Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Colloids and Suspensions01:17

Colloids and Suspensions

3.8K
Children at play often make suspensions such as mixtures of mud and water, flour and water, or a suspension of solid pigments in water known as tempera paint. These suspensions are heterogeneous mixtures composed of relatively large particles visible to the naked eye or seen with a magnifying glass. They are cloudy, and the suspended particles settle out after mixing. The suspended particles in a suspension settle out after some time of mixing. The separation of particles from a suspension is...
3.8K
Colloids03:22

Colloids

22.0K
Children at play often make suspensions such as mixtures of mud and water, flour and water, or a suspension of solid pigments in water known as tempera paint. These suspensions are heterogeneous mixtures composed of relatively large particles that are visible to the naked eye or can be seen with a magnifying glass. They are cloudy, and the suspended particles settle out after mixing. On the other hand, a solution is a homogeneous mixture in which no settling occurs and in which the dissolved...
22.0K
The Colloidal State01:29

The Colloidal State

99
The formation of a colloidal system is exemplified by an aqueous solution containing Cl− ions is introduced to another containing Ag+ ions, resulting in the precipitation of solid AgCl as extremely tiny crystals. Instead of settling out as a filterable precipitate, these crystals remain suspended in the liquid, showcasing a colloidal system.A colloidal system involves colloidal particles within the approximate range of 1 to 1000 nm in at least one dimension, dispersed in a medium called...
99
Colloidal precipitates01:09

Colloidal precipitates

6.8K
The high insolubility of some precipitates can result in an unfavorable relative supersaturation. This can lead to colloidal particles with a large surface-to-mass ratio, where adsorption is promoted. For instance, in the precipitation of silver chloride, silver ions are adsorbed on the surface of the colloidal particles, forming a primary layer. This layer attracts ions of opposite charge (such as nitrate ions), forming a diffuse secondary layer of adsorbed ions. This electric double layer...
6.8K
Coagulation01:06

Coagulation

1.6K
Colloidal solids are solid particles suspended in solution. They are usually negatively charged, attracting a compact primary layer of positively charged ions, which attract more counterions to form an electrical double layer. Electrostatic repulsion between the charged double layers prevents the particles from colliding, stabilizing the colloids. These solids are often undesirable because they can contain toxins that are difficult to remove. Coagulation is a technique that helps aggregate and...
1.6K
Colors and Magnetism03:02

Colors and Magnetism

14.6K
Color in Coordination Complexes
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
14.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Nanofluidic systems for ionic intelligence.

Nanoscale horizons·2026
Same author

Emergent discrete space-time crystal of Majorana-like quasiparticles in chiral liquid crystals.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Mechanically-induced Septin Networks Protect Nuclear Integrity.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Polariton Control of Molecular Charge Transfer in Perylene Diimide Semiconductors.

The journal of physical chemistry letters·2026
Same author

Mesoporous optically clear heat insulators for sustainable building envelopes.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025
Same author

Deterministic control of magnetotactic bacteria via an analysis of their nanomagnetic structure.

Physical review. E·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
09:26

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids

Published on: April 22, 2016

10.5K

Hexadecapolar colloids.

Bohdan Senyuk1, Owen Puls1, Oleh M Tovkach2,3

  • 1Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.

Nature Communications
|February 12, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers created elastic hexadecapoles using polymer microspheres in liquid crystals. These colloidal particles exhibit unique bonding behaviors not seen in simpler atomic or colloidal structures.

More Related Videos

Creating Sub-50 Nm Nanofluidic Junctions in PDMS Microfluidic Chip via Self-Assembly Process of Colloidal Particles
11:13

Creating Sub-50 Nm Nanofluidic Junctions in PDMS Microfluidic Chip via Self-Assembly Process of Colloidal Particles

Published on: March 13, 2016

11.3K
Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
10:56

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures

Published on: May 20, 2014

12.6K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
09:26

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids

Published on: April 22, 2016

10.5K
Creating Sub-50 Nm Nanofluidic Junctions in PDMS Microfluidic Chip via Self-Assembly Process of Colloidal Particles
11:13

Creating Sub-50 Nm Nanofluidic Junctions in PDMS Microfluidic Chip via Self-Assembly Process of Colloidal Particles

Published on: March 13, 2016

11.3K
Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
10:56

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures

Published on: May 20, 2014

12.6K

Area of Science:

  • Colloidal physics
  • Soft matter physics
  • Materials science

Background:

  • Atomic electron shells exhibit symmetries like monopoles, dipoles, quadrupoles, and octupoles (s, p, d, f orbitals).
  • Colloidal atoms display complex behaviors driven by functionalization, shape, topology, and stimuli, exceeding atomic complexity.
  • Hexadecapolar symmetries, corresponding to filled g-orbitals, are theoretically possible but not observed in known elements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe the formation and properties of elastic hexadecapoles using polymer microspheres in a liquid crystal medium.
  • To investigate the anisotropic colloidal interactions driven by induced hexadecapolar distortions.
  • To uncover novel bonding mechanisms in colloidal systems that are inaccessible to simpler elastic multipoles.

Main Methods:

  • Dispersing polymer microspheres within a nematic liquid crystal host.
  • Utilizing conically degenerate boundary conditions to induce local perturbations in the nematic alignment.
  • Analyzing the formation of hexadecapolar distortions and their influence on colloidal interactions.

Main Results:

  • Successfully formed elastic hexadecapoles from polymer microspheres in a nematic fluid.
  • Demonstrated that microspheres induce hexadecapolar distortions in the liquid crystal host.
  • Observed anisotropic colloidal interactions driven by these hexadecapolar distortions.
  • Identified unique bonding behaviors mediated by these hexadecapoles.

Conclusions:

  • Colloidal systems can exhibit complex multipolar symmetries, such as hexadecapoles, exceeding those found in atomic systems.
  • Elastic hexadecapoles in liquid crystals provide a novel platform for studying complex colloidal interactions and bonding.
  • The findings open new avenues for designing advanced colloidal materials with tunable interaction properties.