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Beneduce C, Sciortino F, Šulc P, Russo J. Engineering Azeotropy to Optimize the Self-Assembly of Colloidal Mixtures. ACS NANO 2023; 17:24841-24853. [PMID: 38048489 PMCID: PMC10753881 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c05569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023]
Abstract
The goal of inverse self-assembly is to design interparticle interactions capable of assembling the units into a desired target structure. The effective assembly of complex structures often requires the use of multiple components, each new component increasing the thermodynamic degrees of freedom and, hence, the complexity of the self-assembly pathway. In this work we explore the possibility to use azeotropy, i.e., a special thermodynamic condition where the system behaves effectively as a one-component system, as a way to control the self-assembly of an arbitrary number of components. Exploiting the mass-balance equations, we show how to select patchy particle systems that exhibit azeotropic points along the desired self-assembly pathway. As an example we map the phase diagram of a binary mixture that, by design, fully assembles into cubic (and only cubic) diamond crystal via an azeotropic point. The ability to explicitly include azeotropic points in artificial designs reveals effective pathways for the self-assembly of complex structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Beneduce
- Dipartimento
di Fisica, Sapienza Università di
Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Sciortino
- Dipartimento
di Fisica, Sapienza Università di
Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Petr Šulc
- School
of Molecular Sciences and Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics,
The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, 1001 South McAllister Avenue, Tempe, Arizona 85281, United States
- School
of Natural Sciences, Department of Bioscience, TU Munich, Am Coulombwall
4a, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - John Russo
- Dipartimento
di Fisica, Sapienza Università di
Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
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Jonas H, Schall P, Bolhuis PG. Extended Wertheim theory predicts the anomalous chain length distributions of divalent patchy particles under extreme confinement. J Chem Phys 2022; 157:094903. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0098882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Colloidal patchy particles with divalent attractive interaction can self-assemble into linear polymer chains. Their equilibrium properties in 2D and 3D are well described by Wertheim's thermodynamic perturbation theory which predicts a well-defined exponentially decaying equilibrium chain length distribution. In experi- mental realizations, due to gravity, particles sediment to the bottom of the suspension forming a monolayer of particles with a gravitational height smaller than the particle diameter. In accordance with experiments, an anomalously high monomer concentration is observed in simulations which is not well understood. To account for this observation, we interpret the polymerization as taking place in a highly confined quasi-2D plane and extend the Wertheim thermodynamic perturbation theory by defining addition reactions constants as functions of the chain length. We derive the theory, test it on simple square well potentials, and apply it to the experimental case of synthetic colloidal patchy particles immersed in a binary liquid mixture that are described by an accurate effective critical Casimir patchy particle potential. The important interaction parameters entering the theory are explicitly computed using the integral method in combination with Monte Carlo sampling. Without any adjustable parameter, the predictions of the chain length distribution are in excellent agreement with explicit simulations of self-assembling particles. We discuss generality of the approach, and its application range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Jonas
- University of Amsterdam Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, Netherlands
| | - Peter Schall
- Institute of Physics, Universiteit van Amsterdam Faculteit der Natuurwetenschappen Wiskunde en Informatica, Netherlands
| | - Peter G. Bolhuis
- van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, Netherlands
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Russo J, Leoni F, Martelli F, Sciortino F. The physics of empty liquids: from patchy particles to water. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2022; 85:016601. [PMID: 34905739 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ac42d9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Empty liquids represent a wide class of materials whose constituents arrange in a random network through reversible bonds. Many key insights on the physical properties of empty liquids have originated almost independently from the study of colloidal patchy particles on one side, and a large body of theoretical and experimental research on water on the other side. Patchy particles represent a family of coarse-grained potentials that allows for a precise control of both the geometric and the energetic aspects of bonding, while water has arguably the most complex phase diagram of any pure substance, and a puzzling amorphous phase behavior. It was only recently that the exchange of ideas from both fields has made it possible to solve long-standing problems and shed new light on the behavior of empty liquids. Here we highlight the connections between patchy particles and water, focusing on the modelling principles that make an empty liquid behave like water, including the factors that control the appearance of thermodynamic and dynamic anomalies, the possibility of liquid-liquid phase transitions, and the crystallization of open crystalline structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Russo
- Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Fabio Leoni
- Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Fausto Martelli
- IBM Research Europe, Hartree Centre, Daresbury WA4 4AD, United Kingdom
| | - Francesco Sciortino
- Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
