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Download fileControl of Nanomaterial Self-Assembly in Ultrasonically Levitated Droplets
journal contribution
posted on 2016-03-15, 00:00 authored by Annela
M. Seddon, Sam J. Richardson, Kunal Rastogi, Tomás S. Plivelic, Adam M. Squires, Christian PfrangWe demonstrate that acoustic trapping
can be used to levitate and
manipulate droplets of soft matter, in particular, lyotropic mesophases
formed from self-assembly of different surfactants and lipids, which
can be analyzed in a contact-less manner by X-ray scattering in a
controlled gas-phase environment. On the macroscopic length scale,
the dimensions and the orientation of the particle are shaped by the
ultrasonic field, while on the microscopic length scale the nanostructure
can be controlled by varying the humidity of the atmosphere around
the droplet. We demonstrate levitation and in situ phase transitions
of micellar, hexagonal, bicontinuous cubic, and lamellar phases. The
technique opens up a wide range of new experimental approaches of
fundamental importance for environmental, biological, and chemical
research.