Related papers: 3D microprinting anisotropic and deformable active…
We review recent progress in the theoretical description of anisotropic hard colloidal particles. The shapes considered range from rods and dumbbells to rounded cubes, polyhedra and to biaxial particles with arbitrary shape. Our focus is on…
The concept of creating all-mechanical soft microrobotic systems has great potential to address outstanding challenges in biomedical applications, and introduce more sustainable and multifunctional products. To this end, magnetic fields and…
Colloidal gels are prime examples of functional materials exhibiting disordered, amorphous, yet meta-stable forms. They maintain stability through short-range attractive forces and their material properties are tunable by external forces.…
Self-assembly of colloidal particles is a promising avenue to control the shape and dynamics of larger aggregates. However, achieving the necessary fine control over the dynamics and specificity of the bonds between such particles remains a…
3D-printed digital materials whose mechanical behavior travels between those from thermoplastic to rubbery polymers have become increasingly important. However, their mechanical functionalities have not been fully exploited due to intrinsic…
Particles with directional interactions are promising building blocks for new functional materials and may serve as models for biological structures. Mutually attractive nanoparticles that are deformable due to flexible surface groups, for…
Anisotropic magnetic colloids with permanent dipole moments exhibit rich field-responsive behavior arising from the interplay between particle geometry, dipolar interactions, and external driving. Modeling these systems remains challenging…
Active colloids, also known as artificial microswimmers, are self-propelled micro and nanoparticles that convert uniform sources of fuel (e.g. chemical) or uniform external driving fields (e.g. magnetic or electric) into directed motion by…
Magnetic-responsive composites that consist of soft matrix embedded with hard-magnetic particles have recently been demonstrated as robust soft active materials for fast-transforming actuation. However, the deformation of the functional…
Minimal models of active Brownian colloids consisting of self-propelled spherical particles with purely repulsive interactions have recently been identified as excellent quantitative testing grounds for theories of active matter and have…
Active matter exhibits striking behaviour reminiscent of living matter and molecular fluids, and has promising applications in drug delivery or mixing at the micron scale. Active colloidal systems provide important models with simple and…
In equilibrium, the physical properties of matter are set by the interactions between the constituents. In contrast, the energy input of the individual components controls the behavior of synthetic or living active matter. Great progress…
Active motion at complex fluid-fluid interfaces is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature. However, an intriguing question that is not fully addressed is how active motion affects and gets influenced by its complex environment. Here, we design a…
Understanding the contact dynamics of nonspherical particles beyond the microscale is crucial for accurately modeling colloidal and granular systems, where shape anisotropy dictates structural organization and transport properties. In this…
The possibility of producing polymer-bonded magnets with the aid of additive processes, such as 3D printing, opens up a multitude of new areas of application. Almost any structures and prototypes can be produced cost-effectively in small…
Micrometre sized colloidal particles can be viewed as large atoms with tailorable size, shape and interactions. These building blocks can assemble into extremely rich structures and phases, in which the thermal motions of particles can be…
Magnetic remote actuation of soft materials is attractive for applications such as transforming materials and medical robots. However, due to manufacturing limitations, microscale magnetoactive devices are scarce -- light-based additive…
In this review we discuss recent advances in the self-assembly of self-propelled colloidal particles and highlight some of the most exciting results in this field with a specific focus on dry active matter. We explore this phenomenology…
The design of complex materials and the formation of specific patterns often arise from the properties of the individual building blocks. In this respect, colloidal systems offer a unique opportunity because nowadays they can be synthesized…
Limited bonding valence, usually accompanied by well-defined directional interactions and selective bonding mechanisms, is nowadays considered among the key ingredients to create complex structures with tailored properties: even though…