Highly Ordered Monolayers of μm-Sized Polystyrene Spheres Studied by Grazing-Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering, Simulations, and Geometrical Calculations

Maiti S, Senavirathna LN, Minguez Bacho I, Menath J, Gruber W, Vogel N, Bachmann J, Unruh T (2024)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Book Volume: 40

Pages Range: 1185-1194

Journal Issue: 2

DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c02219

Abstract

Unraveling the two-dimensional (2D) structural ordering of colloidal particles assembled at a flat surface is essential for understanding and optimizing their physical properties. So far, grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) has been widely used to determine crystallographic information on 2D self-assembled structures of nanosize objects. However, solving the structure of 2D lattices consisting of micrometer (μm)-sized objects still remains a challenge using scattering methods. Here, a model 2D SCALMS (supported catalytically active liquid metal solution) template is fabricated from μm-sized polystyrene (PS) spheres that form a monolayer on top of the flat solid support. GISAXS patterns of the sample were collected for rotation angles around its surface normal in steps of 3°. For every rotation angle, different Bragg-type interference maxima along the out-of-plane (qz) direction were observed. On the basis of simulations of GISXAS patterns of single domains of ordered particle arrangements using the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) and validation against a simple geometrical scattering model, the interference maxima could nicely be interpreted to originate from a monolayer of the μm-sized spherical particles which are arranged in domains of hexagonal 2D paracrystalline order. This novel GISAXS evaluation technique serves as a proof of principle for determining the μm-size periodicity of 2D crystalline domains and demonstrates its potential to spatially resolve the relative orientations of such domains with respect to a reference direction.

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How to cite

APA:

Maiti, S., Senavirathna, L.N., Minguez Bacho, I., Menath, J., Gruber, W., Vogel, N.,... Unruh, T. (2024). Highly Ordered Monolayers of μm-Sized Polystyrene Spheres Studied by Grazing-Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering, Simulations, and Geometrical Calculations. Langmuir, 40(2), 1185-1194. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c02219

MLA:

Maiti, Santanu, et al. "Highly Ordered Monolayers of μm-Sized Polystyrene Spheres Studied by Grazing-Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering, Simulations, and Geometrical Calculations." Langmuir 40.2 (2024): 1185-1194.

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