Artículo de revista
Self-assembly of active colloidal molecules with dynamic function
Fecha
2015Registro en:
Physical Review E 91, 052304 (2015)
1539-3755
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.91.052304
Autor
Soto Bertrán, Rodrigo
Golestanian, Ramin
Institución
Resumen
Catalytically active colloids maintain nonequilibrium conditions in which they produce and deplete chemicals
and hence effectively act as sources and sinks of molecules. While individual colloids that are symmetrically
coated do not exhibit any form of dynamical activity, the concentration fields resulting from their chemical activity
decay as 1/r and produce gradients that attract or repel other colloids depending on their surface chemistry and
ambient variables. This results in a nonequilibrium analog of ionic systems, but with the remarkable novel feature
of action-reaction symmetry breaking.We study solutions of such chemically active colloids in dilute conditions
when they join up to form molecules via generalized ionic bonds and discuss how we can achieve structures with
time-dependent functionality. In particular, we study a molecule that adopts a spontaneous oscillatory pattern
of conformations and another that exhibits a run-and-tumble dynamics similar to bacteria. Our study shows
that catalytically active colloids could be used for designing self-assembled structures that possess dynamical
functionalities that are determined by their prescribed three-dimensional structures, a strategy that follows the
design principle of proteins.