Self-Assembly of Optimally Packed Cylindrical Clusters inside Spherical Shells

• Published in: The journal of physical chemistry. B Vol. 126; no. 36; pp. 7059 - 7065
• Main Authors: Serna, Horacio, Meyra, Ariel G., Noya, Eva G., Góźdź, Wojciech T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 15-09-2022
• ISSN: 1520-6106; 1520-5207
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04850

Systems with short-range attraction and long-range repulsion
can
form ordered microphases in bulk and under confinement. Using grand
canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we study a colloidal system with
competing interactions under confinement in narrow spherical shells
at thermodynamic conditions at which the hexagonal phase of cylindrical
clusters is stable in bulk. We observe spontaneous formation of different
ordered structures. The results of the simulations are in a very good
agreement with the predictions of a simple mathematical model based
on the geometry and optimal packing of colloidal clusters. The results
of the simulations and the explanation provided by a relatively simple
geometric model may be helpful in manufacturing copolymer nanocapsules
and may indicate possible ways of coiling DNA strands on spherical
objects.