Inverse patchy colloids: synthesis, modeling and self-organization

TL;DR

This paper reviews inverse patchy colloids, nano- to micro-scale particles with charged surface regions, focusing on their synthesis, modeling, and self-organization driven by charge interactions and external parameters.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the synthesis, modeling, and self-assembly behaviors of inverse patchy colloids, highlighting their controllability and complex surface patterning.

Findings

Surface charge patterns enable specific structure stabilization.

External parameters like pH and salt concentration control behavior.

Modeling approaches help understand self-assembly mechanisms.

Abstract

Inverse patchy colloids are nano- to micro-scale particles with a surface divided into differently charged regions. This class of colloids combines directional, selective bonding with a relatively simple particle design: owing to the competitive interplay between the orientation-dependent attraction and repulsion -- induced by the interactions between like/oppositely charged areas -- experimentally accessible surface patterns are complex enough to favor the stabilization of specific structures of interest. Most important, the behavior of heterogeneously charged units can be ideally controlled by means of external parameters, such as the pH and the salt concentration. We present a concise review about this class of systems, spanning the range from the synthesis of model inverse patchy particles to their self-assembly, covering their coarse-grained modeling and the related numerical/analytical treatments.