Nature uses self-assembly to generate a vast variety of functional structures. This process leverages thermal motion to generate nanostructures at practically no external cost. Unfortunately, the drawback of having to rely on random motion, as opposed to deliberate maneuvers, is that all nanocomponents will indiscriminately find each other without necessarily matching the correct partners. Over the last few years, a new kind of nanoparticle has been synthesized. By converting chemical fuel dispersed in solution into consistent, directed motion, these particles behave effectively as nano-rockets (self-propelled particles), and represent the synthetic analog of bacteria. Using a combination of theoretical and computational techniques, the PI's group will study how this new exciting feature (propulsion), not only could provide a general platform for creating novel functional materials with unusual mechanical properties, but also, how it could greatly simplify or bias the dynamical landscape associated with the self-assembly processes, by effectively reducing its complexity. This award supports a number of outreach initiatives, including the development of educational software for touch screen devices, training of graduate and undergraduate students in theoretical and numerical research, and other educational activities aimed at broadening participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering.
This award supports a computational, theoretical and educational program to study how self-propelled nanoparticles self-assemble. The collective behavior that emerges in systems of self-propelled particles is quite unique, and is reminiscent of the beautiful correlated motion exhibited by some birds (flocking), insects (swarming) and fish (schooling). The material properties of condensed phases formed by active components are also exciting and very unusual, holding promise for the development of the next generation of intelligent materials. This proposal has two main goals: (1) To understand how very basic and well-established phenomena in non-active systems (that can be used as a solid thermodynamic reference) carry over when different degrees of activity are imposed on the nanoparticles; thus leading the way to a better understanding of the interplay between active and thermal forces that is at the core of the phenomenological behavior observed in these systems. (2) To develop strategies to control how active nanocomponents self-assemble, and transform their random active motion into a coherent motion of the mesoscopic structures they form, thus creating active aggregates that can perform work by exploiting chemical fuel (or other sources of energy) at nanoscale.
