Self-assembly of two-dimensional binary quasicrystals: A possible route to a DNA quasicrystal

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that binary solutions of patchy particles can form thermodynamically stable two-dimensional quasicrystals, suggesting a feasible pathway for creating DNA-based quasicrystals through specific DNA star tile interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a method to form stable 2D quasicrystals using patchy particles as DNA star tile analogs, combining simulations and coarse-grained DNA modeling.

Findings

Binary patchy particles form stable quasicrystals at narrow patch widths.

DNA star tiles can be designed to self-assemble into dodecagonal motifs.

Simulation results support experimental feasibility of DNA quasicrystals.

Abstract

We use Monte Carlo simulations and free-energy techniques to show that binary solutions of penta- and hexavalent two-dimensional patchy particles can form thermodynamically stable quasicrystals even at very narrow patch widths, provided their patch interactions are chosen in an appropriate way. Such patchy particles can be thought of as a coarse-grained representation of DNA multi-arm `star' motifs, which can be chosen to bond with one another very specifically by tuning the DNA sequences of the protruding arms. We explore several possible design strategies and conclude that DNA star tiles that are designed to interact with one another in a specific but not overly constrained way could potentially be used to construct soft quasicrystals in experiment. We verify that such star tiles can form stable dodecagonal motifs using oxDNA, a realistic coarse-grained model of DNA.