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.
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
Ph.D. student Marloes Bistervels from the Self-Organizing Matter research group at AMOLF has managed to use light to very precisely control the formation of nanocomposites in the shape of corals and vases. By illuminating ...
Nanophysics
Dec 17, 2021
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208
Mesocrystals are a class of solids formed by the regular arrangement of nanocrystals, which are tiny nanoparticles that have unique properties due to their small size. In mesocrystals, these take on a highly organized, superordinate ...
Nanomaterials
Dec 17, 2021
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112
Biophysicists in Japan have found ways to make and manipulate capsule-like DNA structures that could be used in the development of artificial molecular systems. Such systems could function, for example, inside the human body. ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 13, 2021
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222
Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed a molecular structure that can cover graphite surfaces with a sea of tiny flagged "flagpoles." The properties of this coating are highly variable. It may provide a basis ...
Nanomaterials
Nov 29, 2021
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109
Researchers in Japan have designed the first bottom-up designed peptides, comprising chains of amino acids, that can form artificial nanopores to identify and enable single molecule-sorting of genetic material in a lipid ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 24, 2021
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193
