Colloidal clathrate crystals self-assembled from hard polyhedral shapes in computer simulations are stabilized by entropy compartmentalization, whereby hosts and guests contribute unequally to the entropy. This creative solution to satisfying the laws of thermodynamics suggests new ways to make colloidal crystals with open cages and hierarchical host–guest structures.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 /Â 30Â days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Laramy, C. R., O’Brien, M. N. & Mirkin, C. A. Crystal Engineering with DNA. Nat. Rev. Mater. 4, 201–224 (2019). A review article that summarizes the plethora of crystal structures possible for DNA-grafted nanoparticles.
Damasceno, P. F., Engel, M. & Glotzer, S. C. Predictive self-assembly of polyhedra into complex structures. Science 337, 453–457 (2012). This paper reports a multitude of crystal structures self-assembled from 101 different shapes solely through entropy maximization.
Anderson, J. A., Glaser, J. & Glotzer, S. C. HOOMD-blue: a Python package for high-performance molecular dynamics and hard particle Monte Carlo simulations. Comput. Mater. Sci. 173, 109363 (2020). A GPU-accelerated, open-source Python package for molecular simulations of shaped nanoparticles.
Lin, H. et al. Clathrate colloidal crystals. Science. 355, 931–935 (2017). This paper reports the first colloidal clathrate self-assembled in the lab.
Lee, S., Teich, E. G., Engel, M. & Glotzer, S. C. Entropic colloidal crystallization pathways via fluid–fluid transitions and multi-dimensional prenucleation motifs. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 14843–14851 (2019). This paper reports simulations of self-assembled, entropic colloidal crystals with 92-, 244- and 432-particle unit cells.
Patchkovskii, S. & Tse, J. S. Thermodynamic stability of hydrogen clathrates. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 100, 14645–14650 (2003). First principles theoretical study showing that individual H2 molecule guests and clusters of H2 freely rotate inside the cages of a type-II hydrogen clathrate made in the lab.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Lee, S. et al. Entropy compartmentalization stabilizes open host–guest colloidal clathrates. Nat. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01200-6 (2023).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Route to complex colloidal crystals through entropy compartmentalization. Nat. Chem. 15, 901–902 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01227-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01227-9
