A temperature-dependent critical Casimir patchy particle model benchmarked onto experiment

Synthetic colloidal patchy particles immersed in a binary liquid mixture can self-assemble via critical Casimir interactions into various superstructures, such as chains and networks. Up to now, there are no quantitatively accurate potential models that can simulate and predict this experimentally observed behavior precisely. Here, we develop a protocol to establish such a model based on a combination of theoretical Casimir potentials and angular switching functions. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we optimize several material-specific parameters in the model to match the experimental chain length distribution and persistence length. Our approach gives a systematic way to obtain accurate potentials for critical Casimir induced patchy particle interactions and can be used in large-scale simulations.

Automated summary

Researchers have developed a protocol based on a combination of theoretical Casimir potentials and angular switching functions to establish a model for synthetic colloidal patchy particles. By optimizing model parameters through Monte Carlo simulations, they were able to match experimental observations. This approach provides a systematic way to accurately model critical Casimir induced patchy particle interactions for large-scale simulations.