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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
Published on: April 22, 2016
Dynamics of the field-induced formation of hexagonal zipped-chain superstructures in magnetic colloids
D Heinrich1, A R Goñi, A Smessaert
1Institut für Festkörperphysik, EW 5-4, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstrasse 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Combining nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular dynamics simulations, we unravel the long-time dynamics of a paradigmatic colloid with strong dipole-dipole interactions. In a homogeneous magnetic field, ionic ferrofluids exhibit a stepwise association process from ensembles of monomers over stringlike chains to bundles of hexagonal zipped-chain patches. We demonstrate that attractive van der Waals interactions due to charge-density fluctuations in the magnetic particles play the key role for the dynamical stabilization of the hexagonal superstructures against thermal dissociation. Our results give insight into the dynamics of self-organization in systems dominated by dipolar interactions.
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