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Spearheading a new era in complex colloid synthesis with TPM and other silanes

Nature Reviews Chemistry (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Colloid science has recently grown substantially owing to the innovative use of silane coupling agents (SCAs), especially 3-trimethoxysilylpropyl methacrylate (TPM). SCAs were previously used mainly as modifying agents, but their ability to form droplets and condense onto pre-existing structures has enabled their use as a versatile and powerful tool to create novel anisotropic colloids with increasing complexity. In this Review, we highlight the advances in complex colloid synthesis facilitated by the use of TPM and show how this has driven remarkable new applications. The focus is on TPM as the current state-of-the-art in colloid science, but we also discuss other silanes and their potential to make an impact. We outline the remarkable properties of TPM colloids and their synthesis strategies, and discuss areas of soft matter science that have benefited from TPM and other SCAs.

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Fig. 1: Overview of colloidal syntheses enabled by silane coupling agent nucleation and growth plus additional synthesis strategies.
Fig. 2: Reaction scheme of 3-trimethoxysilylpropyl methacrylate (TPM) and heterogeneous nucleation of TPM to form dumbbell particles.
Fig. 3: Synthesis of anisotropic particles using 3-trimethoxysilylpropyl methacrylate (TPM).
Fig. 4: Colloidal synthesis strategies that enhance the versatility of silane coupling agent nucleation and growth.
Fig. 5: Self-assembly by capillary bridges and critical Casimir forces.
Fig. 6: Self-assembly by DNA interactions.
Fig. 7: Self-assembly by depletion interactions.
Fig. 8: Self-assembly of patchy particles by external fields.
Fig. 9: Silane coupling agent colloids used for nanophotonic applications.

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Acknowledgements

S.S. acknowledges support from the US Army Research Office under award number W911NF-21-1-0011. R.P.A.D. acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant number 724834 OMCIDC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Van ‘t Hoff Laboratory for Physical & Colloid Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Marlous Kamp

  2. Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Stefano Sacanna

  3. Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Roel P. A. Dullens

Authors
  1. Marlous Kamp
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  2. Stefano Sacanna
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  3. Roel P. A. Dullens
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Contributions

All authors contributed substantially to discussion of the content. M.K. substantially wrote the first draft of the article. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript before submission.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Marlous Kamp or Roel P. A. Dullens.

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Peer review information

Nature Reviews Chemistry thanks Hua Zou, Bing Liu, Huaguang Wang and Serge Ravaine for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Glossary

Critical point

Temperature above which the components of a medium are miscible.

Debye length

Characteristic colloidal length scale that expresses how far the effect of a colloid’s electrostatic charge persists in the medium at hand owing to screening by the charge carriers (ionic species) in the medium.

Depletion force

Effective attractive force between colloidal particles arising when suspended in a solution of solutes (for example, polymer or smaller particles). The solutes cannot reach the colloidal particles closer than their own radius (excluded volume), which causes the solutes to be excluded from the spaces between the particles (overlap volume). This results in a net attractive force between the colloidal particles.

Dielectrophoresis

(DEP). The motion of colloidal particles in a non-uniform electric field, driven by induced polarization acquired in the field provided the dielectric constant of particles differs from that of the medium.

Diffusiophoresis

The motion of particles (colloids, (macro)molecules, and so on) caused by a bulk concentration gradient of dissolved solutes in the medium.

Induced-charge electrophoresis

(ICEP). The motion of colloidal particles in an alternating electric field, driven by asymmetric fluid flow on account of the asymmetric surface properties of a particle. The asymmetric fluid flow itself is caused by induced-charge electro-osmosis or the effect of the alternating electric field on the ion clouds around colloidal particles.

Nematic phase

Type of liquid crystal in which anisotropic colloidal particles are oriented along a common direction but exhibit no positional order.

Pair potential

The potential energy between two colloidal particles as a function of the distance between them.

Protein corona

Coating of (non-bound) biomolecules, usually proteins, around the surface of a nanoparticle. This protein corona often assembles when colloids are suspended in biological media.

(Refractive) Index matching

In a dispersion, the refractive index of the medium can be matched to that of the colloids by careful choice of media. This is called index matching. It is usually done to reduce scattering of light from the particles, improving the quality of images taken by (confocal) fluorescence microscopy.

Sedimentation–diffusion equilibrium

In a colloidal dispersion, particles will settle owing to the gravitational force, whereas diffusion causes an upward particle flux. The balance of these two effects results in an equilibrium height distribution of the particles, called the sedimentation–diffusion equilibrium.

Spinodal decomposition

Spontaneous separation of a medium into two (or more) co-existing phases.

Yukawa interaction (screened Coulombic potential)

The pair potential between two charged colloidal particles in a medium, wherein the ions in the medium screen the colloidal electrostatic charges.

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Kamp, M., Sacanna, S. & Dullens, R.P.A. Spearheading a new era in complex colloid synthesis with TPM and other silanes. Nat Rev Chem (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-024-00603-4

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