Tuning Colloidal Reactions

Abstract

The precise control of complex reactions is critical for biological processes yet our inability to design for specific outcomes limits the development of synthetic analogues. Here, we leverage differentiable simulators to design nontrivial reaction pathways in colloidal assemblies. By optimizing over external structures, we achieve controlled disassembly and particle release from colloidal shells. Lastly, we characterize the role of configurational entropy in the structure via both forward calculations and optimization, inspiring new parameterizations of designed colloidal reactions.