Self-assembly forces in crystals
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Category: ResearchType: News
Source: PNNL
Date: Wednesday, May 17th, 2017
News Brief
May 17, 2017 
RICHLAND, Wash. - Rocks, shells, bones - they're all made of crystals that grow from smaller crystals that attach to each other. A better understanding of how small crystals join themselves together might enhance energy storage and other applications that rely on crystallization.
2 researchers at the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab used a computer model to study self-assembly in a titanium oxide mineral called anatase. Maria Sushko and Kevin Rosso designed a model that re-created the conditions in which the smaller crystals grow. Then they measured the attraction and repulsion between simulated nanocrystals to dig out the forces responsible for crystal self-assembly, publishing in the journal Nanoscale.
Based on their simulations, the researchers described how the anatase nanocrystals self-assemble: As 2 nanocrystals float near each other, ions within the liquid environment drive them towards each other. At the same time, water between them prevents them from immediately slamming into each other. Wavering there between attraction and repulsion, the nanocrystals make slight adjustments in their positions. When almost or perfectly aligned, and after attractive forces win out and allow the crystals to touch, chemical forces take over and the nanocrystals fuse together.
Read more in this research highlight.
Tags: Energy, Fundamental Science, Computational Science, Chemistry, Nanoscience, Software, Materials
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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