Articles tagged with Self Assembly
Scientists propose an alternative model to explain the fast onset of chemical reactions required for life. The new paradigm suggests that catalytic clusters can form rapidly and in large numbers, enabling the self-organization of molecules into living structures.
A joint research team from City University of Hong Kong and collaborators developed a stable artificial photocatalytic system that mimics natural chloroplasts to convert carbon dioxide into methane, a valuable fuel, very efficiently using light. The new system achieved a highly efficient solar-to-fuel efficiency rate of 15%, surpassing...
Researchers have created self-assembling protein-mimics that can selectivity transport water across membranes while rejecting salts, offering a potential solution to improve energy efficiency in industrial water purification. The oligourea foldamers are smaller and more stable than existing artificial water channels.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a system that uses fluid mechanics and chemo-mechanical processes to autonomously assemble hierarchical 3D structures. The system utilizes sticky bonds to drive self-organization, allowing for the construction of complex devices with minimal external intervention.
Researchers developed a stable, porous molecular crystal using triptycene as a building block, leveraging noncovalent interactions to create a flexible material with high solubility and self-healing capabilities. The synthesized PMC exhibits excellent thermal and chemical resistance, making it suitable for various applications.
Researchers develop seed-induced self-assembly of supramolecular polymers to control polymer growth and form unique structures. This breakthrough enables the creation of sustainable materials with lower energy consumption and improved recyclability.
Biofilm-forming bacteria adhere to hydrophobic and hydrophilic protein-adsorbing SAMs firmly, while weakly attaching to hydrophilic protein-resisting SAMs. This study could lead to development of bacteria-resistant surfaces and antibiofouling coatings.
Tiny California blackworms tangle themselves to perform biological functions, but can untangle in mere milliseconds. Researchers have discovered the mathematics behind this process, revealing how helical gaits and topological principles enable the worms' superpower.
Researchers from City University of Hong Kong and NREL developed a one-step solution-coating approach to simplify PSC manufacturing, resulting in high efficiency and stability. The new method reduces process complexity and cost, bringing PSCs closer to commercialization.
The USTC team has successfully developed a light-driven, programmable system for colloidal self-assembly. Through the cooperative reorganization of nanomotors, they can transport and reconfigure colloidal assemblies in various ways. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for designing micromachines and smart materials.
Researchers propose using cellulose nano crystals to prevent mosquito bites by creating a chemical barrier that hides human skin's volatile organic compounds. The treatment, applied as a gel, significantly reduced feeding from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in trials.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have built a super-sized nanocage that could deliver larger drug cargoes, outperforming existing nanocages in terms of internal volume and stability.
For the first time, scientists have observed nanoparticles forming crystals with unprecedented clarity. The study used optimized liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy to capture the self-assembly process of thousands of nanoparticles. This breakthrough could lead to designing new materials for electronic applications.
A team of researchers has observed nanoparticles self-assembling and crystalizing into solid materials in real time, revealing the growth process at nanometer resolution. The findings have implications for designing new materials, including thin films for electronic applications.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a soft material with metal-like conductivity and self-healing properties that can support digital electronics and motors. The material has been demonstrated in various applications, including powering motors and enabling reconfigurable circuits.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham have devised a way to fabricate a complex structure, previously found only in nature, to control light in the visible range. This new approach uses self-assembled colloidal particles to create chiral photonic crystals with tailored optical properties.
Researchers have designed a solar harvester with enhanced energy conversion capabilities using self-assembling nanoparticles. The device achieves high absorbance and suppressed thermal emissivity, enabling the transformation of sunlight into thermal energy.
Researchers at Rice University have developed a self-assembling peptide ink that enables the 3D printing of complex structures with cells, which can then be used to grow mature tissue in a petri dish. The ink allows for control over cell behavior using structural and chemical complexity.
Researchers at MIT create a novel approach to building deformable underwater robots using simple repeating substructures. The system can assemble into various shapes and sizes, offering scalability and efficiency improvements over current technologies.
Researchers at Ritsumeikan University have successfully synthesized ring-shaped nanostructures via the self-assembly of chlorophyll derivatives, mimicking the arrangement of chlorophyll pigments observed in nature. This discovery enables efficient sunlight absorption and could lead to novel smart materials with tunable properties.
