Activity-assisted self-assembly of colloidal particles
Soft Condensed Matter
2016-08-24 v2
Abstract
We outline a basic strategy of how self-propulsion can be used to improve the yield of a typical colloidal self-assembly process. The success of this approach is predicated on the thoughtful design of the colloidal building block as well as how self-propulsion is endowed to the particle. As long as a set of criteria are satisfied, it is possible to significantly increase the rate of self-assembly, and greatly expand the window in parameter space where self-assembly can occur. In addition, we show that by tuning the relative on/off time of the self-propelling force it is possible to modulate the effective speed of the colloids allowing for further optimization of the self-assembly process.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1606.05362,
title = {Activity-assisted self-assembly of colloidal particles},
author = {S. A. Mallory and A. Cacciuto},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.05362},
year = {2016}
}