Activity-Enhanced Self-Assembly of Colloidal-Based Materials

The emerging field of active matter has given us the ability to intentionally drive and dynamically manipulate individual particles in synthetic systems. Chemically-coated colloids and nanoparticles can self-propel or 'swim' in a directed way via a chemical fuel source and/or light activation. Harnessing such control on the particle level has the potential to revolutionize and accelerate materials discovery and development in an entirely new way, addressing the scope and goals of the DoE and the Biomolecular materials program. Doping of a material with active particles can speed up the assembly process by overcoming kinetic barriers, can increase the 'effective local temperature' causing a rearrangement and annealing of defects, and can drive the system to completely new structures and pathways inaccessible through equilibrium processes. Active-particle doping can provide unprecedented control over the assembly process and thus materials properties through controlled and targeted dynamic manipulation of individual particles.