Elasticity-mediated Morphogenesis in Interfacial Colloidal Assemblies

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Parmar, Vaibhav Raj Singh, Chanda, Sayantan, Mandal, Rituparno, Bandyopadhyay, Ranjini
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Parmar, Vaibhav Raj Singh
Chanda, Sayantan
Mandal, Rituparno
Bandyopadhyay, Ranjini
author_facet Parmar, Vaibhav Raj Singh
Chanda, Sayantan
Mandal, Rituparno
Bandyopadhyay, Ranjini
contents We study the self-assembly of colloidal microgel particles at a quasi-two-dimensional air-water interface of a drying droplet. Using bright-field microscopy, we demonstrate that increasing particle elasticity drives interfacial organization from repulsion-stabilized crystallization to attraction-dominated gelation, via diverse metastable structures including clusters, voids and anisotropic aggregates. Molecular dynamics simulations using an effective potential that captures the interplay between hydrophobic, capillary, steric and dipolar interactions, reproduce the overall phenomenology of the observed colloidal morphogenesis. Our findings establish particle elasticity as a key parameter governing non-equilibrium structural organization of colloids at an interface.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_07355
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Elasticity-mediated Morphogenesis in Interfacial Colloidal Assemblies
Parmar, Vaibhav Raj Singh
Chanda, Sayantan
Mandal, Rituparno
Bandyopadhyay, Ranjini
Soft Condensed Matter
Applied Physics
We study the self-assembly of colloidal microgel particles at a quasi-two-dimensional air-water interface of a drying droplet. Using bright-field microscopy, we demonstrate that increasing particle elasticity drives interfacial organization from repulsion-stabilized crystallization to attraction-dominated gelation, via diverse metastable structures including clusters, voids and anisotropic aggregates. Molecular dynamics simulations using an effective potential that captures the interplay between hydrophobic, capillary, steric and dipolar interactions, reproduce the overall phenomenology of the observed colloidal morphogenesis. Our findings establish particle elasticity as a key parameter governing non-equilibrium structural organization of colloids at an interface.
title Elasticity-mediated Morphogenesis in Interfacial Colloidal Assemblies
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.07355