Researchers at Complexity Science Hub developed a model using physics principles to predict group sizes in humans. By analyzing social stress and homophily, they found that group sizes can be predicted with relatively small information, revealing new insights into human behavior.
Researchers developed a cancer-selective therapeutic agent that targets cancer cells' unique acidic pH microenvironment, inducing mitochondrial dysfunction and killing only cancer cells. The agent, Mito-SA, forms charge-shielded nano-assemblies that selectively disassemble in the tumoral environment.
Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have successfully discovered new materials using artificial intelligence and self-assembly. The AI-driven technique led to the discovery of three new nanostructures, expanding the scope of self-assembly's applications in microelectronics and catalysis.
Researchers have developed a technique to record cellular events in a long protein chain, allowing them to reconstruct the timing of gene activation, response to drugs, and other processes. This method has potential applications in understanding memory formation, aging, and disease progression.
A team of researchers has created a new method for fabricating nanodevices by shrinking hydrogels to create 3D patterns. This technique uses ultrafast two-photon lithography and can produce high-resolution patterns up to 13 times larger than the original size, enabling the creation of complex nanostructures.
Researchers at Max Planck Institute developed a new model describing the autonomous remodeling of molecular structures. This concept sheds light on self-organization in living matter and could inspire engineering strategies for designing molecular robotic shape-shifters.
By incorporating hydrodynamics into their models, the researchers improved predictions of final structures compared to conventional computational models. This work may lead to the development of smart materials with controllable properties in response to external conditions.
Scientists at the University of Illinois have created a new strategy to build materials with unique properties by organizing nanoparticles into pinwheel shapes. The pinwheel lattice exhibits chirality, a property that can be seen in nature's examples such as DNA and human hands.
Researchers have made significant progress toward creating robots that can build nearly anything, including vehicles, buildings, and even bigger robots. The new system uses complex voxels that can carry power, data, and force, enabling the building of structures with intelligence.
Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory create a new way to guide the self-assembly of novel nanoscale structures using simple polymers as starting materials. The team describes their approach in a paper published in Nature Communications, which shows that different shapes have dramatically different electrical conductivity.
Researchers have successfully segregated oppositely helical supramolecular polymers in a solution using audible sound, inducing surface vibrations and advection currents. This approach allows for the spatiotemporal control of chiral supramolecular systems, enabling the segregation of multiple aggregates.
Researchers have successfully created a highly conductive metamaterial using self-organized quantum dots, maintaining their optical properties while displaying the highest electron mobility reported for quantum dot assemblies. This breakthrough paves the way for new generation of opto-electronic applications.
Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology create novel self-complementary macrocycles with high control over assembly, using a dual interaction system that incorporates hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions. The resulting structures have potential applications in optical and electronic functions.
A team of physicists has created a new way to self-assemble particles using emulsions and foldamers. This breakthrough offers promise for building complex materials at the microscopic level, with potential applications in fields like materials science.
Researchers have discovered that two distantly related RNA viruses perform chemical choreography in strikingly similar ways, forming a symmetrical icosahedral shell. This finding has potential applications in improving pharmaceutical delivery and engineering, as well as understanding protein folding mechanisms.
Researchers at Rice University have created macroscale, modular materials from engineered bacteria that can self-assemble and perform various functions. The materials, dubbed BUD-ELMs, contain living cells that allow them to grow, repair, and respond to external stimuli.
Researchers from TU Delft constructed the smallest flow-driven motors in the world using DNA, converting energy into mechanical work. The achievement opens new perspectives for engineering active robotics at the nanoscale.
Researchers at Rice University have created 2D chiral superstructures using three-sided pyramids, which could lead to breakthroughs in metamaterials. The structures, composed of ultrathin assemblies of particles, incorporate left-handed and right-handed domains and exhibit unique optical properties.
Researchers have developed a supramolecular adhesive that exhibits outstanding gluing properties across a wide range of temperatures. The new adhesive consists of a protein and crown ether component, which form a tight interlocking structure through molecular interactions, resulting in exceptional adhesion even at low temperatures.
Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology accidentally discovered that adding more water to a liquid solution turns it back into a gel, and then further dilution forms another gel. The team's findings have significant implications for various fields in chemistry and biology.
A team of scientists successfully controlled multistep enzyme reactions using audible sound, creating a new method for spatiotemporal regulation. The researchers used standing waves generated by sound to separate and compartmentalize solutions, allowing for the precise control of chemical reactions.
