- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Research

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Self-assembly and dynamic behavior of colloidal rods in the isotropic phase

Md. Arif Kamal1, Thomas Zinn2,*, and Antara Pal3,4,†

  • *Present address: Diamond Light Source Ltd., Didcot, United Kingdom.
  • †Contact author: antara.pal@mau.se
PDF

Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013341 – Published 31 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5cbx-gnc4

Abstract

In this study, we have investigated the dynamic behavior of colloidal rods within their isotropic phase, employing multispeckle ultrasmall-angle x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (UA-XPCS) focusing on the understanding of the interplay between structure and dynamics at the nearest-neighbor length scale. While prior research has primarily focused on the structural aspects, our work addresses the lesser-explored realm of dynamic behavior. Through ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering and UA-XPCS, we have measured the key parameters, such as the effective structure factor (Seff(q)) and the effective diffusion coefficient (Deff(q)). A significant finding is the scaling relationship between Deff(q) and 1/Seff(q), implying a connection between particle diffusion and structural arrangement. Additionally, the estimated scaling parameter (effective amplitude function, Aeff(q)), which can be directly related to the effective hydrodynamic function (Heff(q)) shows a similar dependence on wave vector (q) as Seff(q). Furthermore, our study precisely determines the volume fraction at which the arrest transition occurs. These findings shed light on the influence of structures on the intricate dynamics of anisotropic colloidal systems.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (53)

