Colloidal spheres confined by liquid droplets: Geometry, physics, and physical chemistry

I discuss how colloidal particles organize when they are confined by emulsion droplets. In these systems, the interplay between surface tension and interparticle repulsion drives the formation of complex, non-crystalline 3D arrangements. These can be classified into three groups: colloidosomes, or Pickering emulsions, structures that form when particles are bound to the interface of a spherical droplet; colloidal clusters, small polyhedral configurations of colloids formed by capillary forces generated in an evaporating emulsion droplet; and supraparticles, hall-shaped crystallites formed in the interior of emulsion droplets. I discuss the preparation, properties, and structure of each of these systems, using relevant results from geometry to describe how the particles organize. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.