Structural Complexity in Colloidal Self-Assembly

Nature employs self-assembly to engineer materials that are both complex and functional. Unraveling the interplay between the properties of constituent building blocks, the emergent structures they form, and the pathways of their assembly remains a pivotal research challenge. In this realm, colloids benefit from the availability of diverse building blocks and powerful characterization methods. This presentation investigates the mechanisms of complex structure formation with computer simulations of classical models, such as hard spheres [1,2], hard tetrahedra [3,4], and particles with pair interactions [5]. By drawing parallels with colloid experiments, we underscore the predictive power of the simulations. These comparisons not only validate our models but also offer insights into the behavior of complex materials.

Bio: Prof. Michael Engel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany. He received his doctorate degree in physics from Universität Stuttgart in 2008 and afterwards joined the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor as postdoctoral fellow. Prof. Engel’s research group simulates atoms, molecules, and soft matter systems. Recent activities concern the self-assembly of nanocrystals, modeling crystallization processes, materials optimization, and advancing simulation algorithms.

[1] J. Wang, C.F. Mbah, T. Przybilla, B. Apeleo Zubiri, E. Spiecker, M. Engel, N. Vogel, Nature Commun. 9, 5259 (2018)
[2] C.F. Mbah, J. Wang, S. Englisch, P. Bommineni, N.R. Varela-Rosales, E. Spiecker, N. Vogel, M. Engel, Nature Commun. 14, 5299 (2023)
[3] A. Haji-Akbari, M. Engel, A.S. Keys, X. Zheng, R.G. Petschek, P. Palffy-Muhoray, S.C. Glotzer, Nature 462, 773 (2009)
[4] Y. Wang, J. Chen, R. Li, A. Götz, D. Drobek, T. Przybilla, S. Hübner, P. Pelz, L. Yang, B. Apeleo Zubiri, E. Spiecker, M. Engel, X. Ye, JACS 145, 17902 (2023)
[5] J. Dshemuchadse, P.F. Damasceno, C.L. Phillips, M. Engel, S.C. Glotzer, PNAS 118, e2024034118 (2021)