Self-assembly as a research area investigates the spontaneous organization of components into ordered structures driven by local interactions and thermodynamic or kinetic principles, without direct external manipulation of each element. It encompasses molecular, nanoscale, and mesoscale systems where noncovalent forces (e.g., van der Waals, electrostatic, hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding) or specific binding interactions encode structural information. Research focuses on understanding design rules, energy landscapes, and defect formation, as well as developing programmable systems (e.g., DNA origami, block copolymers, colloidal crystals) for applications in materials science, nanotechnology, and biotechnology, often linking equilibrium self-assembly with nonequilibrium and hierarchical assembly processes.
Peptide nanotubes are tubular-shaped structures formed by the controlled stacking of cyclic peptide components. These hollow biomaterials show inner and outer faces, allowing control over their properties.
Bio & Medicine
Jan 3, 2024
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When it comes to delivering drugs to the body, a major challenge is ensuring that they remain in the area they're treating and continuing to deliver their payload accurately. While major strides have been made in delivering ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 21, 2023
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Recently, a research team led by Prof. Yang Liangbao from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) proposed an innovative strategy for assembling small nanoparticles in a three-phase ...
Nanomaterials
Dec 11, 2023
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Active matter systems feature unique behaviors that include collective self-assembly structures and collective migration. However, the efforts to realize collective entities in spaces without wall-adhered support, in order ...
A new self-assembling nanosheet could radically accelerate the development of functional and sustainable nanomaterials for electronics, energy storage, health and safety, and more.
Nanomaterials
Nov 8, 2023
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For the first time, scientists and engineers have observed in real time how two types of nanoparticles made from different materials combine into new composite materials. The findings, reported by a team led by the University ...
Nanomaterials
Nov 6, 2023
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A team of researchers from the Mirkin Group at Northwestern University's International Institute for Nanotechnology in collaboration with the University of Michigan and the Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials- ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 2, 2023
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A collaborative team of researchers led by Prof. Cees Dekker at Delft University of Technology, in partnership with international colleagues, have introduced a pioneering breakthrough in the world of nanomotors—the DNA ...
Bio & Medicine
Oct 27, 2023
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National University of Singapore (NUS) scientists demonstrated a conceptual breakthrough by fabricating atomically precise quantum antidots (QAD) using self-assembled single vacancies (SVs) in a two-dimensional (2D) transition ...
Nanophysics
Sep 5, 2023
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522
Multiple complementary DNA strands can be thermally annealed into desired entities to engineer DNA nanostructures. In a new study now published in Nature Nanotechnology, Caroline Rossi-Gendron and a team of researchers in ...
