相关论文: Chemical herding as a multiplicative factor for to…

The ordering of nanoparticles into predetermined configurations is of importance to the design of advanced technologies. In this work, we moderate the surface anchoring against the bulk elasticity of liquid crystals to dynamically shape…

We present a simple chemical strategy for the formation of a self-propelling cluster via the process of capture and assembly of passive colloids on the surface of a chemically active colloid. The two species of colloids that are isotropic…

Machines enabled the Industrial Revolution and are central to modern technological progress: A machine's parts transmit forces, motion, and energy to one another in a predetermined manner. Today's engineering frontier, building artificial…

Phoretic colloids self-propel thanks to surface flows generated in response to surface gradients (thermal, electrical, or chemical), that are self-induced and/or generated by other particles. Here we present a scalable and versatile…

Designing protocols to dynamically direct the self-assembly of colloidal particles has become an important direction in soft matter physics because of the promising applications in fabrication of dynamic responsive functional materials.…

We demonstrate a novel route of spatially organizing the colloid arrangements on the polymer-grafted substrate by use of self-consistent field and density functional theories. We find that grafting of polymers onto a substrate can…

Colloidal particles are considered ideal building blocks to produce materials with enhanced physical properties. The state-of-the-art techniques for synthesizing these particles provide control over shape, size, and directionality of the…

The miniaturization of machines towards the micron and nanoscales requires the development of joint-like elements that enable and constrain motion. We present a facile method to create colloidal joints, that is, anisotropic colloidal…

Colloidal particles dispersed in liquid crystals can form new materials with tunable elastic and electro-optic properties. In a periodic `blue phase' host, particles should template into colloidal crystals with potential uses in photonics,…

We report a technique to realize reconfigurable colloidal crystals by using the controlled motion of particle defects above an externally modulated magnetic substrate. The transport of particles is induced by applying a uniform rotating…

We explore the conditions under which colloids can be stabilized by the addition of smaller particles. The largest repulsive barriers between colloids occur when the added particles repel each other with soft interactions, leading to an…

Clusters of colloidal particles, often termed supraparticles, can provide more functionality than the individual particles they consist of. Since these functionalities are determined by the arrangement of the primary particles within a…

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…

Self-assembly of colloidal particles is poised to become a powerful composite material fabrication technique, but remains challenged by a limited control over the ensuing structures. We develop a new breed of nematic colloids that are…

The exponential growth of the power of modern digital computers is based upon the miniaturisation of vast nanoscale arrays of electronic switches, but this will be eventually constrained by fabrication limits and power dissipation. Chemical…

At the cutting edge of materials science, matter is designed to self-organize into structures that perform a wide range of functions. The past two decades have witnessed major innovations in the versatility of building blocks, ranging from…

We show in simulations that a rich variety of novel orderings such as pinwheel and star states can be realized for colloidal molecular crystal mixtures at rational ratios of the number of colloids to the number of minima from an underlying…

The self-assembly of DNA-coated colloids controlled by enzymatic reactions has the potential to enable the formation of materials with hierarchical organization and switchable configurations. However, the problem of designing such…

Molecular motors are essential to the living, they generate additional fluctuations that boost transport and assist assembly. Self-propelled colloids, that consume energy to move, hold similar potential for the man-made assembly of…

Cooperative collective dynamics is a principal determinant of the ability of synthetic micromotors to perform specific functions. However, realizing controllable and predictable collective behavior in complex physiological environments…