Related papers: Particle-Based Assembly Using Precise Global Contr…
Geometric frustration offers a pathway to soft matter self-assembly with controllable finite sizes. While the understanding of frustration in soft matter assembly derives almost exclusively from continuum elastic descriptions, a current…
Entangled matter provides intriguing perspectives in terms of deformation mechanisms, mechanical properties, assembly and disassembly. However, collective entanglement mechanisms are complex, occur over multiple length scales, and they are…
Addressable self-assembly is the formation of a target structure from a set of unique molecular or colloidal building-blocks, each of which occupies a defined location in the target. The requirement that each type of building-block appears…
DNA is an ideal candidate to organize matter on the nanoscale, primarily due to the specificity and complexity of DNA based interactions. Recent advances in this direction include the self-assembly of colloidal crystals using DNA grafted…
Discrete Element Methods (DEM), i.e.~the simulation of many rigid particles, suffer from very stiff differential equations plus multiscale challenges in space and time. The particles move smoothly through space until they interact almost…
We introduce a method to analyze and modify a shape to make it manufacturable for a given additive manufacturing (AM) process. Different AM technologies, process parameters or materials introduce geometric constraints on what is…
Working in a three-dimensional variant of Winfree's abstract Tile Assembly Model, we show that, for all $N \in \mathbb{N}$, there is a tile set that uniquely self-assembles into an $N \times N$ square shape at temperature 1 with optimal…
We explore the use of templated self-assembly to facilitate the formation of complex target structures made from patchy particles. First, we consider the templating of high-symmetry shell structures around a spherical core particle. We find…
Creating materials with structure that is independently controllable at a range of scales requires breaking naturally occurring hierarchies. Breaking these hierarchies can be achieved via the decoupling of building block attributes from…
Recent advances in nanotechnologies have prompted the need for tools to accurately and non invasively manipulate individual nanoobjects. Among the possible strategies, optical forces have been widely used to enable nano optical tweezers…
In contrast to most self-assembling synthetic materials, which undergo unbounded growth, many biological self-assembly processes are self-limited. That is, the assembled structures have one or more finite dimensions that are much larger…
Origami structures enabled by folding and unfolding can create complex 3D shapes. However, even a small 3D shape can have large 2D unfoldings. The huge initial dimension of the 2D flattened structure makes fabrication difficult, and defeats…
One of the fundamental goals of nanotechnology is to exploit selective and directional interactions between molecules to design particles that self-assemble into desired structures, from capsids, to nano-clusters, to fully formed crystals…
Co-assembly of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and nanostructured polymer matrix represents an intricate interplay of enthalpic or entropic forces. Particle size largely affects the phase behavior of the nanocomposite. Theoretical studies…
Flexibility governs the many properties of materials and is crucial for the function of proteins and biopolymers. However, how the self-assembly of flexibly bonded particles can lead to larger structures with global reconfigurability is…
We consider programmable matter that consists of computationally limited devices (called particles) that are able to self-organize in order to achieve some collective goal without the need for central control or external intervention. We…
Polymer-Attenuated Coulombic Self-Assembly (PACS) is a flexible experimental approach for generating crystals from simple colloidal building blocks. The central components are charged spherical particles coated with a polymer brush that…
Autonomous deployment and shape reconfiguration of structures is a crucial field of research in space exploration with emerging applications in the automotive, building and biomedical industries. Challenges in achieving autonomy include:…
The self-assembly of polyhedral shells, each constructed from 60 trapezoidal particles, is simulated using molecular dynamics. The spatial organization of the component particles in this shell is similar to the capsomer proteins forming the…
We present fast simulation methods for the self-assembly of complex shapes in two dimensions. The shapes are modeled via a general boundary curve and interact via a standard volume term promoting overlap and an interpenetration penalty. To…