Results 11 to 20 of about 140,751 (305)

Splay-bend nematic phases of bent colloidal silica rods induced by polydispersity

Nature Communications, 2022
Different shapes of molecules or particles can exhibit various liquid crystal phases. The authors report on an experimental discovery of a so called splay-bend nematic liquid crystal phase in a colloidal system of bent silica rods.
Ramakrishna Kotni, Albert Grau-Carbonell, Massimiliano Chiappini, Marjolein Dijkstra, Alfons van Blaaderen   +4 more
doaj   +1 more source

Interplay between spherical confinement and particle shape on the self-assembly of rounded cubes

Nature Communications, 2018
Colloidal nanoparticles self-assembled under spherical confinement can form a rich variety of structures. Here, the authors study the self-assembly of sharp and rounded nanocubes under such confinement, revealing the influence of particle and face ...
Da Wang, Michiel Hermes, Ramakrishna Kotni, Yaoting Wu, Nikos Tasios, Yang Liu, Bart de Nijs, Ernest B. van der Wee, Christopher B. Murray, Marjolein Dijkstra, Alfons van Blaaderen   +10 more
doaj   +1 more source

Acceleration of enzymatic catalysis by active hydrodynamic fluctuations

Communications Physics, 2022
Cells are teeming with biochemical nano-machines whose vigorous activity generates strong hydrodynamic fluctuations. The authors revamp transition-state theory to account for the effect of this active noise and find that it may significantly accelerate ...
Ashwani Kr. Tripathi, Tamoghna Das, Govind Paneru, Hyuk Kyu Pak, Tsvi Tlusty   +4 more
doaj   +1 more source

Programmable Soft-Matter Electronics

The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2021
The hydrogels of the polyelectrolytes polyethylenimine and poly(acrylic acid) are used to form a thin-layer interface on the gallium-indium eutectic alloy's surface. The proposed method of gradually increasing the applied voltage reveals the possibility of formation of electronic components: diode, capacitor, resistor, and memristor. The components can
Artemii S. Ivanov, Konstantin G. Nikolaev, Alexander S. Novikov, Stanislav O. Yurchenko, Kostya S. Novoselov, Daria V. Andreeva, Ekaterina V. Skorb   +6 more
openaire   +3 more sources

General phase-structure relationship in polar rod-shaped liquid crystals: Importance of shape anisotropy and dipolar strength

Giant, 2022
Ferroelectricity is a property with spontaneous polarization, which is of paramount importance in modern electrooptic applications. Yet, its observations are mostly limited to solids or chiral smectic C liquid crystals with nearly no fluidity.
Jinxing Li, Zhidong Wang, Minghui Deng, Yuanyuan Zhu, Xinxin Zhang, Runli Xia, Yaohao Song, Yuki Hisai, Satoshi Aya, Mingjun Huang   +9 more
doaj   +1 more source

Structural diversity in three-dimensional self-assembly of nanoplatelets by spherical confinement

Nature Communications, 2022
Nanoplatelets can be used as anisotropic building blocks for constructing novel optoelectronic materials. Here, Wang et al. show a route of assembling nanoplatelets with controllable positional and orientational order in three dimensions facilitated by ...
Da Wang, Michiel Hermes, Stan Najmr, Nikos Tasios, Albert Grau-Carbonell, Yang Liu, Sara Bals, Marjolein Dijkstra, Christopher B. Murray, Alfons van Blaaderen   +9 more
doaj   +1 more source

Activity-induced interactions and cooperation of artificial microswimmers in one-dimensional environments

Nature Communications, 2022
Biological microswimmers such as bacteria show collective motion that is made possible by an intricate interplay of sensing and signaling. Ketzetzi et al. reproduce this phenomenon in a catalytic system undergoing, for instance, cooperative speed-ups and
Stefania Ketzetzi, Melissa Rinaldin, Pim Dröge, Joost de Graaf, Daniela J. Kraft   +4 more
doaj   +1 more source

3D test sample for the calibration and quality control of stimulated emission depletion (STED) and confocal microscopes

Communications Biology, 2021
Van der Wee et al. establish a new colloidal crystal standard sample for the alignment and calibration of confocal and stimulated emission depletion microscopy.
Ernest B. van der Wee, Jantina Fokkema, Chris L. Kennedy, Marc del Pozo, D. A. Matthijs de Winter, Peter N. A. Speets, Hans C. Gerritsen, Alfons van Blaaderen   +7 more
doaj   +1 more source

Polyoxometalate hybrid comb-like crosslinked polymer networks for anhydrous proton conductors

Polyoxometalates
The development of proton conductors that demostrate high conductivity with mechanical resilience is critical for advancing energy devices operating under harsh conditions.
Kewen Fu, Lu Liu, Pengcheng Cui, Xiaojin Yan, Yingying Wang, Kun Chen   +5 more
doaj   +1 more source

Exploring fullerene-based superlattices self-assembled via giant molecules

Giant, 2023
Fullerene, as a novel building block of functional materials, possesses a wide range of intriguing properties, some of which are closely related to hierarchical structures.
Xing-Han Li, Xiaoyi Kuang, Xian-You Liu, Huanyu Lei, Xiao-Yun Yan, Weiyi Li, Yaowen Deng, Yuean Wu, Qing-Yun Guo, Stephen Z.D. Cheng   +9 more
doaj   +1 more source