兰阳，英国伦敦大学学院（UCL）讲师（助理教授）。2015年获得英国剑桥大学化学博士学位。2015-2017年在剑桥大学物理系卡文迪许实验室从事胶体物理方面的研究（博士后）。2017-2019年赴美国宾夕法尼亚大学化学与分子生物工程系从事胶体与界面方向的研究（博士后）。2019年6月加入UCL化工系任教。主要从事胶体化学与物理，超分子材料以及微流控等方向的科研工作。近年来在Nat. Commun., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Nanoscale, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces等期刊上发表SCI论文30余篇；申请国际发明专利2件。

Unprecedented colloidal stability of raspberry-like colloids

Yang Lan

Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London
Roberts building, London WC1E 7JE, United Kingdom
e-mail: (yang.lan@ucl.ac.uk)

Colloids  are microscopical substances that spread out uniformly through another  material. Natural and artificial colloidal solutions are common in  everyday life and include fog, hair sprays, paints, milk, hand lotion  and jellies. These solutions are particularly important in the medical  field, where they are often used in intravenous solutions to regulate  blood conditions and other functions. However, the applicability of  colloidal solutions is limited by their stability under certain  conditions.

Inspired  by the morphology of virus and their high stability in blood  conditions, we designed a type of unique colloids, raspberry-like  colloids, which behave almost like hard spheres. The raspberry-like  colloids are synthesised in a single step. In aqueous solutions, such  prepared raspberry-like colloids show unprecedented stability  against aggregation over large variations of salt concentrations  without the addition of any stabilisers.  Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) calculations are performed to  illustrate the relationship between the unusual colloidal stability and  particle morphology. Further, the raspberry’s stability is applied to  prepare superspheres and thin films in which the raspberry-like colloids  self-assemble into hexagonally close-packed crystals with exquisite  reproducibility. The raspberry-like colloids offer a broader perspective  on the role of particle morphology in colloidal stability and the materials could  be readily exploited in applications such as photonic ink, drilling  muds, sustainable paints, food additives and drug delivery that demands  high colloidal stability under salted conditions.