Structure and anisotropic dynamics of stimuli responsive colloidal ellipsoids at the nearest neighbor length scale

Stimuli-responsive self-assembly of (an) isotropic colloids has resulted in a plethora of self-assembled structures with potential applications in fabricating smart materials. A lack of detailed understanding of the interplay between these self-assembled structures and the resulting dynamics has often impeded the exploitation of their full potential. Herein, we have unveiled the relationship between the field-driven self-assembled structures and the corresponding collective dynamics at the nearest neighbor length scale using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and magnetic colloidal ellipsoids. We demonstrate that the effective long-time collective diffusion coefficient, D_eff(q), scales with the inverse of the scattered intensity for various stimuli-responsive self-assembled phases. At high-volume fraction, the system approaches a kinetically arrested state. The anisotropic slowdown of D_eff(q) hints towards the formation of an oriented glass. Our approach opens new avenues for exploring the stimuli-responsive dynamics of strongly interacting colloidal systems with diverse shapes and properties.