The buckling transition of ionic shells and electrostatics

Can one design the morphology of a shell with diverse symmetries by coassembling oppositely charged molecules? We present the results of numerical simulations of a model for an ionic shell at different stoichiometric ratios. The tendency of electrostatic interactions to organize a system of charges (globally electroneutral) along flat planes, competes with the curved geometry of the shell. An ``electrostatic buckling'' instability ensues, and at low-temperatures a variety of shapes arise, beyond the icosahedral one typical of large viruses, large fullerenes, and catanionic-anionic vesicles. We study also the effects of temperature, different dielectric environments, and screening salt.