Self-assembly of colloidal polymers via depletion-mediated lock and key binding

Abstract

We study the depletion-induced self-assembly of indented colloids. Using state-of-the-art Monte Carlo simulation techniques that treat the depletant particles explicitly, we demonstrate that colloids assemble by a lock-and-key mechanism, leading to colloidal polymerization. The morphology of the chains that are formed depends sensitively on the size of the colloidal indentation, with smaller values additionally permitting chain branching. In contrast to the case of spheres with attractive patches, Wertheim's thermodynamic perturbation theory fails to provide a fully quantitative description of the polymerization transition. We trace this failure to a neglect of packing effects and we introduce a modified theory that accounts better for the shape of the colloids, yielding improved agreement with simulation.

7 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Phase diagram of patchy colloids: towards empty liquids
• Self-Assembly of Patchy Particles into Polymer Chains: A Parameter-Free Comparison between Wertheim Theory and Monte Carlo Simulation
• Controlling crystal self-assembly using a real-time feedback scheme
• Packing and Self-assembly of Truncated Triangular Bipyramids

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Conformation and dynamics of a self-avoiding active flexible polymer
• Entropic forces stabilize diverse emergent structures in colloidal membranes
• Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Depletion-Induced Interactions for Soft Matter Systems
• Impact of size polydispersity on the nature of Lennard-Jones liquids
• Effect of Energy Polydispersity on the Nature of Lennard-Jones Liquids
• Activity-assisted self-assembly of colloidal particles
• Unusual liquid phases for indented colloids with depletion interactions
• Holographic characterization of imperfect colloidal spheres
• Universal reshaping of arrested colloidal gels via active doping
• Coarse-grained depletion potentials for anisotropic colloids: application to lock-and-key systems
• Even strong energy polydispersity does not affect the average structure and dynamics of simple liquids