# Stabilizing quasicrystals composed of patchy colloids by narrowing the patch width

## TL;DR

This study uses simulations to show that narrowing patch widths in colloidal particles promotes the formation of octagonal and decagonal quasicrystals, highlighting the importance of interaction anisotropy in quasicrystal assembly.

## Contribution

It demonstrates that narrow patch widths in patchy colloids are crucial for stabilizing specific quasicrystal symmetries, advancing understanding of interaction effects in self-assembly.

## Key findings

- Narrow patches favor octagonal and decagonal quasicrystals.
- Broad patches can lead to dodecagonal quasicrystals.
- Patch width controls the type of quasicrystal formed.

## Abstract

We explore the behavior of two-dimensional patchy colloidal particles with 8 or 10 symmetrically arranged patches by employing Monte-Carlo simulations. The particles interact according to an isotropic pair potential that possesses only one typical length. The patches lead to additional attractions that are anisotropic and depend on the relative orientation of two neighboring particles. We investigate the assembled structures with a special interest in quasicrystals. We found that the patch width is of great importance: Only in case of narrow patch widths we are able to observe metastable octagonal and decagonal quasicrystals, while dodecagonal quasicrystals can also occur for broad patches. These results are important to understand the role of interactions with preferred binding angles in order to obtain quasicrystals. Our findings suggest that in case of sharp binding angles, as they occur in metallic alloys, octagonal and decagonal symmetries might be observed more often than in systems with less sharp binding angles as it is the case in soft matter systems where dodecagonal quasicrystals dominate.