Asymmetric Assembly of Lennard-Jones Janus Dimers

Abstract

Self-assembly of Janus (or `patchy') particles is dependent on the precise interaction between neighbouring particles. Here, the orientations of two amphiphilic Janus spheres within a dimer in an explicit fluid are studied with high geometric resolution. Molecular dynamics simulations and first-principles energy calculations are used with hard- and soft-sphere Lennard-Jones potentials, and temperature and hydrophobicity are varied. The most probable centre-centre-pole angles are in the range 40° to 55°, with pole-to-pole alignment not observed due to orientational entropy. Angles near 90° are energetically unfavoured due to solvent exclusion, and we unexpectedly found that the relative azimuthal angle between the spheres is affected by solvent ordering.

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