Abstract
DNA linker mediated self-assembly is emerging as a very general strategy for designing new materials. In this Letter, we characterize both the dynamics and thermodynamics of nanoparticle-DNA self-assembly by molecular dynamics simulations from a new coarse-grained model. We establish the general phase diagram and discuss the stability of a previously overlooked crystalline phase (D-bcc). We also characterize universal properties about the dynamics of crystallization. We point out the connection to -star polymer systems and discuss the implications for ongoing experiments as well as for the general field of DNA mediated self-assembly.
- Received 4 March 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.215501
© 2011 American Physical Society