Sharon Glotzer – University of Michigan
Wednesday, May 14th, 2025
Zoom opens: 10:30AM DST
Seminar Begins: 10:45AM DST
A Classical Density Functional Theory of Entropic Ordering in Colloidal Crystals
A central paradigm of science, chemical bonding permits atoms to form molecules, compounds and crystals. Remarkably, nanoparticles can self-assemble into the same crystal structures as atoms – even crystals with large unit cells, and even when only entropic forces are present. Can we describe their assembly analogously? We present a new, classical density functional theory of entropic bonding that correctly predicts thermodynamically stable colloidal crystal structures from nanoparticle shape and discuss interesting parallels with electronic density functional theory.