Related papers: Microfluidic self assembly
While colloids are promising building blocks for the self-assembly of materials with novel microstructures, their numerous tunable parameters inhibit brute force searching for appropriate parameter combinations that yield self-assembly of a…
We experimentally and numerically study the structure and dynamics of a mono-disperse packing of spontaneously aligning self-propelled hard disks. The packings are such that their equilibrium counterparts form perfectly ordered hexagonal…
Small objects floating on a fluid have a tendency to aggregate due to capillary forces. This effect has been used, with the help of a magnetic induction field, to assemble submillimeter metallic spheres into a variety of structures, whose…
It has been recently shown that a colloidal monolayer, e.g., formed at a fluid interface or by means of a suitable confining potential, exhibits anomalous collective diffusion. This is a consequence of the hydrodynamic interactions mediated…
Three-dimensional self-assembly of lithographically patterned ultrathin films opens a path to manufacture microelectronic architectures with functionalities and integration schemes not accessible by conventional two-dimensional…
Magnetorheological fluids consist of micrometer-sized magnetic particles in a carrier liquid. Sufficiently strong external magnetic fields lead to the formation of string-like particle aggregates. We demonstrate that hydrodynamic…
In the presence of a non-adsorbing polymer, monodisperse rod-like colloids assemble into one-rod-length thick liquid-like monolayers, called colloidal membranes. The density of the rods within a colloidal membrane is determined by a balance…
In directed assembly, small building clocks are assembled into an organized structures under the influence of guiding fields. Capillary interactions provide a versatile route for structure formation. Colloids adsorbed on fluid interfaces…
We study the self-assembly of colloidal microgel particles at a quasi-two-dimensional air-water interface of a drying droplet. Using bright-field microscopy, we demonstrate that increasing particle elasticity drives interfacial organization…
Microfluidic multipoles (MFMs) have been realized experimentally and hold promise for "open-space" biological and chemical surface processing. Whereas convective flow can readily be predicted using hydraulic-electrical analogies, the design…
The resonant slow light structures created along a thin-walled optical capillary by nanoscale deformation of its surface can perform comprehensive simultaneous detection and manipulation of microfluidic components. This concept is…
The possibility to align and organize faceted particles in the bulk offers intriguing possibilities for the design and discovery of materials and architectures exhibiting novel functional properties. The growth of ice crystals can be used…
Colloidal aggregation could be implemented in various fields ranging from purely colloidal thermodynamics to protein interactions, their stability, and maybe folding. Indeed, colloidal aggregation is closely linked to the so-called…
Using controlled spinodal decomposition, we have created a fluid-bicontinuous structure stabilized by colloidal particles. We present confocal microscopy studies of these structures and their variation with kinetic pathway. Our studies…
Soft materials such as colloidal suspensions, polymer solutions and liquid crystals are constituted by mesoscopic entities held together by weak forces. Their mechanical moduli are several orders of magnitude lower than those of atomic…
Capillary droplets form due to surface tension when two immiscible fluids are mixed. We describe the motion of gravity-driven capillary droplets flowing through narrow constrictions and obstacle arrays in both simulations and experiments.…
The complex physics of self-assembly in colloidal crystals on deformable interfaces and surfaces poses interesting possibilities for the designability and synthesis of next-generation metamaterials. The goal of this article is to…
Gels in soft-matter systems are an important nonergodic state of matter. We study a colloid-polymer mixture which is quenched by increasing the polymer concentration, from a fluid to a gel. Using confocal microscopy, we study both the…
Micrometre sized colloidal particles can be viewed as large atoms with tailorable size, shape and interactions. These building blocks can assemble into extremely rich structures and phases, in which the thermal motions of particles can be…
Rigorous understanding of the self-assembly of colloidal nanocrystals is crucial to the development of tailored nanostructured materials. Despite extensive studies, a mechanistic understanding of self-assembly under non-equilibrium driven…