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Artificial living crystals in confined environment.
Wen Yang1,2, Vyacheslav R Misko2,3, Jacques Tempere3,4
1College of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, People's Republic of China.
Physical Review. E
|July 16, 2017
Summary
Researchers stabilized dynamic "living crystals" formed by self-propelled particles using weak confinement. This method controls the shape and structure of these non-equilibrium systems, creating stable configurations like "living shells."
Area of Science:
- Active matter physics
- Soft condensed matter physics
- Statistical mechanics
Background:
- Living crystals, analogous to biological collectives, are formed by artificial self-propelled particles like Janus colloids.
- These non-equilibrium systems exhibit dynamic crystalline structures that fluctuate, break apart, and reform.
- Unlike equilibrium solids, living crystals are inherently unstable and transient.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a method for stabilizing dynamic living crystals.
- To investigate the control of structure and shape in these artificial systems.
- To enable experimental verification using microswimmers or active matter.
Main Methods:
- Applying a weak confinement potential to self-propelled particles.
- Tuning the strength of the confinement potential.
- Observing the formation of stable dynamical clusters and their shapes.
Main Results:
- Stabilization of fluctuating living crystals without suppressing particle motion.
- Formation of novel configurations, including stable "living shells."
- Demonstration of tunable cluster shapes by adjusting potential strength.
Conclusions:
- Weak confinement offers a viable strategy to stabilize non-equilibrium living crystals.
- The proposed method allows for controlled engineering of active matter structures.
- This approach is experimentally verifiable with Janus colloids and other active matter systems.
