Kinetics of intermediate-mediated self-assembly in nano-sized materials: a generic model

We propose in this paper a generic model of a non-standard aggregation mechanism for self-assembly processes of a class of materials involving the mediation of intermediates consisting of a polydisperse population of nano-sized particles. The model accounts for a long induction period in the process. The proposed mechanism also gives insight on future experiments aiming at a more comprehensive picture of the role of self-organization in self-assembly processes.