The forces at work in collodial self-assembly: a review on fundamental interactions between collodial particels

Colloidal particles with well-defined sizes can self-assemble into ordered, crystalline structures under non-equilibrium conditions. This phenomenon originates from the various forces acting upon them. In this article, we provide an overview on the forces at work in a colloidal system, in particular, the roles of these forces at various stages in colloidal self-assembly. Van der Waals, electrostatic, hydrodynamic, and capillary forces, as well as Brownian motions, are extensively discussed, whereas other types of interactions are briefly introduced and summarized. (C) 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.