM or XPCS?

Investigation of the dynamics of colloids in bulk can be hindered by issues such as multiple scattering and sample opacity. These challenges are exacerbated when dealing with inorganic materials. In this study, we employed a model system of Akaganeite colloidal rods to assess three leading dynamics measurement techniques: 3D-(depolarized) dynamic light scattering (3D-(D)DLS), polarized-differential dynamic microscopy (P-DDM), and x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS). Our analysis revealed that the translational and rotational diffusion coefficients captured by these methods show a remarkable alignment. Additionally, by examining the q-ranges and maximum volume fractions for each approach, we offer insights into the best technique for investigating the dynamics of anisotropic systems at the colloidal scale.

Orientational ordering and assembly of silica-nickel Janus particles in a magnetic field

The orientation ordering and assembly behavior of silica-nickel Janus particles in a static external magnetic field were probed by ultra small-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS). Even in a weak applied field, the net magnetic moments of the individual particles aligned in the direction of the field, as indicated by the anisotropy in the recorded USAXS patterns. X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) measurements on these suspensions revealed that the corresponding particle dynamics are primarily Brownian diffusion [Zinn, Sharpnack & Narayanan (2023). Soft Matter, 19, 2311-2318]. At higher fields, the magnetic forces led to chain-like configurations of particles, as indicated by an additional feature in the USAXS pattern. A theoretical framework is provided for the quantitative interpretation of the observed anisotropic scattering diagrams and the corresponding degree of orientation. No anisotropy was detected when the magnetic field was applied along the beam direction, which is also replicated by the model. The method presented here could be useful for the interpretation of oriented scattering patterns from a wide variety of particulate systems. The combination of USAXS and XPCS is a powerful approach for investigating asymmetric colloidal particles in external fields.

Heterodyne dynamic light scattering for the characterization of particle dispersions

Particle self-diffusivities in unimodal and bimodal aqueous dispersions are characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) applying a heterodyne detection scheme. For unimodal dispersions close to infinite dilution, it could be evidenced that pure homodyne conditions cannot be realized, leading to an increasing underestimation of diffusivity with a decreasing concentration. Even for bimodal dispersions and neglecting any local oscillator field, the coherent superposition of scattered light from different particle species hinders a clear assignment of the measured signals and their evaluation for diffusivity. In this case, the impact of a cross term on the determined diffusivities cannot be neglected. The results emphasize that the use of a heterodyne detection scheme in DLS experiments is a key aspect for an accurate determination of particle diffusivities in low-concentrated unimodal and bimodal dispersions.

Dynamics of magnetic Janus colloids studied by ultra small-angle X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy

The orientation behavior and the translational dynamics of spherical magnetic silica-nickel Janus colloids in an external magnetic field have been studied by small-angle X-ray scattering and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy at ultra small-angles. For weak applied fields and at low volume fractions, the particle dynamics is dominated by Brownian motion even though the net magnetic moments of the individual particles are aligned in the direction of the field as indicated by the anisotropy in the small-angle scattering patterns. For higher fields the magnetic forces result in more complex structural changes with nickel caps of Janus particles pointing predominantly along the applied magnetic field. The alignment ultimately leads to chain-like configurations and the intensity-intensity autocorrelation functions, g₂(q,t), show a second slower decay which becomes more pronounced at higher volume fractions. A direction dependent analysis of g₂(q,t) revealed a faster than exponential decay perpendicular to the field which is related to the sedimentation of magnetically ordered domains. The corresponding velocity fluctuations could be decoupled from the diffusion of particles by decomposing g₂(q,t) into advective and diffusive contributions. Finally, the particle dynamics becomes anisotropic at higher volume fractions and strong magnetic fields. The derived translational diffusion coefficients indicate slower particle dynamics perpendicular to the field as compared to the parallel direction.

Biomineral-Inspired Colloidal Liquid Crystals: From Assembly of Hybrids Comprising Inorganic Nanocrystals and Organic Polymer Components to Their Functionalization

