Related papers: Diffusiophoretic design of self-spinning microgear…
The field of synthetic active matter has, thus far, been led by efforts to create point-like, isolated (yet interacting) self-propelled objects (\emph{e.g.} colloids, droplets, microrobots) and understanding their collective dynamics. The…
We demonstrate scaffolding of plasmonic nanoparticles by topological defects induced by colloidal microspheres to match their surface boundary conditions with a uniform far-field alignment in a liquid crystal host. Displacing energetically…
The formation of the beam halo in charged particle accelerators is studied in the framework of a stochastic-hydrodynamic model for the collective motion of the particle beam. In such a stochastic-hydrodynamic theory the density and the…
Here we demonstrate a synthetic micro-engine, based on long-range controlled movement of colloidal particles, which is induced by a local catalytic reaction. The directed motion at long timescales was achieved by placing specially designed…
Optical vortices, as a kind of structured beam with helical phase wavefronts and doughnut shape intensity distribution, have been used for fabricating chiral structures in metal and spiral patterns in anisotropic polarization-dependent…
Suspended colloidal particles interacting chemically with a solute are able to self-propel by autophoretic motion when they are asymmetrically patterned (Janus colloids). Here we demonstrate that the chemical anisotropy is not a necessary…
Colloidal particles can self-assemble into various ordered structures in fluid flows that have potential applications in biomedicine, materials synthesis and encryption. These dynamic processes are also of fundamental interest for probing…
We present a novel learning-based method to build a differentiable computational model of a real fluorescence microscope. Our model can be used to calibrate a real optical setup directly from data samples and to engineer point spread…
Despite extensive research on magnetic skyrmions and antiskyrmions, a significant challenge remains in crafting nontrivial high-order skyrmionic textures with varying, or even tailor-made, topologies. We address this challenge, by focusing…
Beams of light with helical wavefronts can be focused into ring-like optical traps known as optical vortices. The orbital angular momentum carried by photons in helical modes can be transferred to trapped mesoscopic objects and thereby…
Locomotion and transport of microorganisms in fluids is an essential aspect of life. Search for food, orientation toward light, spreading of off-spring, and the formation of colonies are only possible due to locomotion. Swimming at the…
We use dedicated microfluidic devices to expose soft hydrogel particles to a rapid change in the externally applied osmotic pressure and observe a non-monotonic response: After an initial rapid compression the particle slowly reswells to…
A micromorphic computational homogenization framework has recently been developed to deal with materials showing long-range correlated interactions, i.e. displaying patterning modes. Typical examples of such materials are elastomeric…
Efficient mixing of colloids, particles or molecules is a central issue in many processes. It results from the complex interplay between flow deformations and molecular diffusion, which is generally assumed to control the homogenization…
Photomechanical liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are responsive polymers that can convert light directly into mechanical deformation. This unique feature makes these materials an attractive candidate for soft actuators capable of remote and…
Photonic materials with angular independent structural colour are highly desirable because they offer the broad viewing angles required for application as colorants in paints, cosmetics, textiles or displays. However, they are challenging…
Spontaneous mechanical self-assembly of monodisperse bubbles generally leads to disordered foams at low density: producing crystalline structures such as Kelvin foams has proven to be challenging experimentally, despite them being a minimum…
The microalga Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii (CR) is used here as a model system to study the effect of complex environments on the swimming of micro-organisms. Its motion can be modelled by a run and tumble mechanism so that it describes a…
We have revisited the composition dependence of principal properties of liquid water-DMSO mixtures by using the isobaric-isothermal molecular dynamics computer simulations. A set of non-polarizable semi-flexible models for the DMSO molecule…
Many coarse-grained models have been developed for equilibrium studies of lipid bilayer membranes. To achieve in simulations access to length-scales and time-scales difficult to attain in fully atomistic molecular dynamics, these…