Breaking the size constraint for nano cages using annular patchy particles

Abstract

Engineering structures like nanocages, shells, and containers, by self-assembly of colloids is a challenging problem. One of the main challenges is to define the shape of the individual subunits to control the radius of the closed shell structures. In this work, we have proposed a simple model for the subunit, which comprises a spheroidal or spherical hardcore decorated with an annular patch. The self-assembly of these building blocks leads to the formation of monodispersed spherical cages (close shells) or containers (curved clusters). For a spheroid with a given bonding range, the curvature of the shell is analytically related to only the patch angle of the building blocks and independent of the shape of the subunits. This model with only one control parameter can be used to engineer cages with the desired radius, which also have been verified using thermodynamic calculations. In the phase diagram of the system, 4 phases are identified which includes gas, closed shell, partially closed (containers) shell and percolated structures. When the diameters of the spherical cages formed are small, we observe an icosahedral symmetry similar to virus capsids. We also observed that the kinetics of the cage formation is very similar to the nucleation and growth kinetics of viruses and is the key factor in determining the yield of closed shells.