Research brings much-needed order to nanoplate suspensions

Can nanoplates in suspension in a colloidal solution arrange themselves into a lamellar (equidistant layer) structure? Researchers from INAC and CNRS recently found the long-awaited answer to this question by using small-angle X-ray scattering (ESRF) to study the material. The observations showed that antimony phosphate acid polygons measuring around 100 x 100 nm² in suspension in water arrange themselves in the lamellar phase. The lamellar phase can even exist with two other phases (nematic and isotropic) in the same sample.  The results obtained had not previously been predicted by any theoretical model in the literature. It is significant because the lamellar phase, which compartmentalizes spaces within a suspension, is present in all living organisms. The research was published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Contact: jean-christophe.gabriel@cea.fr

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