Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: Direct observation and control of non-classical crystallization pathways in binary colloidal systems

doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58959-0

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Schematic of the experimental setup. A 50 mm long capillary, sealed at one end, is immersed in a 100 mm diameter Petri dish filled with deionized water. The Petri dish is mounted on an inverted microscope and monitored with air objectives. b Representative bright field images taken at regular intervals along the capillary at the end of the crystallization experiment, assessing crystal types, sizes, and quality as a function of distance from the open end. The zoomed-in images (bottom) show aggregates and small crystallites near the open end, progressively larger single crystals toward the middle, and a mixed region of different crystal types near the sealed end. Scale bars, 100 μ m.

Article Snippet: To perform experiments at variable interaction potentials, mixtures of oppositely charged PS particles with 4.5 mM NaCl and 0.1 wt% F108 were introduced into 50-mm-long glass capillaries (inner dimensions: 2.0 mm × 0.2 mm, VitroCom) and sealed at one end.

Techniques: Inverted Microscopy, Crystallization Assay

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: Direct observation and control of non-classical crystallization pathways in binary colloidal systems

doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58959-0

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Overlay of observed crystallization behavior on top of predicted salt concentration within a capillary as a function of time and distance to the open end, as computed using COMSOL (see Supplementary Movie ). The experimental data points represent the positions of the crystallization front over time, determined both macroscopically (black circles) and microscopically (white circles), as well as the end of crystal growth (gray circles). The solid lines represent concentration contours for 3.55 mM (white) and 3.40 mM (gray), corresponding to approximate bond energies of 6.5 and 7.0 k B T, respectively (see “Methods). b , c Macroscopic and microscopic time-lapse images showing the evolution of the crystallization front inside the capillary. d – f Bright-field (left) and SEM (right) images showing regions where one type of crystal dominates. These regions are typically found in the central part of the capillary (indicated by a star symbol). For this sample with a size ratio of 0.81, we observed and characterized CsCl–like ( d ), Th 3 P 4 –like crystals ( e ), and a third crystal form termed L 3 S 4 ( f ) which is studied further in Fig. . g Representative microscopy image showing small crystallites and disordered aggregates typically found near the open end of the capillary (indicated by the square symbol). h A microscopy image shows various crystal structures coexisting near the closed end of the capillary (indicated by the circle symbol), including CsCl (I), Th 3 P 4 (II), L 3 S 4 (III), as well as two examples of heteroepitaxial crystals (IV, V), with one still unidentified (V) (Supplementary Movie ). All scale bars in the bright field images are 50 μ m, and in the SEM images, they are 10 μ m.

Article Snippet: To perform experiments at variable interaction potentials, mixtures of oppositely charged PS particles with 4.5 mM NaCl and 0.1 wt% F108 were introduced into 50-mm-long glass capillaries (inner dimensions: 2.0 mm × 0.2 mm, VitroCom) and sealed at one end.

Techniques: Crystallization Assay, Concentration Assay, Microscopy