Living self-organizing systems operate far-from-equilibrium and maintain functions by constant energy dissipation in adaptive steady states, and are orchestrated through feedback loops to allow tailored response in complex sensory landscapes. In man-made self-assemblies we have mastered to a large extent near-equilibrium structure formation in space, and have gained an increasing understanding to construct very complex, hierarchically structured soft matter with responsive properties. This has allowed to create materials with advanced functionalities and switchability, inaccessible without sophisticated nano- and mesostructuration and delicate control over molecular interactions. Some of the next steps in self-assembling systems are to approach multicomponent co-assemblies, and to master temporal behavior as well as complex adaptation mechanisms. The latter require new types of internal control mechanisms, such as kinetic control over opposing reactions (built-up/destruction), the integration of feedback mechanisms, or the use of energy dissipation to sustain structures only as long as a chemical fuel is available. This ultimately goes along with a transition towards out-of-equilibrium complex systems, in which multiple components self-assemble dynamically in a non-linear and adaptive fashion. In this talk I will present concepts for such out-of-equilibrium systems, which allow to program self-assemblies and materials with lifetimes via kinetic control mechanisms using of promoter/deactivator pairs, and via the installation of internal feedback systems. This will be showcased for different self-assembling systems (polymers, peptides, DNA), and the connection to hydrogels and photonic materials demonstrates possibilities for new horizons in materials science.

Out-of-equilibrium self-assemblies and autonomous material systems with programmable lifetimes

255th National Meeting (2018)

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