Mixtures of functionalized colloids on substrates

Abstract

Patchy particles are a class of colloids with functionalized surfaces. Through surface functionalization, the strength and directionality of the colloidal interactions are tunable allowing control over coordination of the particle. Exquisite equilibrium phase diagrams of mixtures of coordination two and three have been reported. However, the kinetics of self-organization and the feasibility of the predicted structures are still largely unexplored. Here, we study the irreversible aggregation of these mixtures on a substrate, for different fractions of two-patch particles. Two mechanisms of mass transport are compared: diffusion and advection. In the diffusive case, an optimal fraction is found that maximizes the density of the aggregate. By contrast, for advective transport, the density decreases monotonically with the fraction of two-patch colloids, in line with the behavior of the liquid density on the spinodal of the equilibrium phase diagram.

References in corpus (8)

• Phase diagram of patchy colloids: towards empty liquids
• Theoretical and numerical study of the phase diagram of patchy colloids: ordered and disordered patch arrangements
• Phase diagrams of binary mixtures of patchy colloids with distinct numbers of patches: The network fluid regime
• Computing the phase diagram of binary mixtures: a patchy particle case study
• Precursors of order in aggregates of patchy particles
• Properties of patchy colloidal particles close to a surface: a Monte Carlo and density functional study
• Nonequilibrium growth of patchy-colloid networks on substrates
• Nonequilibrium adsorption of 2AnB patchy colloids on substrates

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Kinetic roughening of aggregates of patchy colloids with strong and weak bonds
• Nonequilibrium self-organization of colloidal particles on substrates: adsorption, relaxation, and annealing
• Adsorbed films of three-patch colloids: Continuous and discontinuous transitions between thick and thin films
• Kinetic interfaces of patchy particles
• Field-driven dynamical demixing of binary mixtures
• Annealing cycles and the self-organization of functionalized colloids