Frame-guided assembly from a theoretical perspective.

Abstract

The molecular self-assembly of various structures such as micelles and vesicles has been the subject of comprehensive studies. Recently, a new approach to design these structures, the frame-guided assembly, has been developed to progress toward fabrics of predefined shape and size, following an initially provided frame of guiding elements. Here, we study the frame-guided assembly in a two-dimensional membrane via computer simulations based on a single-bead coarse grained surfactant model in continuous space. In agreement with the experiment, the assembly process already starts for surfactant concentrations below the critical micelle concentration. Furthermore, upon increasing temperature, the formation process gets more delocalized. Additionally, the assembly process of the resulting membrane plane is modeled by a lattice gas model. It displays a similar phenomenology but additionally allows for the derivation of analytical mean-field predictions. In this way, a fundamental understanding of frame-guided assembly can be gained.