face-on (θ = 0) and side-on (θ = π/2) orientations, which explicitly accounts for the roles of temperature and fluid-substrate interactions. The overall free energy includes an entropic term, ∆ S, described in section 3.1 and calculated based on the shape anisotropy, κ, and bulk volume fraction, φ , of the system, and an energetic term, ∆ Ū, described in section 3.2 and based on the interactions between nearest-neighbour particles. The free energy difference per interface particle between perfectly face-on and side-on orientations is calculated as