CiteULike: di dchen Lin

Structure and rheology of organoclay suspensions

Jr — 2008-06-11T21:58:58-00:00

Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics), Vol. 75, No. 2. (2007)

We have characterized a montmorillonite-based organoclay dispersed in three different nonaqueous solvents using a combination of x-ray scattering, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and ultrasmall angle neutron scattering (USANS), together with rheological measurements. Consistent with these measurements, we present a structural model for the incompletely dispersed clay as consisting of randomly oriented tactoids made of partially overlapping clay sheets, with transverse dimensions of several microns. Intersheet correlation peaks are visible in x-ray scattering, and quantitatively fit by our model structure factor. SANS and USANS together show a power law of about −3 over a wide range of wave numbers below the intersheet correlation peak. Our model relates this power law to a power law distribution of the number of locally overlapping layers in a tactoid. The rheology data show that both storage and loss moduli, as well as yield stress, scale with a power law in volume fraction of about three. Equating the gel onset composition with the overlap of randomly oriented tactoids and taking into account the large transverse dimensions of the tactoids, we predict the gel point to be at or below 0.006 volume fraction organoclay. This is consistent with the rheology data.

In Situ Observation of Fringing-Field-Induced Phase Separation in a Liquid-Crystal--Monomer Mixture

Hongwen Ren — 2008-03-24T17:17:09-00:00

Physical Review Letters, Vol. 100, No. 11. (2008)

Fringing-field-induced phase separation dynamics in liquid-crystal–(LC-)monomer mixtures is investigated via a microscope. At a low LC concentration, the fringing field converts the randomly dispersed LC droplets to an ordered droplet array, while at a high LC concentration the fringing field converts the amorphous LC-monomer system to a composite film. Because the LC and monomer are immiscible, the converted morphologies are stable even after the voltage is removed. Using the fringing field-induced phase separation, it is possible to prepare different polymer-dispersed LC morphologies.

Nanoparticle Assembly at Fluid Interfaces: Structure and Dynamics

Y Lin — 2008-04-29T22:19:44-00:00

Langmuir, Vol. 21, No. 1. (4 January 2005), pp. 191-194.

Abstract: The self-assembly of nanoparticles at fluid interfaces, driven by the reduction in interfacial energy, was investigated. With spherical, tri-n-octyl-phosphine-oxide covered cadium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles (1-8 nm), thermal fluctuations compete with the interfacial segregation giving rise to a size-dependent self-assembly of the particles. The structure of the nanoparticle assembly was studied using electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray scattering in situ, which indicate that the particles form a densely packed monolayer. The energetics of the adsorption of nanoparticles onto the interface was revealed by time-dependent fluorescence studies on a mixture of two different sized nanoparticles at the interface. The dynamics of the nanoparticles at the fluid interface, probed using fluorescence photobleaching methods, suggests a liquid-like behavior. The results have implications in the design of hierarchical self-assemblies of nanoparticles for the one-step fabrication of devices on multiple length scales.