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Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids

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Published on: April 22, 2016

Forming quasicrystals by monodisperse soft core particles.

Mengjie Zu¹, Peng Tan², Ning Xu³

¹CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, People's Republic of China.

Nature Communications

|December 14, 2017

Summary

Unexpected quasicrystals formed from simple, uniform particles challenge existing theories. This discovery offers a new, simplified method for creating quasicrystals, particularly dodecagonal and octagonal types in 2D systems.

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Area of Science:

Condensed matter physics
Materials science
Crystallography

Background:

Traditional quasicrystal formation requires multiple competing length scales.
Previous models assumed complex interactions for quasicrystal stabilization.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate quasicrystal formation in systems with monodisperse, isotropic particles.
To explore the possibility of forming quasicrystals without explicit multiple length scales.

Main Methods:

Simulations of high-density systems of soft-core particles.
Analysis of particle arrangements and emergent order.

Main Results:

Formation of quasicrystals from monodisperse, isotropic particles with simple potentials.
Observation of dodecagonal and octagonal quasicrystals in 2D systems.
Identification of pentagonal arrangements as key to quasicrystalline order.

Conclusions:

Quasicrystals can form unexpectedly from simple systems, challenging established theories.
Pentagonal particle arrangements are crucial for this novel quasicrystal formation.
This work provides a simplified pathway for quasicrystal synthesis and theoretical inquiry.