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.
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
0
176
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
0
121
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
0
203
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 origami ...
Bio & Medicine
Oct 27, 2023
0
200
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
0
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 ...
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in using silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs), nanoscale silver particles composed of tens to hundreds of atoms, across various fields like material science, chemistry, and biology. ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 27, 2023
0
73
A team of bioengineers at Arizona State University has found a way to use a LEGO robot as a gradient mixer in one part of a process to create DNA origami nanostructures. In their paper published on the open-access site PLOS ...
Griffith University researchers have played a key role in using DNA "origami" templates to control the way viruses are assembled.
Bio & Medicine
Jul 17, 2023
0
115
In nature, it is common to find structures that combine both soft and hard material. These structures are responsible for diverse mechanical properties and functions of biological systems. As a typical example, the human ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 6, 2023
0
72
