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.   In pursuit of this goal, it is instructive to consider the dynamics of even a single particle and how it might be programmed to perform increasingly complex tasks. This talk describes how the shape and symmetry of colloidal particles can be used to direct particle motions powered by induced-charge electrophoresis and asymmetric acoustic streaming.<br/>

Shaped-directed dynamics of active colloids

254th National Meeting (2017)

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