Kavli Affiliate: David T. Limmer
| First 5 Authors: Sam Oaks-Leaf, David T. Limmer, , ,
| Summary:
We present a dynamical model of crystal growth, in which it is possible to
reliably achieve asymmetric products, beginning from symmetric initial
conditions and growing within an isotropic environment. The asymmetric growth
is the result of a positive feedback mechanism that amplifies the effect of
thermal fluctuations in the coverage of surfactants on the growing crystalline
facets. Within our simple model, we are able to understand the kinetic and
thermodynamic factors involved in both the onset of symmetry breaking and the
persistence of anisotropic growth. We demonstrate that the mechanism is general
by studying models with increasing complexity. We argue that this mechanism of
symmetry breaking underpins observations of colloidal, seed-mediated syntheses
of single crystalline metal nanorods capped with strongly interacting
surfactants. The parameters within our model are related to experimental
observables such as the concentration, hydrophobicity, and binding strength of
the surfactants, which suggests a potential route to optimize the yield of
asymmetric products in colloidal nanoparticle syntheses.
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