Self-Assembly of Microscopic Rods Due to Depletion Interaction

Autor: Carles Calero, Ignacio Pagonabarraga
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Entropy, Vol 22, Iss 10, p 1114 (2020)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1099-4300
DOI: 10.3390/e22101114
Popis: In this article, using numerical simulations we investigate the self-assembly of rod-like particles in suspension due to depletion forces which naturally emerge due to the presence of smaller spherical depletant particles. We characterize the type of clusters that are formed and the evolution of aggregation departing from a random initial configuration. We show that eventually the system reaches a thermodynamic equilibrium state in which the aggregates break and reform dynamically. We investigate the equilibrium state of aggregation, which exhibits a strong dependence on depletant concentration. In addition, we provide a simple thermodynamic model inspired on the theory of self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules which allows us to understand qualitatively the equilibrium aggregate size distributions that we obtain in simulation.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje