Center for Functional Nanomaterials Seminar

The creation of colloidal machines – that is, dynamic assemblies of colloidal components that perform useful functions – requires advances in our ability to rationally engineer the dynamics of active colloids operating outside of thermodynamic equilibrium. Owing to their small size (nanometers to microns), such machines must assemble spontaneously and operate autonomously in response to simple energy inputs due to chemical fuels or external fields. Achieving non-trivial dynamical behaviors and ultimately function demands the use of complex components, into which the desired behaviors can be effectively encoded. The challenge is conceptually similar to that of programmable self-assembly, whereby assembly information encoded in the building blocks directs their organization into a specific structure. Extending this approach to design colloidal machines will require control over particle organization in time as well as space – that is, over dynamics as well as structure. This talk will present recent work from our group on strategies for powering active colloidal systems and for programming these systems to perform increasingly complex tasks. By directing colloidal matter outside of equilibrium, we aim to create new materials and technologies with capabilities that rival those of living organisms.