Figure 5.

Pseudocrystalline networks of short and long 3PS. (a) AFM images of the steady-state networks formed by short (top) and long (bottom) 3PS. Hexagons with areas smaller than the lowest threshold (95th percentile of the hexagon area distribution formed by short 3PS) were classified as hexagons formed by short 3PS and painted with cyan. Hexagons with areas bigger than the highest threshold (5th percentile of the hexagon area distribution formed by long 3PS) are classified as hexagons formed by long rigid 3PS and painted with red. Rest of the hexagons with moderate areas were painted with blue. (b) Schematic representation of a self-sorting experiment. (c) Steady-state network formed by short (2.0 nM) and long rigid (0.8 nM) 3PS. (d) Probability density functions (pdf) of hexagon areas for short only (cyan), long rigid only (red), and self-sorting experiment (blue). (e) Distribution of the polygons formed at the steady-state networks at the self-sorting experiment. Each point represents the specific polygon content recorded within a 1.5 μm × 1.5 μm area. At least 12 images were analyzed. (f) Other possible conformations of hexagons that are formed by short and long 3PS that would induce only minimal stress in a lattice.