Nucleation Dynamics of Particles with Directional Interactions

Protein aggregation is a subject of many studies both experimentally and theoretically since many diseases are related to undesirable protein condensation. Proteins can be modeled as globular particles with highly directional interactions. A simple model that describes this kind of protein consist of patchy particles whose interactions depend on the orientation of the patches on the surface of each particle [1]. Recently the phase diagram of a six-patch model has been reported showing the existence of different ordered phases [2]. In this work, we discuss the dynamics of the nucleation and growth process of the six-patch model using Brownian dynamics simulations. In particular we study the kinetics of the process by which chains form and ultimately collapse to spherical droplets.\\[4pt] [1] N. Kern and D. Frenkel, J. Chem. Phys. 118, 9882 (2003)\\[0pt] [2] H. Liu, S. K. Kumar and J. F. Douglas, Phys. Rev. Let. 103, 018101 (2009)