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Order through entropy

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Understanding entropic contributions to common ordering transitions is essential for the design of self-assembling systems with addressable complexity.

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Figure 1: Entropic forces.
Figure 2: Schematic of the self-assembly of 'DNA bricks' (each of which is a 32-base string of single-stranded DNA that can bind to four neighbouring bricks) into a complex structure where every brick is distinct and has a unique position.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the ERC Advanced Grant 227758 and the EPSRC Programme Grant EP/I001352/1.

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  1. Daan Frenkel is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK,

    Daan Frenkel

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  1. Daan Frenkel
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Frenkel, D. Order through entropy. Nature Mater 14, 9–12 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4178

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