2013/10/02 by Michael Grünwald, Phillip L. Geissler, Grünwald, Michael +1 · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Micro and Nano Robotics #Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization #Proteins in Food Systems #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1310.0652
arxiv created 2013/10/02 · openalex publication_date 2013/10/02 · arxiv updated 2013/10/03 · openalex created_date 2019/06/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Nanoparticles with "sticky patches" have long been proposed as building blocks for the self-assembly of complex structures. The synthetic realizability of such patchy particles, however, greatly lags behind predictions of patterns they could form. Using computer simulations, we show that structures of the same genre can be obtained from a solution of simple isotropic spheres, provided control only over their sizes and a small number of binding affinities. In a first step, finite clusters of well-defined structure and composition emerge from natural dynamics with high yield. In effect a kind of patchy particle, these clusters can further assemble into a variety of complex superstructures, including filamentous networks, ordered sheets, and highly porous crystals.