Criticality in Ligand-Controlled (Nanocrystal) Self-Limiting Assembly.

Authors

Alex Travesset

Published in

The journal of physical chemistry. B. Jul 14, 2026. Epub Jul 14, 2026.

Abstract

The conditions for a supersaturated solution of generic particles (metal atoms, molecules, etc.) in the presence of capping agents, i.e., ligands or stabilizers, to assemble into an equilibrium state consisting of an ensemble of crystals of l_c particles each (nanocrystals), i.e., self-limited assembly, are presented. The problem is solved analytically as an expansion in powers of 1/l_c. The key parameter is the ϑ: ratio of ligands to particles. It is shown that the presence of a critical point at ϑ_c enables the programmable synthesis of NCs of any desired size and the precise characterization of the microscopic parameters making self-limiting assembly possible. The paper answers the question of what is the result of an NC-driven ligand synthesis if thermodynamic equilibrium is reached. Possible nonequilibrium effects hampering synthesis and implications for classical nucleation theory, virus assembly, and other problems are discussed.

PMID:
42444488
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.