Self-assembly Through Programmable Folding - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Nature Année : 2022

Self-assembly Through Programmable Folding

Résumé

In the realm of particle self-assembly, it is possible to reliably construct nearly arbitrary structures if all the pieces are distinct [1, 2, 3], but systems with fewer flavors of building blocks have so far been limited to the assembly of exotic crystals[4, 5, 6]. Here we introduce a minimal model system of colloidal droplet chains[7], with programmable DNA interactions that guide their downhill folding into specific geometries. Droplets are observed in real space and time, unraveling the rules of folding. Combining experiments, simulations, and theory, we show that controlling the order in which interactions are switched on directs folding into unique structures, which we call colloidal foldamers [8]. The simplest alternating sequences (ABAB...) of up to 13 droplets yield eleven foldamers in 2D and one in 3D. Optimizing the droplet sequence and adding an extra flavor uniquely encodes more than half of the 619 possible 2D geometries. Foldamers comprised of at least 13 droplets exhibit open structures with holes, offering porous design. Numerical simulations show that foldamers can further interact to make complex supracolloidal architectures, such as dimers, ribbons, and mosaics. Our results are independent of the dynamics and therefore apply to polymeric materials with hierarchical interactions on all length scales, from organic molecules all the way to Rubik's snakes. This toolbox enables the encoding of large-scale design into sequences of short polymers, placing folding at the forefront of materials self-assembly.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Folding.pdf (26.88 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)

Dates et versions

hal-03967514 , version 1 (01-02-2023)

Identifiants

Citer

Angus Mcmullen, Maitane Muñoz Basagoiti, Zorana Zeravcic, Jasna Brujic. Self-assembly Through Programmable Folding. Nature, 2022, 610 (7932), pp.502-506. ⟨10.1038/s41586-022-05198-8⟩. ⟨hal-03967514⟩
19 Consultations
19 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Mastodon Facebook X LinkedIn More