Stochastic size control of self-assembled filaments

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Hübl, Maximilian C., Goodrich, Carl P.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Hübl, Maximilian C.
Goodrich, Carl P.
author_facet Hübl, Maximilian C.
Goodrich, Carl P.
contents Controlling the size and shape of assembled structures is a fundamental challenge in self-assembly, and is highly relevant in material design and biology. Here, we show that specific, but promiscuous, short-range binding interactions make it possible to economically assemble linear filaments of user-defined length. Our approach leads to independent control over the mean and width of the filament size distribution and allows us to smoothly explore design trade-offs between assembly quality (spread in size) and cost (number of particle species). We employ a simple hierarchical assembly protocol to minimize assembly times, and show that multiple stages of hierarchy make it possible to extend our approach to the assembly of higher-dimensional structures. Our work provides a simple and experimentally straightforward solution to size control that is immediately applicable to a broad range of systems, from DNA origami assemblies to supramolecular polymers and beyond.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_04985
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Stochastic size control of self-assembled filaments
Hübl, Maximilian C.
Goodrich, Carl P.
Soft Condensed Matter
Controlling the size and shape of assembled structures is a fundamental challenge in self-assembly, and is highly relevant in material design and biology. Here, we show that specific, but promiscuous, short-range binding interactions make it possible to economically assemble linear filaments of user-defined length. Our approach leads to independent control over the mean and width of the filament size distribution and allows us to smoothly explore design trade-offs between assembly quality (spread in size) and cost (number of particle species). We employ a simple hierarchical assembly protocol to minimize assembly times, and show that multiple stages of hierarchy make it possible to extend our approach to the assembly of higher-dimensional structures. Our work provides a simple and experimentally straightforward solution to size control that is immediately applicable to a broad range of systems, from DNA origami assemblies to supramolecular polymers and beyond.
title Stochastic size control of self-assembled filaments
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.04985