The propagation of chirality across scales is a common but poorly understood phenomenon in soft matter. Here, using computer simulations, we study twisted monolayer assemblies formed by both chiral and achiral rod-like particles in the presence of non-adsorbing polymer and characterise the thermodynamic driving forces responsible for the twisting. We observe assemblies with both like and inverted chirality relative to the rods and show that the preferred twist is already determined during the initial stage of the self-assembly. Depending on the geometry of the constituent rods, the chiral twist is regulated by either the entropy gain of the polymer, or of the rods, or both. This can include important contributions from changes in both the surface area and volume of the monolayer and from rod fluctuations perpendicular to the monolayer. These findings can deepen our understanding of why chirality propagates and of how to control it.

中文翻译：

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棒状胶体单层组装中手性扭曲的热力学起源

跨尺度的手性传播是软物质中常见但知之甚少的现象。在这里，我们使用计算机模拟研究了在存在非吸附性聚合物的情况下由手性和非手性棒状颗粒形成的扭曲单层组件，并表征了导致扭曲的热力学驱动力。我们观察到相对于杆具有相似和反向手性的组件，并表明首选扭曲已经在自组装的初始阶段确定。根据组成棒的几何形状，手性扭曲由聚合物或棒或两者的熵增益调节。这可以包括来自单层表面积和体积变化以及垂直于单层的杆波动的重要贡献。