  1. I. Teraoka, N. Ookubo, and R. Hayakawa, Molecular theory on the entanglement effect of rodlike polymers, Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2712 (1985).
  2. K. Kang and J. K. G. Dhont, Glass transition in suspensions of charged rods: Structural arrest and texture dynamics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 015901 (2013).
  3. C. K. Mishra, A. Rangarajan, and R. Ganapathy, Two-step glass transition induced by attractive interactions in quasi-two-dimensional suspensions of ellipsoidal particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 188301 (2013).
  4. Z. Zheng, R. Ni, F. Wang, M. Dijkstra, Y. Wang, and Y. Han, Structural signatures of dynamic heterogeneities in monolayers of colloidal ellipsoids, Nat. Commun. 5, 3829 (2014).
  5. Z. Zheng and Y. Han, Self-diffusion in two-dimensional hard ellipsoid suspensions, J. Chem. Phys. 133, 124509 (2010).
  6. Z. Zheng, F. Wang, and Y. Han, Glass transitions in quasi-two-dimensional suspensions of colloidal ellipsoids, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 065702 (2011).
  7. S. G. J. M. Kluijtmans, G. H. Koenderink, and A. P. Philipse, Self-diffusion and sedimentation of tracer spheres in (semi) dilute dispersions of rigid colloidal rods, Phys. Rev. E 61, 626 (2000).
  8. D. Mukhija and M. J. Solomon, Translational and rotational dynamics of colloidal rods by direct visualization with confocal microscopy, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 314, 98 (2007).
  9. D. Lehner, H. Lindner, and O. Glatter, Determination of the translational and rotational diffusion coefficients of rodlike particles using depolarized dynamic light scattering, Langmuir 16, 1689 (2000).
  10. J. Rodríguez-Fernández, J. Pérez-Juste, L. M. Liz-Marzán, and P. R. Lang, Dynamic light scattering of short Au rods with low aspect ratios, J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 5020 (2007).
  11. I. Martchenko, H. Dietsch, C. Moitzi, and P. Schurtenberger, Hydrodynamic properties of magnetic nanoparticles with tunable shape anisotropy: Prediction and experimental verification, J. Phys. Chem. B 115, 14838 (2011).
  12. A. M. Shetty, G. M. Wilkins, J. Nanda, and M. J. Solomon, Multiangle depolarized dynamic light scattering of short functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes, J. Phys. Chem. C 113, 7129 (2009).
  13. D. Kleshchanok, M. Heinen, G. Nägele, and P. Holmqvist, Dynamics of charged gibbsite platelets in the isotropic phase, Soft Matter 8, 1584 (2012).
  14. A. Pal, V. A. Martinez, T. H. Ito, J. Arlt, J. J. Crassous, W. C. Poon, and P. Schurtenberger, Anisotropic dynamics and kinetic arrest of dense colloidal ellipsoids in the presence of an external field studied by differential dynamic microscopy, Sci. Adv. 6, eaaw9733 (2020).
  15. A. Pal, M. A. Kamal, and P. Schurtenberger, Structure and anisotropic dynamics of stimuli responsive colloidal ellipsoids at the nearest neighbor length scale, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 621, 352 (2022).
  16. A. Pal, M. A. Kamal, P. Holmqvist, and P. Schurtenberger, Structure and dynamics of dense colloidal ellipsoids at the nearest-neighbor length scale, Phys. Rev. Res. 3, 023254 (2021).
  17. T. Hoshino, M. Nakayama, S. Fujinami, T. Nakatani, Y. Kohmura, and T. Kato, Static structure and dynamical behavior of colloidal liquid crystals consisting of hydroxyapatite-based nanorod hybrids, Soft Matter 15, 3315 (2019).
  18. M. J. Solomon and P. T. Spicer, Microstructural regimes of colloidal rod suspensions, gels, and glasses, Soft Matter 6, 1391 (2010).
  19. S. Abakumov, O. Deschaume, C. Bartic, C. Lang, O. Korculanin, J. K. G. Dhont, and M. P. Lettinga, Uncovering log jamming in semidilute suspensions of quasi-ideal rods, Macromolecules 54, 9609 (2021).
  20. A. Pal, T. Zinn, M. A. Kamal, T. Narayanan, and P. Schurtenberger, Anomalous dynamics of magnetic anisotropic colloids studied by XPCS, Small 14, 1802233 (2018).
  21. A. Pal, M. A. Kamal, T. Zinn, J. K. G. Dhont, and P. Schurtenberger, Anisotropic dynamics of magnetic colloidal cubes studied by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, Phys. Rev. Mater. 5, 035603 (2021).
  22. A. J. Banchio, J. Gapinski, A. Patkowski, W. Häußler, A. Fluerasu, S. Sacanna, P. Holmqvist, G. Meier, M. P. Lettinga, and G. Nägele, Many-body hydrodynamic interactions in charge-stabilized suspensions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 138303 (2006).
  23. A. Robert, E. Wandersman, E. Dubois, V. Dupuis, and R. Perzynski, Glassy dynamics and aging in a dense ferrofluid, Europhys. Lett. 75, 764 (2006).
  24. T. Zinn, L. Sharpnack, and T. Narayanan, Dynamics of magnetic Janus colloids studied by ultra small-angle X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, Soft Matter 19, 2311 (2023).
  25. T. Hoshino, M. Nakayama, Y. Hosokawa, K. Mochizuki, S. Kajiyama, Y. Kohmura, and T. Kato, Experimental probing of dynamic self-organized columnar assemblies in colloidal liquid crystals, Nanoscale Adv. 5, 3646 (2023).
  26. Y. Chushkin, A. Gulotta, F. Roosen-Runge, A. Pal, A. Stradner, and P. Schurtenberger, Probing cage relaxation in concentrated protein solutions by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 238001 (2022).
