The emergence of valency in colloidal crystals through electron equivalents

Colloidal crystal engineering of complex, low-symmetry architectures is challenging when isotropic building blocks are assembled. Here we describe an approach to generating such structures based upon programmable atom equivalents (nanoparticles functionalized with many DNA strands) and mobile electr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature materials 2022-05, Vol.21 (5), p.580-587
Main Authors: Wang, Shunzhi, Lee, Sangmin, Du, Jingshan S., Partridge, Benjamin E., Cheng, Ho Fung, Zhou, Wenjie, Dravid, Vinayak P., Lee, Byeongdu, Glotzer, Sharon C., Mirkin, Chad A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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639/301/357
639/301/923/966
639/925/926
Anisotropy
Biomaterials
Broken symmetry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Colloids
Condensed Matter Physics
Coordination
Crystal structure
Crystallinity
Crystals
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA - chemistry
Electrons
Engineering
Equivalence
Gallium
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles - chemistry
Nanotechnology
Optical and Electronic Materials
Spatial distribution
Strands
Symmetry
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Summary:Colloidal crystal engineering of complex, low-symmetry architectures is challenging when isotropic building blocks are assembled. Here we describe an approach to generating such structures based upon programmable atom equivalents (nanoparticles functionalized with many DNA strands) and mobile electron equivalents (small particles functionalized with a low number of DNA strands complementary to the programmable atom equivalents). Under appropriate conditions, the spatial distribution of the electron equivalents breaks the symmetry of isotropic programmable atom equivalents, akin to the anisotropic distribution of valence electrons or coordination sites around a metal atom, leading to a set of well-defined coordination geometries and access to three new low-symmetry crystalline phases. All three phases represent the first examples of colloidal crystals, with two of them having elemental analogues (body-centred tetragonal and high-pressure gallium), while the third (triple double-gyroid structure) has no known natural equivalent. This approach enables the creation of complex, low-symmetry colloidal crystals that might find use in various technologies. Symmetry breaking in colloidal crystals is achieved with DNA-grafted programmable atom equivalents and complementary electron equivalents, whose interactions are tuned to create anisotropic crystalline precursors with well-defined coordination geometries that assemble into distinct low-symmetry crystals.
ISSN:1476-1122
1476-4660
DOI:10.1038/s41563-021-01170-5