Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Determination of elastic constants of two-dimensional close-packed colloidal crystals
1National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. phyzkq@nus.edu.sg
Abstract:
We present a noncontact, accurate, and efficient methodology for determination of elastic constants in two-dimensional colloidal crystals via the calculation of the local strain fluctuation of particles. The hexagonally close-packed colloidal crystals form from microsized particles subjected to an alternating electric field. The elastic constants in the thermodynamic limit are obtained by the extrapolation of finite-size scaling of the elastic moduli as the functions of the frequency and field strength. It is found that the elastic constants in our system are larger than those in non-close-packed colloidal crystals reported before. This technique could be a rational method to study the elasticity of soft solids.
Related Concept Videos
Determination of Crystal Structures
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
Crystal Density
Relation between Poisson's ratio, Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity
Metallic Solids
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and malleability. Many...
The Colloidal State