Scientists have developed a proof-of-concept system that uses proteins to create stable, quantum-scale logic circuits. The circuits utilize electron tunneling behavior to modulate current and operate in a stable regime, making them suitable for high-frequency applications.
A Cornell-led project has created synthetic nanoclusters that can mimic the hierarchical self-assembly of natural systems, from DNA to butterfly wings. The resulting thin films have perfect periodic patterning and chiral optical properties, opening up new avenues for developing technologies inspired by nature.
A team of researchers used a new computer simulation to model the electrostatic self-organization of zwitterionic nanoparticles, which are useful for drug delivery. They found that including transient charge fluctuations greatly increased the accuracy, leading to the development of new self-assembling smart nanomaterials.
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed an electron-based catalyst for noncovalent bonding, promoting self-assembly and complex structure formation. This breakthrough enables the control of molecular recognition processes at a fundamental level.
GeniPhys Inc. has received a two-year, $974,349 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation to advance the commercialization of its initial product, Collymer Self Assembling Scaffold (Collymer SAS). The grant will be used to scale up manufacturing capabilities and file key regulatory submissions...
Researchers used microscopic strands of DNA to guide the assembly of gel blocks that self-assembled in around 10-15 minutes. The process was highly specific and easily programmable, allowing the blocks to interact with each other in different ways by changing the sequence of DNA.
A team of scientists successfully constructed a supramolecular rotor inside a hollow cube-shaped zinc(II)-metallated porphyrinic cage (Zn-PB) molecule. The addition of a chemical stimulant initiates both rotary and tumbling motions, controlled by external stimuli.
Scientists have successfully engineered protein needles that can self-assemble into lattice structures and ordered monomeric states. The study's findings provide insights into protein-protein interactions and could lead to the development of biocompatible materials and targeted drug transports.
Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology discovered a way to create a stable resonator using two parallel gold flakes in a salty aqueous solution. The structure can be manipulated and used as a chamber for investigating materials and their behavior, with potential applications in physics, biosensors, and nanorobotics.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a sustainable, non-toxic, and vegan glitter made from cellulose nanocrystals. The material is biodegradable, plastic-free, and free from carcinogenic effects, offering a promising alternative to traditional cosmetics.
The study assesses how temperature influences droplet size in elastic matrices, providing insights into biological molecule arrangement and condensate formation. It also explores the role of phase separation and its effect on droplet growth.
Researchers have developed a new model for micro-swimmer-based transport, which shows that a swarm of micro-swimmers can transport particles more efficiently than traditional methods. The study's findings suggest that this phenomenon could be useful in biological applications, such as delivering drugs to specific locations in the body.
Scientists have repurposed CRISPR to identify antibodies in patient blood samples, demonstrating a new class of medical diagnostics. The technique uses customizable proteins attached to Cas9, which assemble on a microchip to bind to specific DNA sequences, allowing for fast and accurate detection.
RUDN University chemists have created molecules that can assemble into complex structures using chlorine and bromine halogen atoms. These substances will help to create supramolecules with catalytic, luminescent, conducting properties.
Researchers develop light-emitting metallacages via coordination-driven self-assembly, overcoming aggregation-caused quenching challenges. The AIE phenomenon enables high luminescence efficiency in aggregate states, enabling applications in sensing, biomedicine, and catalysis.
Researchers from TU Graz and FSU Jena discovered three opposing driving forces controlling the self-assembly of functionalized molecules at interfaces. A design principle using machine learning was established to predict structures and properties. This breakthrough enables the easy assembly of desired interfacial properties on demand.
A new study combines complexity science and social risk management to understand the impact of globalization, digitalization, and sustainabilization on societal coherence. The research finds that rapid shifts in public opinion and the emergence of populist movements can pose a threat to diversity and cohesion.
Researchers propose a new strategy to obtain size-controlled Eu3+-complex nanoparticles with self-assembly induced luminescence characteristics. The amphiphilic Eu3+-complex possessing carbazole derivative ligands can self-assemble into Eu-NPs with excellent water dispersibility and controllable particle size in aqueous solution.
Researchers developed a new microscopy method to visualize the building blocks of 'smart' materials being formed at the nanoscale. The technique, called VC-LCTEM, allows scientists to see the reaction taking place in real time, enabling them to understand how to speed up and control the process.