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Title: Entropy-Driven Crystallization Behavior in DNA-Mediated Nanoparticle Assembly

Journal Article · · Nano Letters

Herein, we report an example of entropy-driven crystallization behavior in DNA-nanoparticle superlattice assembly, marking a divergence from the well-established enthalpic driving force of maximizing nearest-neighbor hybridization connections. Such behavior is manifested in the observation of a non-close-packed, body-centered cubic (bcc) superlattice when using a system with self-complementary DNA linkers that would be predicted to form a close-packed, face-centered cubic (fcc) structure based solely on enthalpic considerations and previous design rules for DNA-linked particle assembly. Notably, this unexpected phase behavior is only observed when employing long DNA linkers with unpaired “flexor” bases positioned along the length of the DNA linker that increase the number of microstates available to the DNA ligands. A range of design conditions are tested showing sudden onsets of this behavior, and these experiments are coupled with coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to show that this entropy-driven crystallization behavior is due to the accessibility of additional microstates afforded by using long and flexible linkers.

Research Organization:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0000989; FA9550-11-1-0275; FA9550-12-1-0280; N00014-15-1-0043; DGE-1324585
OSTI ID:
1370658
Journal Information:
Nano Letters, Vol. 15, Issue 8; Related Information: CBES partners with Northwestern University (lead); Harvard University; New York University; Pennsylvania State University; University of Michigan; University of Pittsburgh; ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 30 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (5)

Programmable Atom Equivalents: Atomic Crystallization as a Framework for Synthesizing Nanoparticle Superlattices journal February 2019
Using DNA to program the self-assembly of colloidal nanoparticles and microparticles journal March 2016
Crystal engineering with DNA journal February 2019
Sequence isomeric giant surfactants with distinct self-assembly behaviors in solution journal January 2019
Exploring the zone of anisotropy and broken symmetries in DNA-mediated nanoparticle crystallization journal September 2016