Related papers: Targeted Assembly and Synchronization of Self-Spin…
During the last 3 years, our group has investigated extensively the complexation mechanism between neutral-polyelectrolyte block copolymers with oppositely charged species. These species are surfactant micelles, multivalent counterions and…
Colloidal particles are considered ideal building blocks to produce materials with enhanced physical properties. The state-of-the-art techniques for synthesizing these particles provide control over shape, size, and directionality of the…
Bottom-up assembly of nanocrystals (NCs) into ordered arrays, or superlattices (SLs), is a promising route to design materials with new functionalities, but the degree of control over assembly into functional structures remains challenging.…
The fluid-fluid interface is a complex environment for a floating object where the statics and dynamics may be governed by capillarity, gravity, inertia, and other external body forces. Yet, the alignment of these forces in intricate ways…
Large protein complexes are assembled from protein subunits to form a specific structure. In our theoretic work, we propose that assembly into the correct structure could be reliably achieved through an assembly line with a specific…
Recent 3D organ reconstitution studies show that a group of stem cells can establish a body axis and acquire different fates in a spatially organized manner. How such symmetry breaking happens in the absence of external spatial cues, and…
A model of an autonomous three-sphere microswimmer is proposed by implementing a coupling effect between the two natural lengths of an elastic microswimmer. Such a coupling mechanism is motivated by the previous models for synchronization…
Designing heterogeneous, self-assembling systems is a central challenge in soft matter and biology. We present a framework that uses gradient-based optimization to invert an analytical yield calculation, tuning systems toward target…
Collective temporal organization in complex systems is commonly attributed to synchronization, resonance, or proximity to dynamical instabilities. Here we identify a distinct mechanism by which coherent, synchronization-like behavior can…
Collective guidance of out-of-equilibrium systems without using external fields is a challenge of paramount importance in active matter, ranging from bacterial colonies to swarms of self-propelled particles. Designing strategies to guide…
We report an experimental study on ion-exchange based modular micro-swimmers in low-salt water. Cationic ion-exchange particles and passive cargo particles assemble into self-propelling complexes, showing self-propulsion at speeds of…
The surface curvature of membranes, interfaces, and substrates plays a crucial role in shaping the self-assembly of particles adsorbed on these surfaces. However, little is known about the interplay between particle anisotropy and surface…
We report the experimental observation of a square crystalline phase in a vibrated binary mixture of spherical grains. This structure spontaneously forms from a disordered state, consistently with predictions obtained in an equilibrium…
Self-organization is the generation of order out of local interactions in non-equilibrium [1]. It is deeply connected to all fields of science from physics, chemistry to biology where functional living structures self-assemble[2] and…
Fractionation is necessary for self-assembly in multicomponent mixtures. Here, reversible fractionation and crystallization are realized and studied in a two-dimensional binary colloids which is supersaturated by enhancing the attraction…
The traditional goal of inverse self-assembly is to design interactions that drive particles toward a desired target structure. However, achieving successful self-assembly also requires tuning the thermodynamic conditions under which the…
Spontaneous synchronization is a general phenomenon in which a large population of coupled oscillators of diverse natural frequencies self-organize to operate in unison. The phenomenon occurs in physical and biological systems over a wide…
Self-organization of heterogeneous particle swarms is rich in its dynamics but hard to design in a traditional top-down manner, especially when many types of kinetically distinct particles are involved. In this chapter, we discuss how we…
Self-organization phenomena in ensembles of self-propelled particles open pathways to the synthesis of new dynamic states not accessible by traditional equilibrium processes. The challenge is to develop a set of principles that facilitate…
Microscopic self-propelled swimmers capable of autonomous navigation through complex environments provide appealing opportunities for localization, pick-up and delivery of micro-and nanoscopic objects. Inspired by motile cells and bacteria,…