Current active matter systems, such as self propelled colloids or migrating cells, are inherently 2D, which limits the potential engineering applications. Brandeis developed the first 3D active nematic material by mixing an isotropic active fluid (Microtubules + kinesin motors) with a passive nematic colloidal liquid crystal (fd viruses).
Cytoplasmic flows, bacterial colonies, and algal blooms are ubiquitous examples of active suspensions assembled from self-propelled particles, which internally inject energy into their suspending medium and, at sufficient concentrations, can produce large-scale flows.
We describe hierarchical assemblages of colloidal rods that mimic some of the complexity and reconfigurability of biological structures. In particular, we show that chiral rod-like inclusions dissolved in an achiral colloidal membrane assemble into rafts, which are adaptable finite-sized liquid droplets that exhibit two distinct chiral states of opposite handedness.
Nebraska MRSEC researchers have fabricated complex oxide heterostructures with atomic precision, exploiting them to build a prototype nonvolatile Mott transistor.
This unique partnership between Navajo Technical University and the Harvard MRSEC will build enduring pathways for undergraduate Native American students into STEM by including traditional tribal perspectives and methods of scientific inquiry in materials science research and education.
To enhance drop formation, a team at the Harvard MRSEC led by Lewis created a new printing method that relies on generating sound waves to assist gravity, dubbing this new technique acoustophoretic printing.
The scientific understanding of evolution is extensive, but limited by some notable, if not embarrassing, gaps. Among the great challenges of basic science is to understand the origin of life, and, in particular, the origin of the double helix structure of stacked base pairs of DNA and RNA, life’s most remarkable molecular creation.
Radical, light initiated chemical reactions were used to synthesize multifunctional, star-shaped polmyers with each chain end bound to a DNA mimicking polymer (the “Click Nucleic Acid or CNA developed with the support of the NSF).
Princeton investigators developed an approach to directly measure the influence of chain connectivity on the glass transition temperature of copolymers for the first time. This development is important as it provides insights into the design of copolymer interfaces for applications in which transport of entities is important.
Princeton investigators detected channels of conducting electrons that form between two quantum states on the surface of a bismuth crystal subjected to a high magnetic field. These two states consist of electrons moving in elliptical orbits with different orientations.
