Electrostatic repulsion-driven crystallization model arising from filament networks

TL;DR

This paper presents a phenomenological model explaining how filament networks with long-range electrostatic repulsions form hexagonal crystalline structures under confinement, revealing different mechanisms depending on screening length and predicting topological defects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel electrostatic repulsion-driven crystallization model for filament networks, highlighting mechanisms and defect formation, with potential applications to charged colloidal systems.

Findings

Formation of hexagonal order via confinement and repulsion

Identification of two crystallization mechanisms based on screening length

Prediction of topological defects in filament bundles

Abstract

The crystallization of bundles in filament networks interacting via long-range repulsions in confinement is described by a phenomenological model. The model demonstrates the formation of the hexagonal crystalline order via the interplay of the confinement potential and the filament-filament repulsion. Two distinct crystallization mechanisms in the short- and large- screening length regimes are discussed, and the phase diagram is obtained. Simulation of large bundles predicts the existence of topological defects within the bundled filaments. This electrostatic repulsion-driven crystallization model arising from studying filament networks can even find a more general context extending to charged colloidal systems.