Two-Dimensional Interfacial Colloidal Crystals

Polystyrene spheres (2450 in diameter) are trapped in a surface energy well at water/air interface. Because of asymmetry of charge distribution, electrical dipoles are associated with each interfacial particle. The dipole-dipole repulsive interactions organize the polystyrene spheres into a two-dimensional triangular lattice. The direct microscopic observations of such an interfacial colloidal crystal are reported for the first time.