Issue 20, 2020

Evaporation-induced alignment of nanorods in a thin film

Abstract

During the solvent evaporation of a thin film, Brownian rod-shaped particles self-assemble into microstructures and their orientation arrangements change while their volume fractions increase. We have studied the phenomena using a simple model which accounts for the anisotropic diffusion and the mean-field interaction of the particles. By numerically solving the Smoluchowski equation under moving boundary conditions, we obtain the spatiotemporal evolution of volume fractions and order parameters. It is shown that the evaporation dynamics alter the equilibrium orientational configuration of particles to meta-stable states. This alternation is possible by controlling either Péclet numbers or anisotropic diffusion rates. This understanding of the dynamic self-assembly of rod-shaped particles can be useful in manipulating the collective rod-arrangement in printing and coating technologies.

Graphical abstract: Evaporation-induced alignment of nanorods in a thin film

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Mar 2020
Accepted
24 Apr 2020
First published
28 Apr 2020

Soft Matter, 2020,16, 4767-4775

Evaporation-induced alignment of nanorods in a thin film

N. Jung, B. M. Weon and M. Doi, Soft Matter, 2020, 16, 4767 DOI: 10.1039/D0SM00482K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements