Related papers: Self-replication with magnetic dipolar colloids
We study the self-assembly of magnetic colloids using the Stockmayer (SM) model characterized by short-range Lennard-Jones interactions and long-range dipole-dipole interactions. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we design cooling…
Manipulating the way in which colloidal particles self-organise is a central challenge in the design of functional soft materials. Meeting this challenge requires the use of building blocks that interact with one another in a highly…
Magnetic nanoparticles in a colloidal solution self-assemble in various aligned structures, which has a profound influence on the flow behavior. However, the precise role of the microstructure in the development of the rheological response…
Anisotropic magnetic colloids with permanent dipole moments exhibit rich field-responsive behavior arising from the interplay between particle geometry, dipolar interactions, and external driving. Modeling these systems remains challenging…
A novel type of hybrid colloids is presented, based on the association of several polymeric systems and ferrofluids. On the one hand, we use inorganic nanoparticles made of magnetic iron oxide prepared at the LI2C, which response to a…
Building structures with hierarchical order through the self-assembly of smaller blocks is not only a prerogative of nature, but also a strategy to design artificial materials with tailored functions. We explore in simulation the…
The generation of nanoscale square and stripe patterns is of major technological importance since they are compatible with industry-standard electronic circuitry. Recently, a blend of diblock copolymer interacting via hydrogen-bonding was…
We study low temperature resonant spin tunneling in molecular magnets induced by a field sweep with account of dipole-dipole interactions. Numerical simulations uncovered formation of self-organized patterns of the magnetization and of the…
Active matter exhibits striking behaviour reminiscent of living matter and molecular fluids, and has promising applications in drug delivery or mixing at the micron scale. Active colloidal systems provide important models with simple and…
We study the formation and dynamics of dipolar rings composed by microscopic ferromagnetic ellipsoids, which self-assemble in water by switching the direction of the applied field. We show how to manipulate these fragile structures and…
We describe a framework to assemble permanent-magnet cubes in 3D-printed frames to construct dipole, quadrupole, and solenoid magnets, whose field, in the absence of iron, can be calculated analytically in three spatial dimensions. Rotating…
We study the depletion-induced self-assembly of indented colloids. Using state-of-the-art Monte Carlo simulation techniques that treat the depletant particles explicitly, we demonstrate that colloids assemble by a lock-and-key mechanism,…
Interaction between dipolar forces, such as permanent magnets, generally leads to the formation of one-dimensional chains and rings. We investigated whether it was possible to let dipoles self-assemble into three-dimensional structures by…
This study presents a theoretical model for a self-replicating mechanical system inspired by biological processes within living cells and supported by computer simulations. The model decomposes self-replication into core components, each of…
Motivated by the idea of using simple macroscopic examples to illustrate the physics of complex systems, we modify a historic experimental setup in which interacting floating magnets spontaneously self-assemble into ordered clusters. By…
Self-assembly of colloidal particles is poised to become a powerful composite material fabrication technique, but remains challenged by a limited control over the ensuing structures. We develop a new breed of nematic colloids that are…
We consider a model of colloidal spherical particles carrying a permanent dipole moment which is laterally shifted out of the particles' geometrical centres, i.e. the dipole vector is oriented perpendicular to the radius vector of the…
We report experimental and simulation studies of the structure of a monolayer of indented ("lock and key") colloids, on a planar surface. On adding a non-absorbing polymer with prescribed radius and volume fraction, depletion interactions…
The deliberate control over the spatial arrangement of nanostructures is the desired goal for many applications as e.g. in data storage, plasmonics or sensor arrays. Here we present a novel method to assist the self-assembly process of…
Spontaneous self-assembly in molecular systems is a fundamental route to both biological and engineered soft matter. Simple micellisation, emulsion formation, and polymer mixing principles are well understood. However, the principles behind…