title: Shape-Shifting Patchy Particles.
abstract: A facile method to synthesize shape-shifting patchy particles on the colloidal scale is described. The design is based on the solvent-induced shifting of the patch shape between concave and convex features. The initial concave patchy particles were synthesized in a water suspension by a swelling-induced buckling process. Upon exposure to different solvents, the patches were tuned reversibly to be either concave or convex. These particles can be assembled into chained, branched, zigzag, and cyclic colloidal superstructures in a highly site-specific manner by surface-liquid capillary bridging. The biphasic nature of the particles also enables site-selective surface functionalization.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Design Institute, Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7749-6265
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Molecular Design Institute, Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Mingzhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Tandon School of Engineering, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, New York University, Brooklyn, NY, 11201, USA.
authors.forename: Mingxin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Center for Soft Matter Research, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.|Tandon School of Engineering, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, New York University, Brooklyn, NY, 11201, USA.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.affiliation: Molecular Design Institute, Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6486-4268
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weck
keywords: patchy particles; self-assembly; shape-shifting particles; site-specific functionalization