Fig. 3
Self-assembly of Janus particles to clusters and chains for a patch ratio of 0.3. a Bright-field images above and simulation renderings below show self-assembled structures of Janus particles at different temperatures. Particles self-assemble into small clusters at higher temperature and longer chain-like structures at lower temperature, where the DNA-mediated attraction between patches is greater. b Fraction of clusters in clusters of different sizes as a function of temperature. At higher temperatures, small clusters with 8 or fewer particles dominate. As the temperature is lowered, chains develop and grow longer, mostly by the addition of small clusters but occasionally by fusion of long chains. For cluster sizes greater than 20, the histogram bars integrate over ten or more bins: 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, and >50. c Snapshots and d illustrations show the formation of chain structures by collective polymerization through cluster addition and reconfiguration
