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arXiv · 1603.00727

Shape Driven Solid--Solid Transitions in Colloids

Chrisy Xiyu Du·Greg van Anders·Richmond S. Newman·Sharon C. Glotzer
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Abstract

Despite the fundamental importance of solid--solid transitions for metallurgy, ceramics, earth science, reconfigurable materials, and colloidal matter, the details of how materials transform between two solid structures are poorly understood. We introduce a class of {simple} model systems in which the direct control of local order, via colloid shape change, induces solid--solid phase transitions, and characterize how the transitions happen thermodynamically. We find that within a single shape family there are solid--solid transitions that can occur with or without a thermal activation barrier. Our results provide new means for the study of solid--solid phase transitions, and have implications for designing reconfigurable materials.

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Chrisy Xiyu Du, Greg van Anders, Richmond S. Newman, Sharon C. Glotzer. 2016-03-02. Shape Driven Solid--Solid Transitions in Colloids. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1621348114

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