Multiphase DNA Nanostar Liquids and their Morphologies*

Multiphase liquid droplets in the cell allow for spatial compartmentalization of biomolecules which support different chemical processes in each region. Inspired by the core-shell structures of various membrane-less organelles, we seek to better understand the thermodynamic limits to the number of phases which can simultaneously exist outside the confines of a cell, and the complex morphological structures they can create. Using a model DNA liquid system, we construct multiple immiscible liquids by exploiting the sequence-specific nature of DNA hybridization. We discuss how tuning surface tension can allow different mesoscale droplet structures to be realized.