Evidence of Stratification in Binary Colloidal Films from Microbeam X‑ray Scattering: Toward Optimizing the Evaporative Assembly Processes for Coatings
posted on 2018-07-12, 00:00authored byAmanda
J. Carr, Weiping Liu, Kevin
G. Yager, Alexander
F. Routh, Surita R. Bhatia
Colloidal
films have many important applications where a layered configuration
is desirable, including flexible electronics, antireflective coatings,
and antimicrobial paints. We report stratification during evaporative
film formation in binary colloidal dispersions, probed using a novel
microbeam small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique. To our knowledge,
SAXS approaches have not been used to experimentally obtain quantitative
data of concentration profiles in multicomponent colloidal films.
We measured the local scattering of a film at different vertical locations
using a microfocused X-ray beam and determined particle concentrations
at different film depths using a linear combination analysis of the
mixed film and pure film scattering data. Using small particle size
ratios ranging from 2.6 to 1.2, we experimentally observed and quantify
three distinct stratification configurations: inverted small-on-top,
large-on-top, and no stratification. Our results show some agreement
with a previously proposed stratification state diagram, although
there are some limitations. Experimental verification of these stratification
phenomena is critical to fully understanding the physics of particle
movement and structure development during film formation, which is
crucial for optimizing evaporative assembly processes for coatings.