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.
Nature may abhor a vacuum, but it sure loves structure. Complex, self-organized assemblies are found throughout the natural world, from double-helix DNA molecules to the photonic crystals that make butterfly wings so colorful ...
Nanophysics
Apr 22, 2022
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A large team of researchers at the University of Washington, working with colleagues from Université Montpellier and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has taken a major step toward the creation of an axle-rotor ...
A study led by Prof. Qiuyu Zhang (Northwestern Polytechnical University), Prof. Ki-Bum Lee (Rutgers University), and Prof. Liang Kong (School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University) has established an injectable ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 15, 2022
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234
Researchers from The Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology and The Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo used a new computer simulation to model the electrostatic self-organization of zwitterionic ...
Nanophysics
Apr 13, 2022
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106
From designing new biomaterials to novel photonic devices, new materials built through a process called bottom-up nanofabrication, or self-assembly, are opening up pathways to new technologies with properties tuned at the ...
Nanomaterials
Apr 13, 2022
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347
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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296
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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