Hierarchical self-assembly of polydisperse colloidal bananas into a two-dimensional vortex phase.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
; 118(33)2021 08 17.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34389681
ABSTRACT
Self-assembly of microscopic building blocks into highly ordered and functional structures is ubiquitous in nature and found at all length scales. Hierarchical structures formed by colloidal building blocks are typically assembled from monodisperse particles interacting via engineered directional interactions. Here, we show that polydisperse colloidal bananas self-assemble into a complex and hierarchical quasi-two-dimensional structure, called the vortex phase, only due to excluded volume interactions and polydispersity in the particle curvature. Using confocal microscopy, we uncover the remarkable formation mechanism of the vortex phase and characterize its exotic structure and dynamics at the single-particle level. These results demonstrate that hierarchical self-assembly of complex materials can be solely driven by entropy and shape polydispersity of the constituting particles.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Reino Unido