Issue 40, 2015

Celebrating Soft Matter's 10th Anniversary: Approaches to program the time domain of self-assemblies

Abstract

Self-regulating reconfigurable soft matter systems are of great interest for creating adaptive and active material properties. Such complex functionalities emerge from non-linear and interactive behavior in space and time as demonstrated by a plethora of dynamic, self-organizing biological structures (e.g., the cytoskeleton). In man-made self-assemblies, patterning of the spatial domain has advanced to creating hierarchical structures via precise molecular programming. However, orchestration of the time domain of self-assemblies is still in its infancy and lacks universal design principles. In this Emerging Area article we outline major strategies for programming the time domain of self-assemblies following the concepts of regulatory reaction networks, energy dissipation and kinetic control. Such concepts operate outside thermodynamic equilibrium and pave the way for temporally patterned, dynamic, and autonomously acting functional materials.

Graphical abstract: Celebrating Soft Matter's 10th Anniversary: Approaches to program the time domain of self-assemblies

Article information

Article type
Emerging Area
Submitted
07 Jul 2015
Accepted
23 Aug 2015
First published
24 Aug 2015

Soft Matter, 2015,11, 7857-7866

Celebrating Soft Matter's 10th Anniversary: Approaches to program the time domain of self-assemblies

L. Heinen and A. Walther, Soft Matter, 2015, 11, 7857 DOI: 10.1039/C5SM01660F

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