Extended Data Fig. 2: Dynamics of the interfacial structure on mica surface in 1 mM AlCl3 at mild pH conditions (pH 4 to pH 5) revealed by in-situ AFM.
From: How charge frustration causes ion ordering and microphase separation at surfaces
a, At pH 3.9, an ordered ion network forms. b, As the pH reaches 4, the ions begin to crosslink, forming small clusters and breaking the initial symmetry. c, Above pH 4, these clusters transition into a microphase separated monolayered Al(OH)3 film with a network of gaps. Insets display autocorrelation patterns to illustrate the symmetry of the surface structure. d,e, High resolution AFM images of the structure of the lamella patterned microphase separated Al(OH)3 films. f-j, in-situ AFM images show the transition from Al ion clusters to discontinuous Al(OH)3 films. k-n, in-situ AFM images show the coarsening of the films with increasing pH, where the average size of the islands increases from 2.36 to 60.5 nm2. o, An AFM image shows the monolayered Al(OH)3 films after a week of incubation.
