Abstract
Using computer simulations, we investigate the phase behavior of hard-core spherocylinders with a length-to-diameter ratio L/σ=5 and coated by a soft deformable corona of length λ/σ=1.35. When quasi-two-dimensional layers are formed in smectic and solid phases at low temperatures, the competition between the two intrinsic length scales of the parallel aligned particles leads to the stabilization of different in-plane lattices of nonconventional symmetry, including low-density hexagonal, square, and high-density hexagonal crystals, as well as an intriguing dodecagonal quasicrystal. Our Letter opens up the opportunity to control the assembly of anisotropic nanoparticles into structures with preengineered symmetry-dependent physical properties.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 158001 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-6 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 126 |
| Issue number | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Apr 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:G. C. V. acknowledges Carlos Avendaño (University of Manchester) for stimulating discussions. The project leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant No. 676045 (MULTIMAT).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Physical Society.
Funding
G. C. V. acknowledges Carlos Avendaño (University of Manchester) for stimulating discussions. The project leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant No. 676045 (MULTIMAT).