Structure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids

<p>The structural and dynamic behaviour of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids are studied through optical microscopy and optical tweezing. Firstly, grain size evolution in an impurity doped polycrystalline monolayer is studied. A model is developed, combining crystallisat...

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Main Author: Hutchinson, JD
Other Authors: Dullens, R
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
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author Hutchinson, JD
author2 Dullens, R
author_facet Dullens, R
Hutchinson, JD
author_sort Hutchinson, JD
collection OXFORD
description <p>The structural and dynamic behaviour of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids are studied through optical microscopy and optical tweezing. Firstly, grain size evolution in an impurity doped polycrystalline monolayer is studied. A model is developed, combining crystallisation and curvature driven grain growth, which works well in describing grain size evolution at different impurity concentrations. The amount of dopant is found to affect the frustration of crystallisation and pinning of grain boundaries. Next studied is grain rotation in polycrystals. The rate of rotation for a single grain is well described by a model combining grain size and the grain boundary misorientation. The rate of rotation induced grain coalescence is placed in the context of grain size evolution and the trajectories of particles and dislocations are studied. To study the pinning forces of impurities in grain boundaries, active microrheology with optical tweezing is utilised. A model accounting for grain boundary deformation, contact angles between the impurity and grain boundary, and elastic response from the crystal is used to measure the pinning force on the impurity. An anomalously high depinning force is found, corresponding to the creation of a entity analogous to a dislocation. Next, the thermal fluctuations of a grain boundary between two pinned impurities are studied for different impurity spacings. The form of the fluctuations is dominated by the mode with a wavelength twice the impurity spacing. This spacing is also found to impact the mobility of the grain boundary and the mean-squared displacement. Finally, a binary system is placed on an angle to set up sedimentation-diffusion equilibrium. The particle sizes and materials are chosen to prevent fractionation. The structure of the system is found to be amorphous for all area fractions. The entire system for different tilt angles is found to be diffusive, with dynamics slowing down with a steeper tilt angle. The cause of the diffusive dynamics at all area fractions is found to be due to dynamic heterogeneities, which propagate from low to high densities, with higher tilt angles having a greater activation energy for this mechanism.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:e52462d7-73dc-461c-9d50-0c23217d57612022-03-27T10:21:46ZStructure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluidsThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:e52462d7-73dc-461c-9d50-0c23217d5761GlassesGrain boundariesColloid scienceSoft condensed matterMetal crystals--GrowthEnglishHyrax Deposit2021Hutchinson, JDDullens, R<p>The structural and dynamic behaviour of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids are studied through optical microscopy and optical tweezing. Firstly, grain size evolution in an impurity doped polycrystalline monolayer is studied. A model is developed, combining crystallisation and curvature driven grain growth, which works well in describing grain size evolution at different impurity concentrations. The amount of dopant is found to affect the frustration of crystallisation and pinning of grain boundaries. Next studied is grain rotation in polycrystals. The rate of rotation for a single grain is well described by a model combining grain size and the grain boundary misorientation. The rate of rotation induced grain coalescence is placed in the context of grain size evolution and the trajectories of particles and dislocations are studied. To study the pinning forces of impurities in grain boundaries, active microrheology with optical tweezing is utilised. A model accounting for grain boundary deformation, contact angles between the impurity and grain boundary, and elastic response from the crystal is used to measure the pinning force on the impurity. An anomalously high depinning force is found, corresponding to the creation of a entity analogous to a dislocation. Next, the thermal fluctuations of a grain boundary between two pinned impurities are studied for different impurity spacings. The form of the fluctuations is dominated by the mode with a wavelength twice the impurity spacing. This spacing is also found to impact the mobility of the grain boundary and the mean-squared displacement. Finally, a binary system is placed on an angle to set up sedimentation-diffusion equilibrium. The particle sizes and materials are chosen to prevent fractionation. The structure of the system is found to be amorphous for all area fractions. The entire system for different tilt angles is found to be diffusive, with dynamics slowing down with a steeper tilt angle. The cause of the diffusive dynamics at all area fractions is found to be due to dynamic heterogeneities, which propagate from low to high densities, with higher tilt angles having a greater activation energy for this mechanism.</p>
spellingShingle Glasses
Grain boundaries
Colloid science
Soft condensed matter
Metal crystals--Growth
Hutchinson, JD
Structure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids
title Structure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids
title_full Structure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids
title_fullStr Structure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids
title_full_unstemmed Structure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids
title_short Structure and dynamics of two-dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids
title_sort structure and dynamics of two dimensional binary colloidal polycrystals and fluids
topic Glasses
Grain boundaries
Colloid science
Soft condensed matter
Metal crystals--Growth
work_keys_str_mv AT hutchinsonjd structureanddynamicsoftwodimensionalbinarycolloidalpolycrystalsandfluids