Optimized assembly and steady-state length-scale control in dissipative systems of photo-switchable colloids

ORAL

Abstract

Photo-switchable nanoparticles, such as those developed by Wei et al.,\footnote{Y.H. Wei, S. B. Han, J. Kim, S. L. Soh and B. A. Grzybowski, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010, 132, 11018-11020.} can be assembled into a broad range of structures using light exposure as a control parameter. Jha et al.\footnote{P.k. Jha, V. Kuzovkov, B.A. Grzybowski, and M. Olvera del la Cruz, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 227-234} explored the evolution of these structures using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. In this work, we build on these studies using Molecular Dynamics with a Langevin thermostat to, by judicious choice of exposure parameters that control the dissipative nature of the system, engineer and optimize the self-assembly pathways as well as control the length scales of the steady-state structures.

*Non-Equilibrium Energy Research Center (NERC), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0000989.

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Authors

  • Antonio Osorio-Vivanco

    • University of Michigan

  • Monica Olvera de la Cruz

    • Northwestern University
    • Department of Materials Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University
    • Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University

  • Sharon Glotzer

    • Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan
    • University of Michigan
    • Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI