Abstract
A model potential for colloidal building blocks is defined with two different types of attractive surface sites, described as complementary patches and antipatches. A Bernal spiral is identified as the global minimum for clusters with appropriate arrangements of three patch-antipatch pairs. We further derive a minimalist design rule with only one patch and antipatch, which also produces a Bernal spiral. Monte Carlo simulations of these patchy colloidal building blocks in the bulk are generally found to corroborate the global optimization results.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1246-1256 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | ACS Nano |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 26 Feb 2013 |