  27. C. Graf, M. Deggelmann, M. Hagenbüchle, H. Kramer, R. Krause, C. Martin, and R. Weber, Dynamic light scattering by aqueous solutions of rodlike fd-virus particles, J. Chem. Phys. 95, 6284 (1991).
  28. P. Holmqvist, V. Meester, F. Westermeier, and D. Kleshchanok, Rotational diffusion in concentrated platelet systems measured with X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 084905 (2013).
  29. M. A. Kamal, M. Brizioli, T. Zinn, T. Narayanan, R. Cerbino, F. Giavazzi, and A. Pal, Dynamics of anisotropic colloidal systems: What to choose, DLS, DDM or XPCS?, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 660, 314 (2024).
  30. A. J. Banchio and G. Nägele, Short-time transport properties in dense suspensions: From neutral to charge-stabilized colloidal spheres, J. Chem. Phys. 128, 104903 (2008).
  31. P. N. Segrè and P. N. Pusey, Scaling of the dynamic scattering function of concentrated colloidal suspensions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 771 (1996).
  32. W. van Megen, R. Ottewill, S. Owens, and P. N. Pusey, Measurement of the wave-vector dependent diffusion coefficient in concentrated particle dispersions, J. Chem. Phys. 82, 508 (1985).
  33. B. M. Fine, A. Lomakin, O. O. Ogun, and G. B. Benedek, Static structure factor and collective diffusion of globular proteins in concentrated aqueous solution, J. Chem. Phys. 104, 326 (1996).
  34. M. Adam and M. Delsanti, Dynamical properties of polymer solutions in good solvent by Rayleigh scattering experiments, Macromolecules 10, 1229 (1977).
  35. U. Zettl, S. T. Hoffmann, F. Koberling, G. Krausch, J. Enderlein, L. Harnau, and M. Ballauff, Self-diffusion and cooperative diffusion in semidilute polymer solutions as measured by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, Macromolecules 42, 9537 (2009).
  36. J. K. G. Dhont, An Introduction to Dynamics of Colloids (Elsevier, 1996), Vol. 2.
  37. E. Matijević and P. Scheiner, Ferric hydrous oxide sols: III. Preparation of uniform particles by hydrolysis of Fe (III)-chloride, -nitrate, and -perchlorate solutions, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 63, 509 (1978).
  38. T. Zinn, A. Homs, L. Sharpnack, G. Tinti, E. Fröjdh, P.-A. Douissard, M. Kocsis, J. Möller, Y. Chushkin, and T. Narayanan, Ultra-small-angle X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy using the Eiger detector, J. Synchrotron Radiat. 25, 1753 (2018).
  39. M. Kotlarchyk and S.-H. Chen, Analysis of small angle neutron scattering spectra from polydisperse interacting colloids, J. Chem. Phys. 79, 2461 (1983).
  40. W. Brown (ed.), Light Scattering: Principles and Development, Monographs on the Physics and Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 53 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996).
  41. C. Lindsey and G. Patterson, Detailed comparison of the Williams–Watts and Cole–Davidson functions, J. Chem. Phys. 73, 3348 (1980).
  42. P. G. De Gennes, Liquid dynamics and inelastic scattering of neutrons, Physica 25, 825 (1959).
  43. P. Holmqvist and G. Nägele, Long-time dynamics of concentrated charge-stabilized colloids, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 058301 (2010).
  44. A. J. Banchio, M. Heinen, P. Holmqvist, and G. Nägele, Short- and long-time diffusion and dynamic scaling in suspensions of charged colloidal particles, J. Chem. Phys. 148, 134902 (2018).
  45. J. Riest, T. Eckert, W. Richtering, and G. Nägele, Dynamics of suspensions of hydrodynamically structured particles: Analytic theory and applications to experiments, Soft Matter 11, 2821 (2015).
  46. J. Gapinski, A. Patkowski, A. Banchio, J. Buitenhuis, P. Holmqvist, M. Lettinga, G. Meier, and G. Nägele, Structure and short-time dynamics in suspensions of charged silica spheres in the entire fluid regime, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 084503 (2009).
  47. G. Brambilla, D. El Masri, M. Pierno, L. Berthier, L. Cipelletti, G. Petekidis, and A. B. Schofield, Probing the equilibrium dynamics of colloidal hard spheres above the mode-coupling glass transition, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 085703 (2009).
  48. J. Mattsson, H. M. Wyss, A. Fernandez-Nieves, K. Miyazaki, Z. Hu, D. R. Reichman, and D. A. Weitz, Soft colloids make strong glasses, Nature (London) 462, 83 (2009).
  49. A. P. Philipse, The random contact equation and its implications for (colloidal) rods in packings, suspensions, and anisotropic powders, Langmuir 12, 1127 (1996).
  50. J. Roller, A. Laganapan, J.-M. Meijer, M. Fuchs, and A. Zumbusch, Observation of liquid glass in suspensions of ellipsoidal colloids, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2018072118 (2021).
  51. H. Wang, Z. Zhang, and X. S. Ling, 2D phase behaviors of colloidal ellipsoids and rods, Front. Phys. 10, 1043983 (2022).
  52. M. Doi and S. Edwards, The Theory of Polymer Dynamics (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986).
  53. F. Giavazzi, C. Haro-Pérez, and R. Cerbino, Simultaneous characterization of rotational and translational diffusion of optically anisotropic particles by optical microscopy, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 28, 195201 (2016).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013341– Published 31 March, 2026
  • Received 10 October 2025
  • Accepted 4 March 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation