Field-induced assembly of colloidal ellipsoids into well-defined microtubules.

Jérôme J Crassous,Jan Vermant,Patrick Pfleiderer,Per Linse,Adriana M Mihut,Peter Schurtenberger,Erik Wernersson

doi:10.1038/ncomms6516

Jérôme J Crassous, Jan Vermant + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6516

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Abstract

Current theoretical attempts to understand the reversible formation of stable microtubules and virus shells are generally based on shape-specific building blocks or monomers, where the local curvature of the resulting structure is explicitly built-in via the monomer geometry. Here we demonstrate that even simple ellipsoidal colloids can reversibly self-assemble into regular tubular structures when subjected to an alternating electric field. Supported by model calculations, we discuss the combined effects of anisotropic shape and field-induced dipolar interactions on the reversible formation of self-assembled structures. Our observations show that the formation of tubular structures through self-assembly requires much less geometrical and interaction specificity than previously thought, and advance our current understanding of the minimal requirements for self-assembly into regular virus-like structures.

Highlights

Current theoretical attempts to understand the reversible formation of stable microtubules and virus shells are generally based on shape-specific building blocks or monomers, where the local curvature of the resulting structure is explicitly built-in via the monomer geometry
Current theoretical attempts to understand the subtle interplay between the interactions that lead to the reversible formation of stable microtubules and virus shells have already advanced our knowledge significantly[5,7,8,9,10]
These attempts are, all based on shape-specific building blocks or monomers, where the local curvature of the resulting structure is explicitly built-in via the monomer geometry[9,10]

Summary

Introduction

Current theoretical attempts to understand the reversible formation of stable microtubules and virus shells are generally based on shape-specific building blocks or monomers, where the local curvature of the resulting structure is explicitly built-in via the monomer geometry. Current theoretical attempts to understand the subtle interplay between the interactions that lead to the reversible formation of stable microtubules and virus shells have already advanced our knowledge significantly[5,7,8,9,10] These attempts are, all based on shape-specific building blocks or monomers, where the local curvature of the resulting structure is explicitly built-in via the monomer geometry[9,10]. While most published DSA studies have focused on spherical particles, recent work with anisotropic particles has shown that the particle shape can have a strong and often surprising effect on their field-induced spatial organization[15,16,17]

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