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 research team led by Northwestern University and the University of Michigan has developed a new method for assembling particles into colloidal crystals, a valuable type of material used for chemical and biological sensing ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 31, 2022
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265
Researchers from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the University of Washington (UW) have successfully designed a bio-inspired molecule that can direct gold atoms to form perfect ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 30, 2022
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195
Inspired by the way molecules interact in nature, UNSW medical researchers engineer versatile nanoscale machines to enable greater functional range.
Bio & Medicine
Mar 23, 2022
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295
New applications in energy, defense and telecommunications could receive a boost after a team from The University of Texas at Austin created a new type of "nanocrystal gel"—a gel composed of tiny nanocrystals each 10,000 ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 18, 2022
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326
A research team from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces reports to have found the key to controlled fabrication of cerium oxide mesocrystals. The research is a step forward ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 8, 2022
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82
Magnetically responsive microtextured surfaces have the advantage of being controlled remotely (i.e., no contact is required) at ambient conditions and short response times. Previously, synchronized bending or twisting actuations ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 1, 2022
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67
Entropy, a physical property often explained as "disorder," is revealed as a creator of order with a new bonding theory developed at the University of Michigan and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Nanomaterials
Jan 19, 2022
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182
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich researchers have developed a new strategy for manufacturing nanoscale structures in a time- and resource-efficient manner.
Nanophysics
Jan 19, 2022
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111
Supramolecular self-assembly based on noncovalent interactions is considered as a key strategy for introducing intracellular synthetic biocompatible macromolecules. The synthetic macromolecules resemble the nature, behavior, ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 18, 2022
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254
Protein assembly is essential for the formation of ordered biological structures, but imagine engineering one. This is exactly what researchers at Tokyo Tech have now accomplished with protein needles. By regulating the tip-to-tip ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 6, 2022
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104