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Handle PH, Zaccarelli E, Gnan N. Effective potentials induced by mixtures of patchy and hard co-solutes. J Chem Phys 2021; 155:064901. [PMID: 34391347 DOI: 10.1063/5.0059304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The addition of co-solutes to colloidal suspensions is often employed to induce tunable depletion interactions. In this work, we investigate effective colloidal interactions arising from binary co-solute mixtures of hard spheres and patchy particles. By changing the relative concentration of the two species, we show that the resulting effective potential Veff continuously changes from the one obtained for a single-component hard sphere co-solute to that mediated by the single-component patchy particle co-solute. Interestingly, we find that, independent of the relative concentration of the two components, the resulting Veff is additive, i.e., it is well-described by the linear combination of the effective interactions mediated by respective pure co-solutes. However, a breakdown of the additivity occurs when the co-solute mixture is close to the onset of a demixing transition. These results represent a step forward in understanding and predicting colloidal behavior in complex and crowded environments and for exploiting this knowledge to design targeted colloidal superstructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip H Handle
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52c, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Emanuela Zaccarelli
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52c, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Nicoletta Gnan
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52c, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria
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Hvozd T, Kalyuzhnyi YV, Vlachy V. Aggregation, liquid-liquid phase separation, and percolation behaviour of a model antibody fluid constrained by hard-sphere obstacles. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:8432-8443. [PMID: 32812624 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm01014f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
This study is concerned with the behaviour of proteins within confinement created by hard-sphere obstacles. An individual antibody molecule is depicted as an assembly of seven hard spheres, organized to resemble a Y-shaped (on average) antibody (7-bead model) protein. For comparison with other studies we, in one case, model the protein as a hard sphere decorated by three short-range attractive sites. The antibody has two Fab and one Fc domains located in the corners of the letter Y. In this calculation, only the Fab-Fab and Fab-Fc attractive pair interactions are possible. The confinement is formed by the randomly distributed hard-sphere obstacles fixed in space. Aside from size exclusion, the obstacles do not interact with antibodies, but they affect the protein-protein correlation. We used a combination of the scaled-particle theory, Wertheim's thermodynamic perturbation theory and the Flory-Stockmayer theory to calculate: (i) the second virial coefficient of the protein fluid, (ii) the percolation threshold, (iii) cluster size distributions, and (iv) the liquid-liquid phase separation as a function of the strength of the various pair interactions of the protein and the model parameters, such as protein concentration and the packing fraction of obstacles. The conclusion is that hard-sphere obstacles strongly decrease the critical density and also, but to a much lesser extent, the critical temperature. Also, the confinement enhances clustering, making the percolating region broader. The effect depends on the model parameters, such as the packing fraction of obstacles η0, the inter-site interaction strength εIJ, and the ratio between the size of the obstacle σ0 and the size of one bead of the model antibody σhs; the value of this ratio is varied here from 2 to 5. Interestingly, at low to moderate packing fractions of obstacles, the second virial coefficient first slightly decreases (destabilization), and the slope depends on the observation temperature, but then at higher values of η0 it increases. The calculated values of the second virial coefficient also depend on the size of the obstacles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taras Hvozd
- Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Svientsitskoho 1, Lviv, Ukraine.
| | - Yurij V Kalyuzhnyi
- Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Svientsitskoho 1, Lviv, Ukraine. and Faculty of Science, J. E. Purkinje University, 400 96 Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
| | - Vojko Vlachy
- Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Tavares JM, Teixeira PIC. Remnants of the disappearing critical point(s) in patchy fluids with distinct interaction patches. J Chem Phys 2020; 153:086101. [PMID: 32872888 DOI: 10.1063/5.0015315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
We investigate the disappearance of the critical points of a model consisting of particles decorated with two patches of type A and a variable number (n) of patches of type B (2AnB patchy particles), in which only AA and AB bonds can form. This has been shown to exhibit a very rich phase behavior including one, two, or no liquid-vapor critical points, depending on two parameters: the ratio of the volumes available to each type of bond and the ratio of the bond strengths. We apply Wertheim's theory in the limit of strong AA bonds to a lattice version of the model [Almarza et al., J. Chem. Phys. 137, 244902 (2012)] and show that the critical point does not always vanish at zero density and temperature, in contrast with results for particles decorated with only one type of patch. We uncover two remnants of the critical points-the lines of maximum and ideal compressibility-that survive even when no critical points are present.
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Affiliation(s)
- J M Tavares
- ISEL - Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Rua Conselheiro Emídio Navarro 1, 1959-067 Lisbon, Portugal and Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - P I C Teixeira
- ISEL - Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Rua Conselheiro Emídio Navarro 1, 1959-067 Lisbon, Portugal and Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
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