Issue 19, 2011

The structure and melting transition of two-dimensional colloidal alloys

Abstract

We study theoretically the structure and melting transition of two-dimensional (2D) binary mixtures of colloidal particles interacting via a dipole–dipole potential. Using a lattice sum method, we find that at zero temperature (T = 0) the system forms a rich variety of stable crystalline phases whose structure depends on the composition and dipole moment ratio. Using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, we also find that the melting temperature of the different T = 0 structures is a very strong and non-monotonic function of composition. For example, from a direct analysis of the radial distribution function vs.temperature, we find that the melting temperature of hexagonal AB2 and AB6 phases is three orders of magnitude higher than that of hexagonal AB5. Finally the melting transition for our binary colloidal system is found to proceed via at least two stages for hexagonal AB2 and AB6 and at least three stages for hexagonal AB5 and is thus much richer compared to the melting transition of 2D one component colloidal systems.

Graphical abstract: The structure and melting transition of two-dimensional colloidal alloys

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Mar 2011
Accepted
06 Jun 2011
First published
10 Aug 2011

Soft Matter, 2011,7, 8923-8931

The structure and melting transition of two-dimensional colloidal alloys

A. D. Law, T. S. Horozov and D. M. A. Buzza, Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 8923 DOI: 10.1039/C1SM05446E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements