Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers
We show that the self-assembly of a diverse collection of building blocks can be understood within a common physical framework. These building blocks, which form periodic honeycomb networks and nonperiodic variants thereof, range in size from atoms to micron-scale polymers and interact through mecha...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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American Physical Society
2014
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31695/ |
| _version_ | 1848794255269560320 |
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| author | Whitelam, Stephen Tamblyn, Isaac Haxton, Thomas K. Wieland, Maria B. Champness, Neil R. Garrahan, Juan P. Beton, Peter H. |
| author_facet | Whitelam, Stephen Tamblyn, Isaac Haxton, Thomas K. Wieland, Maria B. Champness, Neil R. Garrahan, Juan P. Beton, Peter H. |
| author_sort | Whitelam, Stephen |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We show that the self-assembly of a diverse collection of building blocks can be understood within a common physical framework. These building blocks, which form periodic honeycomb networks and nonperiodic variants thereof, range in size from atoms to micron-scale polymers and interact through mechanisms as different as hydrogen bonds and covalent forces. A combination of statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics shows that one can capture the physics that governs the assembly of these networks by resolving only the geometry and strength of building-block interactions. The resulting framework reproduces a broad range of phenomena seen experimentally, including periodic and nonperiodic networks in thermal equilibrium, and nonperiodic supercooled and glassy networks away from equilibrium. Our results show how simple “design criteria” control the assembly of a wide variety of networks and suggest that kinetic trapping can be a useful way of making functional assemblies. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-31695 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:17Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-316952020-05-04T20:18:01Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31695/ Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers Whitelam, Stephen Tamblyn, Isaac Haxton, Thomas K. Wieland, Maria B. Champness, Neil R. Garrahan, Juan P. Beton, Peter H. We show that the self-assembly of a diverse collection of building blocks can be understood within a common physical framework. These building blocks, which form periodic honeycomb networks and nonperiodic variants thereof, range in size from atoms to micron-scale polymers and interact through mechanisms as different as hydrogen bonds and covalent forces. A combination of statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics shows that one can capture the physics that governs the assembly of these networks by resolving only the geometry and strength of building-block interactions. The resulting framework reproduces a broad range of phenomena seen experimentally, including periodic and nonperiodic networks in thermal equilibrium, and nonperiodic supercooled and glassy networks away from equilibrium. Our results show how simple “design criteria” control the assembly of a wide variety of networks and suggest that kinetic trapping can be a useful way of making functional assemblies. American Physical Society 2014 Article PeerReviewed Whitelam, Stephen, Tamblyn, Isaac, Haxton, Thomas K., Wieland, Maria B., Champness, Neil R., Garrahan, Juan P. and Beton, Peter H. (2014) Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers. Physical Review X, 4 (1). 011044/1-011044/12. ISSN 2160-3308 Interdisciplinary Physics Soft Matter Statistical Physics http://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011044 doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011044 doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011044 |
| spellingShingle | Interdisciplinary Physics Soft Matter Statistical Physics Whitelam, Stephen Tamblyn, Isaac Haxton, Thomas K. Wieland, Maria B. Champness, Neil R. Garrahan, Juan P. Beton, Peter H. Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers |
| title | Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers |
| title_full | Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers |
| title_fullStr | Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers |
| title_short | Common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers |
| title_sort | common physical framework explains phase behavior and dynamics of atomic, molecular, and polymeric network formers |
| topic | Interdisciplinary Physics Soft Matter Statistical Physics |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31695/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31695/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31695/ |