Colloidal glasses

Colloidal suspensions are important model systems for the study of phase transitions. The glass transition, especially, can be followed more directly with colloidal systems and compared to theoretical predictions. At high volume fractions of the colloidal particles the density fluctuations are partially frozen in. This can be identified by the typical plateau values in the time correlation function. If one compares the experimental results with the mode coupling theory, a very good agreement can be obtained. Currently, some new experimental results concerning the dynamical heterogeneity in colloidal systems are under discussion and will certainly initiate new theoretical developments.     

胶体晶体

简要综述胶体晶体的研究进展情况,主要介绍胶体粒子的简单自组装、模板引导下的自组装和二元胶体晶体组装等几类主要的胶体晶体制备技术,并概述胶体晶体在光子晶体、传感器、光子纸张、三维有序大孔材料、二维纳米结构阵列等方面的应用。     

一种含稀土阳离子的多金属氧酸盐二聚体的合成及晶体结构(英文)

以Na7[α-PW11O39].nH2O,Sm(NO3)3.6H2O和(CH3)4NCl为原料,利用常规的水溶液方法合成了一例新的2∶2型二聚单缺位Keggin结构多金属氧酸盐稀土衍生物[(CH3)4N]6[(α-PW11O39H)Sm(H2O)3]2.9H2O(1);利用X射线单晶衍射表征了其晶体结构.结果表明,该二聚体属单斜晶系,P2(1)/c空间群,晶胞参数为:a=1.300 8(10)nm,b=2.219 0(17)nm,c=2.097 0(16)nm,β=100.992(16),Z=2,R1=0.074 6,wR2=0.182 6.二聚阴离子[{(α-PW11O39H)Sm(H2O)4}2]6-由2个[α-PW11O39H]6-缺位阴离子通过2个[Sm(H2O)4]3+配离子连接形成,Sm3+离子占据[α-PW11O39H]6-阴离子的缺位位置并取八配位单四方反棱柱构型,相邻的2个单取代阴离子[α-PW11O39H]6-通过2个Sm-Ot-W桥连成二聚物.     

胶体离子超级电容器

超级电容器具有功率密度大、循环寿命长等优点,但同时面临着能量密度低等缺点. 胶体离子超级电容器是最近开发的一种新型赝电容器,同时具有高功率密度和高能量密度的特点. 胶体离子超级电容器能够充分利用多价态金属阳离子的多电子氧化还原反应,完全释放储存的潜在电能,从而提高超级电容器的能量密度. 由于胶体离子的存在,缩短了电子、离子的扩散长度,加快了氧化还原反应动力学,从而保持高的功率密度. 本文主要介绍胶体离子超级电容器的发展过程、最新研究进展以及需要进一步开展的研究工作,作者希望从一个新的角度去研究发展下一代高性能电化学储能设备,实现新的突破.     

Colloidal Motors 101: A Beginner's Guide to Colloidal Motor Research

The research progress in colloidal motors, synthetic colloids that convert environmental energy and swim in water, has attracted much attention in recent years. Yet, its rapid development and interdisciplinary nature has created a hurdle for beginners, especially students and postdocs. In light of this challenge, this tutorial review gives a bird's eye overview of the research field of colloidal motors, presenting in a beginner‐friendly manner subjects including the definition and significance of colloidal motors, physical challenges associated with their motion at the microscale, their fabrication and propulsion mechanisms, functionalities that enable their applications, and essential tools and techniques useful for beginners. Emphasis on each aspect is placed on elucidating and connecting important concepts and ideas, rather than on details and individual references. An appendix of recent review articles grouped by subjects on colloidal motors is given in the Supporting Information. This article equips beginners with a clear big picture and essential knowledge that will facilitate future explorations.     

Colloidal aspects of eating

This paper is an overview of the work currently carried out on the microstructural approach to reduce unhealthy ingredients in everyday foods, while maintaining the positive eating aspects of the original product. Fat reduction is discussed in detail as an example of how the approach might be used. In particular, we will cover the very new approach using tribology based physical measurements and relate this to oral response as opposed to using rheological measurements. Materials such as low fat, air/oil-in-water and water-in-water emulsions as well as sheared (or fluid) gels will be discussed as this approach has allowed physical, chemical and sensory properties of high fat content foods to be matched by structures containing considerably less fat. This microstructural approach to the engineering challenge of fat replacement has proved very successful in the development of mayonnaise, cream and sauces with good eating properties. If the approach discussed continues to be developed, they promise significant advancement and rewards on the formulation of healthy everyday foods which are perceived by the consumer as indulgent.     

Colloidal nanocomposite hydrogel particles

Quaternary ammonium salt, (3-acrylamidopropyl)-trimethylammonium chloride was used to synthesize nanohydrogel and composite particles such as inorganic–organic hybrid composites and hydrogel nanoparticles with magnetic properties utilizing a water-in-oil microemulsion system. The positively charged cationic monomer was chosen to promote silica hydrolysis and condensation to prepare silica-hydrogel nanocomposite particles with interesting morphologies. It was shown that highly monodisperse, completely charged nanohydrogel can be used to encapsulate ferrite particles. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that cationic nanohydrogel particles with variant morphology can be prepared by employing suitable silica precursor. Morphology, structure, properties, and size of nanocomposite materials were explored utilizing transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer.     

Colloidal dispersions of polyindole

Polyindole dispersions consisting of 20–30-nm-sized nanoparticles are prepared by chemical oxidation with ferric chloride using sodium dodecyl sulphate, poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinyl acetate) as steric stabilizers. Pure acetonitrile and acetonitrile–water mixtures are used as solvents. The particle size depended on the concentrations of monomer and the steric stabilizer. The dispersions are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, thermal analysis and cyclic voltammetry techniques.     

Chloramultilide A, a highly complex sesquiterpenoid dimmer from Chloranthus multistachys

A highly complex sesquiterpenoid dimmer, chloramultilide A (1), was isolated from Chloranthus multistachys. Its structure and relative stereochemistry were mainly established by using 1D NMR and 2D NMR spectra.     

A Chemotactic Colloidal Motor

Chemotaxis plays a crucial role in the realization of various functions of human life such as fertilization, immune function, inflammatory response, regeneration processes, etc. Inspired by the natural chemotaxis, colloidal motors with chemotactic ability can realize intelligent sense and targeted navigation, which bring a revolutionary method to biomedical applications like precision medicine. However, the application in the biomedical field requires the colloidal motors with submicrometer scale, strong chemotactic ability and clear chemotactic mechanism. In this Concept article, we introduce the recent progress of chemotactic colloidal motors, covering the fundamental theory behind experimental advancements. Particularly, the torque-driven reorientation motion of the submicrometer-sized colloidal motors during chemotaxis is discussed, and also their underlying mechanism is proposed. With the continuous research on chemotactic colloidal motors, it is believed that the emerging chemotactic colloidal motors will broaden practical applications in the biomedical field.     

Colloidal nanocrystal solar cells

Colloidal nanocrystal based organic solar cells are envisaged to be a cost effective alternative to conventional inorganic cells. A variety of studies have been reported recently with the goal to increases energy conversion efficiencies, which must be pushed towards 10% for devices to be practical. We review the status of this work, critically examining the factors affecting hybrid solar cell performance, and conclude with an outlook for future directions of research. Correspondence: Sandeep Kumar, Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H6, Canada