Modeling self-assembly in molecular fluids

Abstract

Equilibrium self-assembly in fluids is studied in the framework of the lattice density-functional theory (DFT). In particular, DFT is used to model the phase behavior of anisotropic monomers. Though anisotropic monomers are a highly idealized model system, the analysis presented here demonstrates a formalism that can be used to describe a wide variety of phase transitions, including processes referred to as self-assembly. In DFT, the free energy is represented as a functional of order parameters. Minimization of this functional allows modeling spontaneous nano-scale phase transitions and self-assembly of supramolecular structures. In particular, this theory predicts micellization, lamellization, fluid–glass phase transitions, crystallization, and more. A classification of phase transitions based on general differences in self-assembled structures is proposed. The roles of dimensionality and intermolecular interactions in different types of phase transitions are analyzed. The concept of primordial codes is discussed in terms of the structural variety of self-assembled systems.