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Active Colloidal Molecules with Dynamic Configurational Freedom.

Stefania Ketzetzi1, Lorenzo Caprini2, Vivien Willems1

  • 1Laboratory for Soft Materials and Interfaces, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed active colloidal molecules that can change shape and self-assemble. These dynamic machines exhibit self-regulation and self-steering, enabling autonomous motion and preventing aggregation at high concentrations.

Keywords:
active soft mattermicromachinesmicromotorsmicrorobotsmicroswimmersself-assembly

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Area of Science:

  • Soft Matter Physics
  • Active Matter Systems
  • Colloidal Science

Background:

  • Biological systems utilize dynamic shape changes for adaptive functions.
  • Synthetic active machines (colloidal machines, micromotors) are typically rigid, limiting their functionality.
  • Existing colloidal systems offer either passive flexibility or fixed active configurations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assemble active colloidal molecules with flexible, time-evolving configurations.
  • To enable dynamic self-assembly and disassembly on demand.
  • To achieve autonomous motion and enhanced control in synthetic active matter.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing physical interactions for assembly of active colloidal molecules.
  • Observing free and continuous evolution of molecular configurations.
  • Analyzing self-propulsion through internal restructuring.

Main Results:

  • Successfully assembled active colloidal molecules with dynamic, flexible configurations.
  • Demonstrated self-propulsion via internal restructuring.
  • Exhibited enhanced self-regulation, self-steering, and obstacle avoidance.
  • Suppressed clustering and motility-induced phase separation at high concentrations.

Conclusions:

  • Dynamic configurational freedom in micromotors represents a significant advance beyond classical synthetic active matter.
  • These findings pave the way for designing intelligent microrobots.
  • Enables the creation of responsive, functional active materials at the nano- and microscale.