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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Self-Assembly of Hybrid Lipid Membranes Doped with Hydrophobic Organic Molecules at the Water/Air Interface
Published on: May 1, 2020
Nonequilibrium self-assembly of long chains of polar molecules in superfluid helium
Abstract:
It is shown that in the low-temperature (0.37 kelvin) environment of superfluid helium droplets, long-range dipole-dipole forces acting between two polar molecules can result in the self-assembly of noncovalently bonded linear chains. At this temperature the effective range of these forces is on the nanometer scale, making them important in the growth of nanoscale structures. In particular, the self-assembly of exclusively linear hydrogen cyanide chains is observed, even when the folded structures are energetically favored. This suggests a design strategy for the growth of new nanoscale oligomers composed of monomers with defined dipole (or higher order) moment directions.
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