Journal
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
Volume 107, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
AMER INST PHYSICS
DOI: 10.1063/1.3330678
Keywords
aggregation; atomic force microscopy; colloidal crystals; elasticity; gold; inclusions; liquid films; long-range order; nanoparticles; organic compounds; phase separation; smectic liquid crystals; surface plasmon resonance; thin films
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Funding
- International Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter (ICAM-I2CAM)
- University of Colorado Innovation
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute
- NSF [DMR-0844115, DMR-0820579, DMR-0847782]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [844115] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Materials Research [0820579, 0847782] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Materials Research [844115] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We demonstrate that the layer structure and elasticity stabilize dispersions of colloidal nanoparticles in smectic liquid crystals. We use surface plasmon resonance spectra of gold nanospheres to probe their spatial distributions in the bulk of smectic lamellae. The average interparticle distances between the well-separated nanoinclusions in thin (< 100 nm) smectic films are probed by atomic force microscopy. We show that limited motion of nanoparticles across layers due to the one-dimensional quasi-long-range solid-like structure and their elasticity-mediated interactions preclude irreversible aggregation and enhance the stability of the ensuing nanoscale dispersions in thermotropic smectic liquid crystals.
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