title: Phase separation on the sphere: Patchy particles and self-assembly.
abstract: Motivated by observations of heterogeneous domain structure on the surface of cells, we consider a minimal model to describe the dynamics of phase separation on the surface of a spherical particle. Finite-size effects on the curved particle surface lead to the formation of long-lived, metastable states for which the density is distributed in patches over the particle surface. We study the time evolution and stability of these states as a function of both the particle size and the thermodynamic parameters. Finally, by connecting our findings with studies of patchy particles, we consider the implications for self-assembly in many-particle systems.
authors: Soft Matter Theory, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: Bott
authors: Soft Matter Theory, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Brader