Shape-free theory for the self-assembly kinetics in macromolecular systems
Abstract
Self-assembly kinetics is usually described by approaches which assume that the shape of the aggregates has a definite form (e.g., spherical, cylindrical, cubic, etc), however that is unlikely to be the case in many finite-sized macromolecular and colloidal systems. Here we consider a simple aggregation model which displays a first-order phase transition in order to illustrate a rate theory based on microcanonical analysis that allows one to obtain a shape-free description of its self-assembly kinetics. Stochastic simulations are performed to validate our approach and demonstrate how the equilibrium thermostatistical properties of the system can be related to the temperature-dependent rate constants. As a model-independent kinetic approach, it may provide experimentalists a reliable method to reconstruct free-energy profiles and microcanonical entropies from kinetic data.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2108.13773,
title = {Shape-free theory for the self-assembly kinetics in macromolecular systems},
author = {L. F. Trugilho and L. G. Rizzi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.13773},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
5 pages, 3 figures