Self-assembly of Active Colloidal Molecules with Dynamic Function

Abstract

Catalytically active colloids maintain non-equilibrium 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 non-equilibrium analogue 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 posses dynamical functionalities that are determined by their prescribed 3D structures, a strategy that follows the design principle of proteins.

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Cited by in corpus (28)

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• Defect Solutions of the Non-reciprocal Cahn-Hilliard Model: Spirals and Targets
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• Interaction-motif-based classification of self-organizing metabolic cycles
• Impact of non-reciprocal interactions on colloidal self-assembly with tunable anisotropy
• Stability of interlocked self-propelled dumbbell clusters
• Continuous-time multifarious systems -- Part I: equilibrium multifarious self-assembly
• Self-organization of active colloids mediated by chemical interactions
• Minimal mechanism for flocking in phoretically interacting active particles
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• Regimes of motion of magnetocapillary swimmers
• Island Hopping of active colloids
• Continuous-time multifarious systems -- Part II: non-reciprocal multifarious self-organization
• Flocking transition in phoretically interacting active particles with pinning disorder
• State Diagram of the Non-Reciprocal Cahn-Hilliard Model and the Effects of Symmetry
• Non-reciprocal interactions between condensates in chemically active mixtures