English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Colloidal nanocrystal gels can be assembled using a difunctional "linker"molecule to mediate bonding between nanocrystals. The conditions for gelationand the structure of the gel are controlled macroscopically by the linkerconcentration and microscopically by the linker's molecular characteristics.Here, we demonstrate using a toy model for a colloid-linker mixture that linkerflexibility plays a key role in determining both phase behavior and structureof the mixture. We fix the linker length and systematically vary its bendingstiffness to span the flexible, semiflexible, and rigid regimes. At fixedlinker concentration, flexible-linker and rigid-linker mixtures phase separateat low colloid volume fractions in agreement with predictions of first-orderthermodynamic perturbation theory, but the semiflexible-linker mixtures do not.We correlate and attribute this qualitatively different behavior to undesirable"loop" linking motifs that are predicted to be more prevalent for linkers withend-to-end distances commensurate with the locations of chemical bonding siteson the colloids. Linker flexibility also influences the spacing between linkedcolloids, suggesting strategies to design gels with desired phase behavior,structure, and by extension, structure-dependent properties.

Effects of linker flexibility on phase behavior and structure of linked colloidal gels