Spatial Ordering of Colloids
in a Drying Aqueous Polymer
Droplet
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Abstract
We explore the role of polymer chains on deposition of
colloidal
particles at solid surfaces from drying aqueous drops and show that
the kinetics of phase separation of colloids and polymers can be explained
by spinodal decomposition of binary systems. Concentrations of polymer
solutions and polymer chain lengths were varied to understand the
aggregation dynamics of colloidal particles via a polymer bridging
mechanism. We show that when polymer concentration in the droplet
is increased, particles spatially order upon drying due to a combination
of the phase separation of highly bridged particles and the Marangoni
flow effect. The demonstrated effect of particle-adsorbing, water-soluble
polymers on the coffee-ring formation opens up new ways of creating
highly ordered, long-range patterned surfaces using a facile, template-free
approach