Energy landscapes for shells assembled from pentagonal and hexagonal pyramids

Abstract

We present new rigid body potentials that should favour efficient self-assembly of pentagonal and hexagonal pyramids into icosahedral shells over a wide range of temperature. By adding an extra repulsive site opposite the existing apex sites of the pyramids considered in a previously published model, frustrated energy landscapes are transformed into systems identified with self-assembling properties. The extra interaction may be considered analogous to a hydrophobic–hydrophilic repulsion, as in micelle formation.