Phase separation on the sphere: Patchy particles and self-assembly

Bott, Matthias Christian; Brader, Joseph M.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.94.012603

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Journal article

Phase separation on the sphere: Patchy particles and self-assembly

Bott, Matthias Christian Soft Matter Theory, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Brader, Joseph M. Soft Matter Theory, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

05.07.2016

Published in:

Physical Review E. - 2016, vol. 94, no. 1, p. 12603

English Motivated by observations of heterogeneous domain structure on the surface of cells, we consider a minimal model to describe the dynamics of phase separation on the surface of a spherical particle. Finite-size effects on the curved particle surface lead to the formation of long-lived, metastable states for which the density is distributed in patches over the particle surface. We study the time evolution and stability of these states as a function of both the particle size and the thermodynamic parameters. Finally, by connecting our findings with studies of patchy particles, we consider the implications for self-assembly in many-particle systems.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Physique

Language