Kinetics of (un)Binding between DNA-Functionalized Particles Using a Coarse-Grained Model with Explicit Nucleotide Representation

Recent technological advances have required the manufacture of materials at increasingly precise scales. Developing such materials, requiring finely ordered structures up to the nanometer scale, is infeasible using traditional methods. This has prompted interest in self assembling materials like DNA-functionalized particles (DFPs). In this research, we use a coarse-grained DFP model which preserves key chemical and structural properties of DNA by explicitly representing nucleotide bases to study the kinetics of two complementary particles. We explore the effects of temperature, DNA surface density, number of sticky beads, and location of the sticky beads on the binding lifetimes of particles, with a particular focus on how these factors can be used as tuning parameters for the design of new materials. Our results should help tune assembly conditions and obtain desired crystal lattices unhindered by kinetically arrested amorphous or undesired structures.