Stimuli-responsive self-regulating assembly of chiral colloids for robust size and shape control.

ABSTRACT: Most synthetic self-assemblies grow indefinitely into size-unlimited structures, whereas some biological self-assemblies autonomously regulate their size and shape. One mechanism of such self-regulation arises from the chirality of building blocks, inducing their mutual twisting that is incompatible with their long-range ordered packing and thus halts the assembly's growth at a certain stage. This self-regulation occurs robustly in thermodynamic equilibrium rather than kinetic trapping, and therefore is attractive yet elusive. Until now, studies of self-regulating assemblies have focused on non-responsive systems, whose equilibrium point and corresponding size and shape are hardly changeable. Here, we demonstrate a stimuli-responsive, self-regulating assembly. This assembly consists of chi

SUBMITTER: Wang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11564980 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature