Molecular Driving Force for Facet Selectivity of Sequence-Defined Amphiphilic Peptoids at Au–Water Interfaces

Shape-controlled colloidal nanocrystal syntheses often require facet-selective solution-phase chemical additives to regulate surface free energy, atom addition/migration fluxes, or particle attachment rates. Because of their highly tunable properties and robustness to a wide range of experimental conditions, peptoids represent a very promising class of next-generation functional additives for control over nanocrystal growth. However, understanding the origin of facet selectivity at the molecular level is critical to generalizing their design. Herein we employ molecular dynamics simulations and biased sampling methods and report stronger selectivity to Au(111) than to Au(100) for Nce3Ncp6, a peptoid that has been shown to assist the formation of 5-fold twinned Au nanostars. We find that facet selectivity is achieved through synergistic effects of both peptoid–surface and solvent–surface interactions. Moreover, the amphiphilic nature of Nce3Ncp6 together with the order of peptoid–peptoid and peptoid–surface binding energies, that is, peptoid–Au(100) < peptoid–peptoid < peptoid–Au(111), further amplifies its distinct collective behavior on different Au surfaces. Our studies provide a fundamental understanding of the molecular origin of facet-selective adsorption and highlight the possibility of future designs and uses of sequence-defined peptoids for predictive syntheses of nanocrystals with designed shapes and properties.