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Ellipsoidal Janus Nanoparticles Assembled at Spherical Oil/Water Interfaces

Luu, X-C; Striolo, A; (2014) Ellipsoidal Janus Nanoparticles Assembled at Spherical Oil/Water Interfaces. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B , 118 (47) pp. 13737-13743. 10.1021/jp5085422. Green open access

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Abstract

The equilibrium behavior of ellipsoidal Janus nanoparticles adsorbed at spherical oil/water interfaces was investigated using dissipative particle dynamics simulations. Several phenomena were documented that were not observed on similar simulations for planar oil/water interfaces. The nanoparticles were found to yield isotropic, radial nematic phases, and axial nematic domains, depending on the nanoparticle characteristics (aspect ratio and surface chemistry), particle density at the interface, and droplet properties (curvature of the interface, and surprisingly, liquid type). When adsorbed on water droplets, the nanoparticles with high aspect ratio and few nonpolar beads on their surface can show two preferred orientation angles. Only one equilibrium orientation was found for such nanoparticles adsorbed on oil droplets. These observations might help explain a discrepancy previously reported between experimental and simulation results concerning the preferential orientation of particles at liquid–liquid interfaces. Different driving forces are responsible for the phenomena just summarized, including nanoparticle–nanoparticle and nanoparticle–solvent interactions, nanoparticle density at the interface, and droplet curvature via the Laplace pressure. The simulation results we present could be useful for engineering Pickering emulsions toward practical applications, and perhaps also for guiding new technologies for material synthesis.

Type: Article
Title: Ellipsoidal Janus Nanoparticles Assembled at Spherical Oil/Water Interfaces
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1021/jp5085422
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp5085422
Language: English
Additional information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp5085422.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1456308
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