Related papers: Macroscopic DNA-programmed photonic crystals via s…
Establishing precise control over the shape and the interactions of the microscopic building blocks is essential for design of macroscopic soft materials with novel structural, optical and mechanical properties. Here, we demonstrate robust…
One of the main goals of DNA nanotechnology is to provide a viable solution to the limitations of top-down approaches in microfabrication schemes. Although a completely practical bottom-up approach is yet to be realized, there has been…
We computed the self-organisation process of a monodisperse collection of spherical micrometric particles trapped in a two-dimensional (2D) thin liquid film isothermally dried on a chemically inert substrate. The substrate is either flat or…
Functionalizing colloids with reactive DNA linkers is a versatile way of programming self-assembly. DNA selectivity provides direct control over colloid-colloid interactions allowing the engineering of structures such as complex crystals or…
Atomically thin molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) and tungsten disulphide (WS2) are very interesting two dimensional materials for optics and electronics. In this work we show the possibility to obtain one-dimensional photonic crystals…
Experiments and simulations are used to study the kinetics of crystal growth in a mixture of magnetic and nonmagnetic particles suspended in ferrofluid. The growth process is quantified using both a bond order parameter and a mean domain…
Developing construction methods of materials tailored for given applications with absolute control over building block placement poses an immense challenge. DNA-coated colloids offer the possibility of realising programmable self-assembly,…
Coordinating functional parts to operate in concert is essential for machinery. In gear trains, meshed gears are compactly interlocked, working together to impose rotation or translation. In photosynthetic systems, a variety of biological…
Laser-driven acceleration holds great promise for significantly improving accelerating gradient. However, scaling the conventional process of structure-based acceleration in vacuum down to optical wavelengths requires a substantially…
Biological motors are marvels of nature that inspire creation of their synthetic counterparts with comparable nanoscale dimensions, high efficiency and diverse functions. Molecular motors have been synthesized, but obtaining nanomotors…
The use of biomaterials - with techniques such as DNA-directed assembly or bio-directed synthesis - can surpass top-down fabrication techniques in creating plasmonic superstructures, in terms of spatial resolution, range of functionality…
Encapsulation of dsDNA fragments (contour length 54 nm) by the cationic diblock copolymer poly(butadiene-b-N-methyl 4-vinyl pyridinium) [PBd-b-P4VPQ] has been studied with phase contrast, polarized light, and fluorescence microscopy, as…
DNA-mediated multivalent interactions between colloidal particles have been extensively applied for their ability to program bulk phase behaviour and dynamic processes. Exploiting the competition between different types of DNA-DNA bonds,…
Nanotechnology has revolutionized the fabrication of hybrid species with tailored functionalities. A milestone in this field is the DNA conjugation of nanoparticles, introduced almost 30 years ago, which typically exploits the affinity…
One of the challenges of self-assembling finite-sized colloidal aggregates with a sought morphology is the necessity of precisely sorting the position of the colloids at the microscopic scale to avoid the formation of off-target structures.…
Development of artificial materials exhibiting unusual optical properties is one of the major strands of current photonics research. Of particular interest are soft-matter systems reconfigurable by external stimuli that play an important…
The ability to rapidly manufacture building blocks with specific binding interactions is a key aspect of programmable assembly. Recent developments in DNA nanotechnology and colloidal particle synthesis have significantly advanced our…
Ample experimental evidence has been accumulated demonstrating that the formation of monodispersed colloids proceeds through a more complex mechanism, than the generally excepted diffusional "burst nucleation" process. Instead, the…
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…
Self-assembly processes allow us to design and create complex nanostructures using molecules as building blocks and surfaces as scaffolds. This autonomous driven construction is possible due to a complex thermodynamic balance of…