Self-Assembly of Faceted Particles Triggered by a Moving Ice Front

Abstract

The possibility to align and organize faceted particles in the bulk offers intriguing possibilities for the design and discovery of materials and architectures exhibiting novel functional properties. The growth of ice crystals can be used to trigger the self-assembly of large, anisotropic particles and consequently to obtain three-dimensional porous materials of large dimensions in a limited amount of time. These mechanisms have not been explored so far due to the difficulty to experimentally investigate these systems. Here we elucidate the self-assembly mechanisms of faceted particles driven by ice growth by a combination of X-ray holotomography and discrete element modeling, providing insights into both the dynamics of self-assembly and their final packing. The encapsulation of particles is the result of a delicate balance between the force exerted by the percolating network of concentrated particles and the force exerted by the moving interface. We illustrate the benefits of such self-assembly for thermal management composite materials.

arXiv comment27 pages, 6 figures, 42 references

References in corpus (3)

• Ice-templated porous alumina structures
• Time lapse, three dimensional in situ imaging of ice crystal growth in a colloidal silica suspension
• Analytical First Derivatives of the RE-squared Interaction Potential

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• Modeling the effect of microstructure on elastic wave propagation in platelet-reinforced composites and ceramics