Related papers: Liquid crystalline cellulose-based nematogels
In culture migrating and interacting amoeboid cells can form nematic liquid crystal phases. A polar nematic liquid crystal is formed if the interaction has a polar symmetry. One type of white blood cells (granulocytes) form clusters where…
The success of topological insulators (TI) in creating devices with unique functionalities is directly connected to the ability of coupling their helical spin states to well defined perturbations. However, up to now, TI-based…
We demonstrate facile optical manipulation of shape of birefringent colloidal microparticles made from liquid crystal elastomers. Using soft lithography and polymerization, we fabricate elastomeric microcylinders with weakly undulating…
The architecture of novel metallic mesostructures obtained via self-organization of growing nanowires has been investigated. Seashell, fungus and lotus leafshaped structures are reproducibly formed by programmable pulse current…
Flexible mechanical metamaterials possess repeating structural motifs that imbue them with novel, exciting properties including programmability, anomalous elastic moduli and nonlinear and robust response. We address such structures via…
Nanofibrillated cellulose, a polymer that can be obtained from one of the most abundant biopolymers in Nature, is being increasingly explored due to its outstanding properties for packaging and device applications. Still, open challenges in…
Self-assembled dendronized CdS nanoparticles have been attracting considerable attention because of their photoluminescence properties depending on annealing treatments. In this study, their annealing-induced self-assembled structure was…
Hydrogels provide a solution-mimicking environment for the interaction with living systems that make them desirable for various biomedical and technological applications. Because relevant biological processes in living tissues occur at the…
The geometric shape, symmetry, and topology of colloidal particles often allow for controlling colloidal phase behavior and physical properties of these soft matter systems. In liquid crystalline dispersions, colloidal particles with low…
Materials of which the optical response is determined by their structure are of much interest both for their fundamental properties and applications. Examples range from simple gratings to photonic crystals. Obtaining control over the…
Active matter comprised of self-propelled interacting units holds a major promise for extraction of useful work from its seemingly chaotic out-of-equilibrium dynamics. Streamlining active matter to produce work is especially important at…
A suspension of nanoparticles with very low volume fraction is found to assemble into a macroscopic cellular phase under the collective influence of AC and DC voltages. Systematic study of this phase transition shows that it was the result…
Dynamically tunable nanoengineered structures for coloration show promising applications in sensing, displays, and communication. However, their potential challenge remains in having a scalable manufacturing process over large scales in…
Monodispersed magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized. Transmission electron microscopy study shows that the nanoparticles are in the shape of Wagner-Seitz crystals. The magnetite nanoparticles self-assemble into body-centered…
A nematic membrane is a sheet with embedded orientational order, which can occur in biological cells, liquid crystal films, manufactured materials, and other soft matter systems. By formulating the free energy of nematic films using tensor…
High quality metal thin films and nanostructures are critical building blocks for next generation nanotechnologies. They comprise low-loss circuit elements in nanodevices, provide new catalytic pathways for water splitting and $CO_2$…
Self-assemblies, structured via nanoparticles, show promise as materials for advanced applications, like photonic devices, electrochemical energy storage units and catalysis support. Despite observing diverse morphologies, a comprehensive…
Folding nanopatterned flat sheets into complex 3D structures enables the fabrication of meta-biomaterials that combine a rationally designed 3D architecture (e.g., to tune mechanical and mass transport properties) with nanoscale surface…
The development of synthetic microswimmers has advanced our understanding of the fundamental self-propelled mechanisms of living systems. However, there are scarce studies at the microscale within highly structured anisotropic media, such…
Various microorganisms and some mammalian cells are able to swim in viscous fluids by performing nonreciprocal body deformations, such as rotating attached flagella or by distorting their entire body. In order to perform chemotaxis, i.e. to…