Self-assembly of binary nanoparticles on soft elastic shells

YW Jiang and D Zhang and YK Jin and LX Zhang, JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 138, 214901 (2013).

DOI: 10.1063/1.4807592

The self-assembly behaviors and phase transitions of binary nanoparticles (NPs) adsorbed on a soft elastic shell are investigated through molecular dynamics simulation. The conformations of adsorbed binary NPs depend on the bending energy K-b of elastic shell and the binding energy D-0 between the NPs and the elastic shell. The ordered structures of binary NPs are observed at the moderate adhesive strength and bending energy, in which the small NPs are located near the vertices of regular pentagons as well as the large NPs are distributed along the sides of the regular pentagons. The shape of soft elastic shell can be adjusted by adding the adsorbed binary NPs, and this investigation can provide an effective way to regulate and reshape surfaces or membranes with the sizes in the micrometer range or smaller. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

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