From open to close-packed tilings and beyond - tuning the assemblies of patchy platelets with patch size and placement*

Non-spherical colloids decorated with well-defined bonding sites -- often referred to as patches -- are increasingly attracting the attention of materials scientists due to their ability to spontaneously assemble into tuneable surface structures.
In this computational work [1,2] we present how the interplay between the shape-anisotropy of the colloidal platelets and the placement of the patches on the platelet edge can yield surface tilings with tuneable properties, from close-packed to monolayers with pores of tuneable shapes and sizes.
We find that the successful experimental assembly of these highly ordered structures relies on the ability to craft small enough patches to provide the required bonding selectivity. While DNA origami represent an interesting system for the realisation of small patches via DNA sticky ends, the crafting of small patches remains a challenge for most colloidal systems.
In this work we gradually increase the patch size and explore self-assembly scenarios that, even in the large patch regime, are still heavily impacted by the particle shape and patch placement.

[1] Karner C, Dellago C and Bianchi E, Nano Lett. 2019, 19, 11, 7806–7815
[2] Karner C, Müller F and Bianchi E Int. J. Mol. Sci., under review