Controlling the organization of colloidal sphero-cylinders using confinement in a minority phase

<p>Clemens K Weiss</p>

Controlling the organization of colloidal sphero-cylinders using confinement in a minority phase

Clemens K Weiss

University of Applied Sciences Bingen, Germany

: J Food Nutr Disor

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally that a phaseseparating host solvent can be used to organize colloidal rods into different cluster and network states. The rods are silica sphero-cylinders which are preferentially wet by the water-rich phase of an oil–water binary liquid system. By beginning with the rods dispersed in the singlefluid phase and then varying the temperature to enter the demixed regime, a precisely chosen volume of waterrich phase can be created. We then show how this can be used to create independent clusters of rods, a percolating network, a network of clusters or a system that undergoes hindered phase separation. These different modes are selected by choosing the relative volumes of the rods and the water-rich phase and by the timing of the temperature change.