Interplay of anisotropic diffusion and evaporative assembly of magnetic nano-ellipsoids in a pendent colloidal droplet under magnetic field:

In this proposed work, we aim to investigate the real-time structural evolution of the assembly process of colloidal magnetic nanoparticles across a single pendant evaporative droplet under external magnetic fields. We will employ in situ scanning SAXS and XPCS using a micro-focused coherent synchrotron X-ray beam. We aim to understand how the presence of external magnetic fields influences the temporal evolution of the positional correlation and concentration gradient of shape-anisotropic magnetic colloidal nanoparticles across the single droplet during evaporation. Additionally, XPCS will enable us to probe the interplay between dynamic processes occurring at the nanoscale, i.e., the anisotropic particle diffusion and the evaporative self-assembly, with high temporal resolution. The comprehensive understanding of the structural evolution towards kinetically jammed correlated nanostructure will pave the way for the development of advanced functional materials.

本研究旨在探究外磁场作用下，单个悬挂式蒸发液滴中胶体磁性纳米粒子组装过程的实时结构演化行为。我们将采用微聚焦相干同步辐射X射线束，开展原位扫描小角X射线散射（Small-Angle X-ray Scattering, SAXS）与X射线光子关联谱（X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy, XPCS）实验，以阐明外磁场对蒸发过程中单个液滴内形貌各向异性磁性胶体纳米粒子的位置关联与浓度梯度时间演化规律的影响。此外，借助XPCS的高时间分辨率，我们可探究纳米尺度下各向异性粒子扩散与蒸发自组装两类动态过程的相互作用机制。对最终形成动力学阻塞关联纳米结构的结构演化过程的全面认知，将为先进功能材料的开发铺平道路。