Related papers: Electrostatic Self-assembly : A New Route Towards …

Colloidal particles are considered ideal building blocks to produce materials with enhanced physical properties. The state-of-the-art techniques for synthesizing these particles provide control over shape, size, and directionality of the…

Nanocomposite materials made of block copolymer and nanoparticles display properties which can be different from the purely polymeric matrix. The resulting material is a crossover of the original properties of the block copolymer and the…

Colloidal particles can spontaneously self-assemble into ordered structures, which not only can manipulate the propagation of light, but also vibration or phonons. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we study the self-assembly of perfectly…

The structural control of silicon nanocrystals is an important technological problem. Typically a distribution of nanocrystal sizes and shapes emerges under the uncontrolled aggregation of smaller clusters. The aim of this computational…

The discrete and charge-separated nature of matter - electrons and nuclei - results in local electrostatic fields that are ubiquitous in nanoscale structures and are determined by their shape, material, and environment. Such fields are…

Magnetic nanoparticles in a colloidal solution self-assemble in various aligned structures, which has a profound influence on the flow behavior. However, the precise role of the microstructure in the development of the rheological response…

Self-assembling novel ordered structures with nanoparticles has recently received much attention. Here we use computer simulations to study a two-dimensional model system characterized by a simple isotropic interaction that could be…

We have studied structure formation in a confined block copolymer melt by means of dynamic density functional theory (DDFT). The confinement is two-dimensional, and the confined geometry is that of a cylindrical nanopore. Although the…

The design of complex materials and the formation of specific patterns often arise from the properties of the individual building blocks. In this respect, colloidal systems offer a unique opportunity because nowadays they can be synthesized…

At low temperatures, colloidal particles with short-range attractive and long-range repulsive interactions can form various periodic microphases in bulk.In this paper, we investigate the self-assembly behaviour of colloids with competing…

We investigate by scattering techniques the structure of water-based soft composite materials comprising a crystal made of Pluronic block-copolymer micelles arranged in a face-centered cubic lattice and a small amount (at most 2% by volume)…

A large body of experimental work on the microstructure and dynamics of simplifiedindustrial nanocomposites made of disordered silica filler in a styrene-butadiene matrixby solid-phase mixing is regrouped and critically discussed in this…

We report the equilibrium self-assembly of binary crystals of oppositely-charged colloidal microspheres at high density. By varying the magnitude of the charge on near equal-sized spheres we show that the structure of the binary crystal may…

Particles with directional interactions are promising building blocks for new functional materials and may serve as models for biological structures. Mutually attractive nanoparticles that are deformable due to flexible surface groups, for…

Interplay of Coulomb interaction energy, free ion entropy, and conformational elasticity is a fascinating aspect in polyelectrolytes (PEs). We develop a theory for complexation of two oppositely charged PEs, a process known to be the…

Biological systems exploit self-assembly to create complex structures whose arrangements are finely controlled from molecular to mesoscopic level. Herein we report an example of using fully synthetic systems that mimic two levels of…

We have modeled the layer-by-layer assembly process of flexible polyelectrolytes on flat surfaces. The multilayer has a three-zone structure. An exponential growth is found for the first several layers, followed by a linear growth for…

Interparticle interactions and bulk properties of colloidal suspensions can be substantially modified by addition of nanoparticles. Extreme asymmetries in size and charge between colloidal particles and nanoparticles present severe…

Colloidal nanoparticles developed as interesting objects to establish two- or three-dimensional super-structures with properties not known from conventional bulk materials. Beyond, the properties can be tuned and quantum effects can be…

Solution self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers (BCs) is typically performed by a solvent-to-water exchange. However, BC assemblies are often trapped in metastable states depending on the mixing conditions such as the magnitude and…