We address a long-standing problem in colloid and nanoparticle science: particle shape selection in solution synthesis. Our main finding is that a proper balance of two processes, preferential attachment of transported monomers at the protruding features of the growing cluster and monomer rearrangement at the cluster surface, can yield a well-defined particle shape for a large interval of times, and persisting for sizes much larger than the original seed.
@article{arxiv.0903.2841,
title = {Shape Selection in Synthesis of Colloids and Nanoparticles},
author = {Igor Sevonkaev and Vladimir Privman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0903.2841},
year = {2010}
}