Self-assembly of colloidal superballs under spherical confinement of a drying droplet

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between colloidal building block shape and self-assembled material structure is important for the development of novel materials by self-assembly. In this regard, colloidal superballs are unique building blocks because their shape can smoothly transition between spherical and cubic. Assembly of colloidal superballs under spherical confinement results in macroscopic clusters with ordered internal structure. By utilizing Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS), we probe the internal structure of colloidal superball dispersion droplets during confinement. We observe and identify four distinct drying regimes that arise during compression via evaporating droplets, and we track the development of the assembled macrostructure. As the superballs assemble, we found that they arrange into the predicted paracrystalline, rhombohedral C₁-lattice that varies by the constituent superballs’ shape. This provides insights in the behavior between confinement and particle shape that can be applied in the development of new functional materials.