Surface Tension Drives the Orientation of Crystals at the Air–Water Interface
详细信息 查看全文
- 作者：Nicolas R. Chevalier ; Patrick Guenoun
- 刊名：The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
- 出版年：2016
- 出版时间：July 21, 2016
- 年：2016
- 卷：7
- 期：14
- 页码：2809-2813
- 全文大小：334K
- 年卷期：0
- ISSN：1948-7185
文摘
The fabrication of oriented crystalline thin films is essential for a range of applications ranging from semiconductors to optical components, sensors, and catalysis. Here we show by depositing micrometric crystal particles on a liquid interface from an aerosol phase that the surface tension of the liquid alone can drive the crystallographic orientation of initially randomly oriented particles. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the particles at the interface are identical to those of a monocrystalline sample cleaved along the {104} (CaCO3) or {111} (CaF2) face. We show how this orientation effect can be used to produce thin coatings of oriented crystals on a solid substrate. These results also have important implications for our understanding of heterogeneous crystal growth beneath amphiphile monolayers and for 2D self-assembly processes at the air–liquid interface.