Shape Sensitive Assembly and Colloidal Superball Phase Transitions

Guiding the self-assembly of materials by controlling the shape of the individual particle constituents is a powerful approach to material design. In particular the assembly of colloidal particles driven by depletants is a versatile playground for investigating this potential. We find that colloidal “superballs” may assemble into distinct phases that depend on both their shape and the size of the depletants. By using a mixture of depletants, one of which is size-tunable, we can explore reversible transitions between these phases.