Stabilizing quasicrystals composed of patchy colloids by narrowing the patch width

Abstract

We explore the behavior of two-dimensional patchy colloidal particles with 8 or 10 symmetrically arranged patches by employing Monte-Carlo simulations. The particles interact according to an isotropic pair potential that possesses only one typical length. The patches lead to additional attractions that are anisotropic and depend on the relative orientation of two neighboring particles. We investigate the assembled structures with a special interest in quasicrystals. We found that the patch width is of great importance: Only in case of narrow patch widths we are able to observe metastable octagonal and decagonal quasicrystals, while dodecagonal quasicrystals can also occur for broad patches. These results are important to understand the role of interactions with preferred binding angles in order to obtain quasicrystals. Our findings suggest that in case of sharp binding angles, as they occur in metallic alloys, octagonal and decagonal symmetries might be observed more often than in systems with less sharp binding angles as it is the case in soft matter systems where dodecagonal quasicrystals dominate.

Event-chain Monte Carlo simulations of the liquid to solid transition of two-dimensional decagonal colloidal quasicrystals

“…Furthermore, one might determine the phase transition with different methods like density functional theory or phase field crystal models for quasicrystals [61,[75][76][77] or for anisotropic particles that support quasicrystalline order [68,[78][79][80].…”

Self-assembly of dodecagonal and octagonal quasicrystals in hard spheres on a plane

“…This is unfortunate, as a colloidal model system that reliably forms quasicrystals would be ideal for the real-time study of quasicrystal self-assembly. In computer simulations of colloidal soft matter, quasicrystals are typically found in systems with highly specific interactions -such as oscillatory potentials, patchy interactions, and square-shoulder repulsion [26,[30][31][32][33][34] -which are hard to reproduce in the lab. While complex quasicrystal approximants have been found to selfassemble in simulations of polydisperse mixtures of hard spheres [35], and finite clusters with icosahedral symmetry have been shown to form in spherical confinement, thus far hard-sphere systems have not been found to be capable of forming a quasicrystal.…”

Which Wave Numbers Determine the Thermodynamic Stability of Soft Matter Quasicrystals?

“…In soft matter systems, the effective interactions between molecules and aggregations of molecules (generically referred to here as particles) can be tuned to exhibit the two specific required lengthscales and thus form QCs. Such systems include block copolymers and dendrimers [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], certain anisotropic particles [16][17][18], nanoparticles [19,20] and mesoporous silica [21].Some of our understanding of how and why QCs can form has come from studies of particle based computer simulation models -see for example [22][23][24][25][26]. Another source of important insights has been continuum theories for the density distribution.…”

“…Some of our understanding of how and why QCs can form has come from studies of particle based computer simulation models -see for example [22][23][24][25][26]. Another source of important insights has been continuum theories for the density distribution.…”

“…Such systems include block copolymers and dendrimers [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], certain anisotropic particles [16][17][18], nanoparticles [19,20] and mesoporous silica [21]. Some of our understanding of how and why QCs can form has come from studies of particle based computer simulation models -see for example [22][23][24][25][26]. Another source of important insights has been continuum theories for the density distribution.…”