Complex Crystal Structures Formed by the Self-Assembly of Ditethered Nanospheres

We report the results from a computational study of the self-assembly of amphiphilic ditethered nanospheres using molecular simulation. As a function of the interaction strength and directionality of the tether-tether interactions, we predict the formation of four highly ordered phases not previously reported for nanoparticle systems. We find a double diamond structure comprised of a zinc blende (binary diamond) arrangement of spherical micelles with a complementary diamond network of nanoparticles (ZnS/D), a phase of alternating spherical micelles in a NaCl structure with a complementary simple cubic network of nanoparticles to form an overall crystal structure identical to that of AlCu2Mn (NaCl/SC), an alternating tetragonal ordered cylinder phase with a tetragonal mesh of nanoparticles; described by the [8,8,4] Archimedean tiling (TC/T), and an alternating diamond phase in which both diamond networks are formed by the tethers (AD) within a nanoparticle matrix. We compare these structures with those observed in linear and star triblock copolymer systems.