ERC Starting Grant · 2017
From colloidal joints to reconfigurable matter
Self-assembly of colloidal particles has emerged as the most promising strategy to obtain fundamental insights into otherwise prohibitively complex systems as well as to create new functional materials from the bottom up. However, most self-assembled colloidal structures are static and thus limited in their functionality. Building on our recent discovery of colloidal joints, which enable a hinging-like motion between linked particles, I propose to unravel how such flexible bonds can be leveraged to obtain reconfigurable materials with unprecedented properties. I will investigate the impact of bond flexibility on the self-assembly, (multi-) stable configurations and phase behaviour of…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.