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.
Researchers have engineered nanosized cubes that spontaneously form a two-dimensional checkerboard pattern when dropped on the surface of water. The work, published in Nature Communications, presents a simple approach to ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 13, 2024
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RNA droplets can now be used to perform logical operations that take microRNA sequences as inputs, report scientists from Tokyo Tech. By self-assembling into network-like structures, RNA molecules form liquid-state droplets. ...
Bio & Medicine
Jun 7, 2024
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Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University (SBU), and their collaborators have uncovered new details of the reversible assembly and disassembly of a platinum catalyst. ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 3, 2024
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87
A new technique in building DNA structures at a microscopic level has the potential to advance drug delivery and disease diagnosis, a study suggests.
Bio & Medicine
May 9, 2024
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49
Nanoscale materials present us with astonishing chemical and physical properties that help materialize applications such as single molecular sensing and minimally invasive photothermal therapy—which were once just theories—into ...
Nanomaterials
May 7, 2024
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291
A team of researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst has drawn inspiration from a wide variety of natural geometric motifs—including those of 12-sided dice and potato chips—in order to extend a set of ...
Nanomaterials
Apr 30, 2024
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62
A research team led by the late Professor Liang Haojun from the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) has developed a facile enthalpy-mediated ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 29, 2024
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100
Self-assembling molecules that spontaneously organize themselves to form complex structures are common in nature. For example, the tough outer layer of insects, called the cuticle, is rich in proteins that can self-assemble.
Bio & Medicine
Apr 26, 2024
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Molecular computer components could represent a new IT revolution and help us create cheaper, faster, smaller, and more powerful computers. Yet researchers struggle to find ways to assemble them more reliably and efficiently.
Nanomaterials
Apr 24, 2024
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46
Complex systems in nature, like their synthetic counterparts in technology, comprise a large number of small components that assemble of their own accord through molecular interactions. Gaining a better understanding of the ...
General Physics
Apr 4, 2024
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