Janus Ligand-Tethered Nanoparticles at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces

We investigate the structural properties of Janus ligand-tetherednanoparticles at liquid-liquid interfaces using coarse-grainedmolecular dynamics simulations. The effect of interactions betweendifferent chains and liquids is discussed. We consider the Janus particleswith symmetrical interactions with the liquids which correspond tosupplementary wettability and particles with uncorrelated interactions.Simulation results indicate that the Janus hairy particles trappedin the interface region have different configurations characterizedby the vertical displacement distance, the orientation of the Janusline relative to the interface, and the particle shape. The Janushairy particles present abundant morphologies, including dumbbell-likeand typical core-shell, at the interface. The shape of adsorbedparticles is analyzed in detail. The simulation data are comparedwith those predicted by a simple phenomenological approach. This workcan promote the applications of Janus hairy particles in nanotechnology.