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arXiv · 0905.4236

Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Asymmetric Amphiphatic Spherical Colloidal Particles

William L. Miller·Angelo Cacciuto
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Abstract

From dumbbells to FCC crystals, we study the self-assembly pathway of amphiphatic, spherical colloidal particles as a function of the size of the hydrophobic region using molecular dynamics simulations. Specifically, we analyze how local inter-particle interactions correlate to the final self-assembled aggregate and how they affect the dynamical pathway of structure formation. We present a detailed diagram separating the many phases that we find for different sizes of the hydrophobic area, and uncover a narrow region where particles self-assemble into hollow, faceted cages that could potentially find interesting engineering applications.

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William L. Miller, Angelo Cacciuto. 2009-08-21. Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Asymmetric Amphiphatic Spherical Colloidal Particles. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.80.021404

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