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We actuate with light & magnets, we fold & unfold DNA, we cell-free express proteins, we play with drops, marbles & interfaces, we organize particles, we harness coffee rings.

Our new paper "From-bulk crystallization of inorganic nanoparticles at the air/water interface: tunable organization and intense structural colors" published in Nanoscale!



Abstract: Theflipping methodis a new straightforward way to both adsorb and organize microparticles at a liquidinterface, with ultralow amounts of a surfactant and no other external forces than gravity. Here wedemonstrate that it allows the adsorption of a variety of inorganic nanoparticles at an air/water interface,in an organized way, which is directly controlled by the surfactant concentration, ranging from amor-phous to highly crystalline two-dimensional assemblies. With micromolar amounts of a conventional cat-ionic surfactant (dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, DTAB), nanoparticles of different compositions(silica, silver, and gold), sizes (down to 100 nm) and shapes (spheres and cubes) adsorb from the bulk anddirectly organize at the air/water interface, resulting in marked optical properties such as reflectivity orintense structural coloration.

Reference:
From-bulk crystallization of inorganic nanoparticles at the air/water interface: tunable organization and intense structural colors
J. Vialetto, S. Rudiuk, M. Morel, D. Baigl*
Nanoscale 2020, 12, 6279-6284
   -doi : 10.1039/C9NR10965J