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.
As traditional top-down approaches like photolithography reach their limitations in creating nanostructures, scientists are shifting their focus toward bottom-up strategies. Central to this paradigm shift is the self-assembly ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 27, 2024
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During cell division, a ring forms around the cell equator, which contracts to divide the cell into two daughter cells. Together with researchers from Heidelberg, Dresden, Tübingen and Harvard, Professor Jan Kierfeld and ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 25, 2024
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By design, synthetic molecules typically have specific jobs to prevent or accelerate reactions between other molecules. To help control more complicated reactions, researchers may harness spare space in one molecule to synthesize ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 15, 2024
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A printable organic polymer that assembles into chiral structures when printed has enabled researchers to reliably measure the amount of charge produced in spin-to-charge conversion within a spintronic material at room temperature. ...
Nanophysics
Mar 15, 2024
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In a study recently published in the journal Small, researchers from Nano Life Science Institute (WPI NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, Japan, collaborating with Professor Sarikaya, Seattle, U.S., used frequency modulated atomic ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 4, 2024
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By attaching molecules together, scientists at Université de Montréal think they've found how molecular systems at the origin of life evolved to create complex self-regulating functions.
Bio & Medicine
Feb 7, 2024
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Scientists have been making nanoparticles out of DNA strands for two decades, manipulating the bonds that maintain DNA's double-helical shape to sculpt self-assembling structures that could someday have jaw-dropping medical ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 6, 2024
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A collaborative research team has fabricated a soccer ball-shaped construction using edge-to-edge assembly of 2D semiconductor materials. The research has been featured on the cover of the online edition of the Angewandte ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 2, 2024
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In a paper published in Science Jan. 18, scientists Chad Mirkin and Sharon Glotzer and their teams at Northwestern University and University of Michigan, respectively, present findings in nanotechnology that could impact ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 18, 2024
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Amino acids, such as tyrosine and tryptophan, are the fundamental building blocks that make up proteins. These biomolecules have different chemical groups on each end and side chain, and so, have the natural ability to form ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 9, 2024
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