Colloidal Analogues of Charged and Uncharged Polymer Chains with Tunable Stiffness

Spherical colloids have been used successfully as condensedmatter model systems for studying fundamental aspects of both phase behavior and dynamic processes such as the glass transition. Recently, a growing interest in colloidal particles with more complex shapes and interactions is fueled by applications in self-assembly and advanced functional materials, as well as by the demand for more realistic colloidal model systems for molecular structures. Examples of such colloidal particles include rod-like particles, regular clusters, chiral chains, staggered chains, granular polymers, particles that exhibit inverse dipolar interactions, patchy particles, and step-growth polymerization of inorganic rodlike nanoparticles. The assembly of colloids into polymerlike chains would constitute a significant step forward in the design of colloidal analogues of molecular structures.