Like aggregation from unlike attraction: stripes in symmetric mixtures of cross-attracting hard spheres

Munaò, Gianmarco; Costa, Dino; Malescio, G.; Bomont, Jean‐Marc; Prestipino, Santi

doi:10.1039/d3cp01026k

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The aim of such studies is the production of metamaterials with various optical, electromagnetic, acoustic, and thermal properties. Among the possible patterns, stripes or layers with different thicknesses often appear in one-component systems of particles [5,7,25], or in mixtures [20,[27][28][29][30]. Ordered thin stripes of alternating components can find various technological applications, such as in photonic crystals [31,32] or optoelectronic devices [33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lattice Model Results for Pattern Formation in a Mixture with Competing Interactions

De Virgiliis,

Meyra,

Ciach

2024

Molecules

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A monolayer consisting of two types of particles, with energetically favored alternating stripes of the two components, is studied by Monte Carlo simulations and within a mesoscopic theory. We consider a triangular lattice model and assume short-range attraction and long-range repulsion between particles of the same kind, as well as short-range repulsion and long-range attraction for the cross-interaction. The structural evolution of the model upon increasing temperature is studied for equal chemical potentials of the two species. We determine the structure factor, the chemical potential–density isotherms, the specific heat, and the compressibility, and show how these thermodynamic functions are associated with the spontaneous formation of stripes with varying degrees of order.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lattice Model Results for Pattern Formation in a Mixture with Competing Interactions

De Virgiliis,

Meyra,

Ciach

2024

Molecules

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A density functional theory and simulation study of stripe phases in symmetric colloidal mixtures

Prestipino,

Pini,

Costa

et al. 2023

The Journal of Chemical Physics

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In a binary mixture, stripes refer to a one-dimensional periodicity of the composition, namely, a regular alternation of layers filled with particles of mostly one species. We have recently introduced [Munaò et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 25, 16227 (2023)] a model that possibly provides the simplest binary mixture endowed with stripe order. The model consists of two species of identical hard spheres with equal concentration, which mutually interact through a square-well potential. In that paper, we have numerically shown that stripes are present in both liquid and solid phases when the attraction range is rather long. Here, we study the phase behavior of the model in terms of a density functional theory capable to account for the existence of stripes in the dense mixture. Our theory is accurate in reproducing the phases of the model, at least insofar as the composition inhomogeneities occur on length scales quite larger than the particle size. Then, using Monte Carlo simulations, we prove the existence of solid stripes even when the square well is much thinner than the particle diameter, making our model more similar to a real colloidal mixture. Finally, when the width of the attractive well is equal to the particle diameter, we observe a different and more complex form of compositional order in the solid, where each species of particle forms a regular porous matrix holding in its holes the other species, witnessing a surprising variety of emergent behaviors for a very basic model of interaction.

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Adsorption on a Spherical Colloidal Particle from a Mixture of Nanoparticles with Competing Interactions

Litniewski,

Góźdź,

Ciach

2024

Molecules

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Adsorption of nanoparticles on a spherical colloidal particle is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. We consider a generic model for a mixture of nanoparticles with energetically favored self-assembly into alternating layers of the two components. When both components are attracted to the colloidal particle, the adsorbed nanoparticles self-assemble either into alternating parallel tori and clusters at the two poles of the colloidal particle, or into alternating spirals wrapped around the spherical surface. The long-lived metastable states obtained in simulations follow from the spherical shape of the adsorbing surface and the requirement that the neighboring chains of the nanoparticles are composed of different components. A geometrical construction leading to all such patterns is presented. When the second component particles are repelled from the colloidal particle and the attraction of the first component is strong, the attracted particles form a monolayer at the surface of the colloidal particle that screens the repulsion of the second component. The subsequent adsorbed alternating spherical layers of the two components form together a thick shell. This structure leads to the adsorption that is larger than in the case of the same attraction of the two components to the colloidal particle.

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Like aggregation from unlike attraction: stripes in symmetric mixtures of cross-attracting hard spheres

Abstract: Self-assembly of colloidal particles into striped phases is at once a process of relevant technological interest — just think about the possibility to realise photonic crystals with a dielectric structure...

Cited by 3 publications

References 76 publications

Lattice Model Results for Pattern Formation in a Mixture with Competing Interactions

Lattice Model Results for Pattern Formation in a Mixture with Competing Interactions

A density functional theory and simulation study of stripe phases in symmetric colloidal mixtures

Adsorption on a Spherical Colloidal Particle from a Mixture of Nanoparticles with Competing Interactions

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