A self-assembled crystal structure discovered by researchers using targeted assembly techniques, researchers from Cornell’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering discovered more than 20 new self-assembled crystal structures, none of which had been seen before.
The research, published in the journal ACS Nano as “Targeted Detection of Low-Crystal Structures through Tunable Particle Interactions,” was authored by Ph.D. student Hillary Pan and her adviser Julia Dshemuchadse, assistant professor of science and engineering materials.
“Ultimately, we were trying to figure out what kind of new crystal structure we could assemble and simulate ourselves,” Pan said. “The most exciting thing is that we found new structures that were not previously recorded in any crystal structure database; these elements come together in something that no one has seen before.
The team conducted a focused search for previously unknown organized assemblies in large spaces in which molecules interact through isotropic pathways, the paper said. “Low-order structures have an anisotropic environment, which means that the geometries are highly directional, so it’s amazing that we can see different types of objects that use only non-directional interactions, Pan said.
Weak particle aggregation is the main material used in many technologically important materials, including structures such as organometallic frameworks, clathrates and zeolites and photonic crystals such as diamond.
Researchers have developed (A self-assembled crystal structure discovered) a new functional model for particle interactions in which all features can be automatically programmed. Through the process of changing the two parameters in the simulation, the researchers can control the different features of the interaction field.
Despite limiting the search to a small area of the great possibility of action particle interactions, the paper says, a wealth of complexity and symmetry appears in these crystal structures, which include clathrates and empty cages and low-symmetry structure, which also. never seen before in simulation.
The work shows that complex structures can grow from simple relationships and adds new theoretical frameworks for others working in the field.
The group’s change in the kinetic design of the relationship has an important step in determining the quality of particle interactions that lead to certain structural properties, useful for establishing synthetic rules for natural target structures.
This group’s research shows that there can be new and dangerous formations through self-combination. “This is the first time we have defined the relationship between these two isotropic potentials and the resulting crystals,” said Dshemuchadse.
“These new crystal structures can now serve as design targets for researchers to make real nanoparticles and colloids.”
Source: Cornell University
