The self-assembly of perfectly ordered closed shells is a challenging process involved in many biological and nanoscale systems. However, most of the aspects that determine their formation are still unknown. Here we investigate the growth of shells by simulating the assembly of spherical structures made of N identical subunits. Remarkably, we show that the formation and energetics of partially assembled shells are dominated by an effective line-tension that can be described in simple thermodynamic terms. In addition, we unveil two mechanisms that can prevent the correct formation of defect-free structures: “hole implosion,” which leads to a premature closure of the shell; and “closure catastrophe,” which causes a dramatic production of structural disorder during the later stages of the growth of big shells.
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14 May 2012
Research Article|
May 11 2012
Physics of shell assembly: Line tension, hole implosion, and closure catastrophe
Antoni Luque;
Antoni Luque
1Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of California
, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA
2Departament de Física Fonamental,
Universitat de Barcelona
, Barcelona 08028, Spain
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David Reguera;
David Reguera
2Departament de Física Fonamental,
Universitat de Barcelona
, Barcelona 08028, Spain
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Alexander Morozov;
Alexander Morozov
1Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of California
, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA
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Joseph Rudnick;
Joseph Rudnick
1Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of California
, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA
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Robijn Bruinsma
Robijn Bruinsma
1Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of California
, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA
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J. Chem. Phys. 136, 184507 (2012)
Article history
Received:
December 08 2011
Accepted:
April 23 2012
Citation
Antoni Luque, David Reguera, Alexander Morozov, Joseph Rudnick, Robijn Bruinsma; Physics of shell assembly: Line tension, hole implosion, and closure catastrophe. J. Chem. Phys. 14 May 2012; 136 (18): 184507. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4712304
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