Bioinspired organic/inorganic synthetic composites have been studied as high-performance and functional materials. In nature, biominerals such as pearls, teeth, and bones are self-organized organic/inorganic composites. The inorganic components are composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and hydroxyapatite (HAp), while the organic components consist of peptides and polysaccharides. These composites are used as structural materials in hard biological tissues. Biominerals do not show significantly higher performances than synthetic composites such as glass-fiber- or carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics. However, biominerals consist of environmentally friendly and biocompatible components that are prepared under mild conditions. Moreover, they form elaborate nanostructures and self-organized hierarchical structures. Much can be learned about material design from these biomineral-based hierarchical and nanostructured composites to assist in the preparation of functional materials.Inspired by these biological hard tissues, we developed nanostructured thin films and bulk hybrid crystals through the self-organization of organic polymers and inorganic crystals of CaCO3 or HAp. In biomineralization, the combination of insoluble components and soluble acidic macromolecules controls the crystallization process. We have shown that poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) or acidic peptides called polymer additives induce the formation of thin film crystals of CaCO3 or HAp by cooperation with insoluble organic templates such as chitin and synthetic polymers bearing the OH group. Moreover, we recently developed CaCO3- and HAp-based nanostructured particles with rod and disk shapes. These were obtained in aqueous media using a macromolecular acidic additive, PAA, without using insoluble polymer templates. At appropriate concentrations, the anisotropic particles self-assembled and formed colloidal liquid-crystalline (LC) phases.LC materials are generally composed of organic molecules. They show ordered and mobile states. The addition of stimuli-responsive properties to organic rod-like LC molecules led to the successful development of informational displays, which are now widely used. On the other hand, colloidal liquid crystals are colloidal self-assembled dispersions of anisotropic organic and inorganic nano- and micro-objects. For example, polysaccharide whiskers, clay nanosheets, gibbsite plate-shaped particles, and silica rod-shaped particles exhibit colloidal LC states.In this Account, we focused on the material design and hierarchical aspects of biomineral-based colloidal LC polymer/inorganic composites. We describe the design and preparation, nanostructures, and self-assembled behavior of these new bioinspired and biocompatible self-organized materials. The characterization results for these self-assembled nanostructured colloidal liquid crystals found using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and neutron scattering and rheological measurements are also reported. The functions of these biomineral-inspired liquid crystals are presented. Because these biomineral-based LC colloidal liquid crystals can be prepared under mild and aqueous conditions and they consist of environmentally friendly and biocompatible components, new functions are expected for these materials.

Synthesis of magnetic ferrogels: a tool-box approach for finely tuned magnetic- and temperature-dependent properties

Multi responsive hydrogels have many potential applications in the field of medicine as well as technical fields and are of great interest in fundamental research. Here we present the synthesis and characterization of tailored magnetic hydrogels – micro- as well as macrogels – which consist of iron oxide and cobalt ferrite, varying in phase and morphology, embedded in a thermoresponsive polymer. We introduce new ways to synthesize magnetic particles and revisit some common strategies when dealing with particle synthesis. Subsequently we discuss the details of the thermoresponsive matrix and how we can influence and manipulate the thermoresponsive properties, i.e. the lower critical solution temperature. Ultimately, we present the particle-hydrogel composite and show two exemplary applications for particle matrix interactions, i.e. heat transfer and reorientation of the particles in a magnetic field.

An exact inversion method for extracting orientation ordering by small-angle scattering

We outline a nonparametric inversion strategy for determining the orientation distribution function (ODF) of sheared interacting rods using small-angle scattering techniques. With the presence of direct inter-rod interaction and fluid mechanical forces, the scattering spectra are no longer characterized by the azimuthal symmetry in the coordinates defined by the principal directions of simple shear conditions, which severely compounds the reconstruction of ODFs based on currently available methods developed for dilute systems. Using a real spherical harmonic expansion scheme, the real-space ODFs are uniquely determined from the anisotropic scattering spectra and their numerical accuracy is verified computationally. Our method can be generalized to extract ODFs of uniaxially anisotropic objects under different flow conditions in a properly transformed reference frame with suitable basis vectors.

Flow fields control nanostructural organization in semiflexible networks

Hydrodynamic alignment of proteinaceous or polymeric nanofibrillar building blocks can be utilized for subsequent assembly into intricate three-dimensional macrostructures. The non-equilibrium structure of flowing nanofibrils relies on a complex balance between the imposed flow-field, colloidal interactions and Brownian motion. The understanding of the impact of non-equilibrium dynamics is not only weak, but is also required for structural control. Investigation of underlying dynamics imposed by the flow requires in situ dynamic characterization and is limited by the time-resolution of existing characterization methods, specifically on the nanoscale. Here, we present and demonstrate a flow-stop technique, using polarized optical microscopy (POM) to quantify the anisotropic orientation and diffusivity of nanofibrils in shear and extensional flows. Microscopy results are combined with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements to estimate the orientation of nanofibrils in motion and simultaneous structural changes in a loose network. Diffusivity of polydisperse systems is observed to act on multiple timescales, which is interpreted as an effect of apparent fibril lengths that also include nanoscale entanglements. The origin of the fastest diffusivity is correlated to the strength of velocity gradients, independent of type of deformation (shear or extension). Fibrils in extensional flow results in highly anisotropic systems enhancing interfibrillar contacts, which is evident through a slowing down of diffusive timescales. Our results strongly emphasize the need for careful design of fluidic microsystems for assembling fibrillar building blocks into high-performance macrostructures relying on improved understanding of nanoscale physics.

