Self-Aassembly of core-corona colloids under cylindrical confinement: A Monte Carlo study

Abstract

Hierarchical self-assembly provides a versatile pathway for generating new functional materials. In this work, we show that confining core-corona colloids in a cylindrical cavity leads to an interesting repertoire of self-organized structures, some of which display hierarchical organization. Particle density, corona size, and cylinder radius were varied systematically to elucidate their role in colloidal arrangements. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations were performed to attain structural phase diagrams for the systems studied: complex mesophases are observed for certain model parameters. Among the observed morphologies are helical arrangements: simple and double helices consisting of particle stripes ordered around a cylindrical axis with a pitch dictated by the corona size. We also report the structural analysis of morphologies displaying stratified packing. Length scales of the core-corona particles and confining cylinders studied in this work are comparable to reported experimental systems. Our results offer practicable molecular design principles to obtain specific colloidal nanocrystalline arrangements for targeted applications.