Self-assembly is the mechanism that controls the formation of well defined structures from disordered pre-existing parts. Despite the importance of self-assembly as a manufacturing method and the increasingly large number of experimental realizations of complex self-assembled nano aggregates, theoretical predictions are lagging behind. Here we show that for a non-trivial self-assembly phenomenon, originating branched loop-less clusters, it is possible to derive a fully predictive parameter-free theory of equilibrium self-assembly by combining the Wertheim theory for associating liquids with the Flory-Stockmayer approach for chemical gelation.
Categories: cond-mat.soft