Sub-millisecond time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering measurements at NIST

Instrumentation for time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering measurements with sub-millisecond time resolution, based on Gähler's TISANE (time-involved small-angle neutron experiments) concept, is in operation at NIST's Center for Neutron Research. This implementation of the technique includes novel electronics for synchronizing the neutron pulses from high-speed counter-rotating choppers with a periodic stimulus applied to a sample. Instrumentation details are described along with measurements demonstrating the utility of the technique for elucidating the reorientation dynamics of anisometric magnetic particles.

Synchrotron Scattering Methods for Nanomaterials and Soft Matter Research

This article aims to provide an overview of broad range of applications of synchrotron scattering methods in the investigation of nanoscale materials. These scattering techniques allow the elucidation of the structure and dynamics of nanomaterials from sub-nm to micron size scales and down to sub-millisecond time ranges both in bulk and at interfaces. A major advantage of scattering methods is that they provide the ensemble averaged information under in situ and operando conditions. As a result, they are complementary to various imaging techniques which reveal more local information. Scattering methods are particularly suitable for probing buried structures that are difficult to image. Although, many qualitative features can be directly extracted from scattering data, derivation of detailed structural and dynamical information requires quantitative modeling. The fourth-generation synchrotron sources open new possibilities for investigating these complex systems by exploiting the enhanced brightness and coherence properties of X-rays.

Static structure and dynamical behavior of colloidal liquid crystals consisting of hydroxyapatite-based nanorod hybrids

Biominerals such as bones and teeth have elaborate nanostructures composed of aligned anisotropic hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanocrystals, which results in excellent mechanical properties. Construction of such ordered structures of HAp nanocrystals in synthetic materials is challenging. Recently, we reported that HAp-nanorod-based colloidal liquid crystals could be obtained. In the present study, the static structure and dynamics of liquid-crystalline (LC) colloidal dispersions of HAp nanorods are investigated by using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS). The SAXS results reveal that the interparticle distance decreases with increasing HAp concentration, φHAp, and the decrease of the interparticle distance for the short-axis direction is significantly smaller in the LC phase than the interparticle distance in the isotropic phase. In the dynamical studies of the LC phase using XPCS, we observe the diffusive motion of the HAp colloids, with the diffusion coefficient being dependent on the wave number. The diffusive motion slows down with increasing φHAp. We observe anisotropic dynamics after long-term storage (160 days after sealing), whereas only isotropic dynamics are observed in the initial XPCS measurements after short-term storage (14 days after sealing). Moreover, we have found that the dynamics slows down with increasing storage time.

Anomalous Dynamics of Magnetic Anisotropic Colloids Studied by XPCS

The influence of an applied magnetic field on the collective dynamics of novel anisotropic colloidal particles whose shape resembles peanuts is reported. Being made up of hematite cores and silica shells, these micrometer-sized particles align in a direction perpendicular to the applied external magnetic field, and assemble into chains along the field direction. The anisotropic dynamics of these particles is investigated using multispeckle ultrasmall-angle X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (USA-XPCS). The results indicate that along the direction of the magnetic field, the particle dynamics strongly depends on the length scale probed. Here, the relaxation of the intermediate scattering function follows a compressed exponential behavior at large distances, while it appears diffusive at distances comparable or smaller than the particle size. Perpendicular to the applied field (and along the direction of gravity), the experimental data can be quantitatively reproduced by a combination of an advective term originating from sedimentation and a purely diffusive one that describes the thermal diffusion of the assembled chains and individual particles.

Direction-dependent freezing of diamagnetic colloidal tracers suspended in paramagnetic ionic liquids

The dynamic behavior of an inverse ferrofluid consisting of diamagnetic, spherical silica particles suspended in the paramagnetic ionic liquid (EMIm)2[Co(NCS)4] is investigated by means of x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy in the presence of an external magnetic field. Dipole-dipole interactions between the diamagnetic holes in the paramagnetic continuum of the suspending medium induce a direction-dependence of the diffusive motion of the colloidal particles: due to a magnetic repulsion perpendicular to the direction of an external field the diffusive motion of the colloidal particles is selectively frozen in this direction.