Anisotropy & self-assembly. A walk through intricate free-energy landscapes.

Abstract

This thesis tackles a very broad problem in terms of variables implied, as it is to characterize the importance of anisotropy in shape and interactions in the self- assembly processes. Therefore, a reasonable strategy is to fix as many variables as possible for each study, as it was done in the first half of this thesis, chapters 2 and 3. Firstly a system of soft particles is used in chapter 2 to gain some insight into the effect of shape anisotropy on the diffusion in structured fluids. Then with a fixed shape anisotropy, chapter 3 points out the decisive role played by the anisotropy in the interaction potential for the internal structure of aggregates and the location of the phase transitions. The perspectives of chapters 2 and 3 are combined in chapter 4 where it is studied the dynamics of particles with different interactions potentials during aggregation. Finally, chapter 5 exploits every thing learned with the proposal of a clay model. The rest of this introductory chapter is dedicated to brief descriptions of the tools and methods used trough out this thesis.