Positional Information-Based Organization of Surfactant Droplet Swarms Emerging from Competition Between Local and Global Marangoni Effects.

ABSTRACT: Positional information is key for particles to adapt their behavior based on their position in external concentration gradients, and thereby self-organize into complex patterns. Here, position-dependent behavior of floating surfactant droplets that self-organize in a pH gradient is demonstrated, using the Marangoni effect to translate gradients of surface-active molecules into motion. First, fields of surfactant microliter-droplets are generated, in which droplets floating on water drive local, outbound Marangoni flows upon dissolution of surfactant and concomitantly grow myelin filaments. Next, a competing surfactant based on a hydrolysable amide is introduced, which is more surface active than the myelin surfactant and thereby inhibits the local Marangoni flows and myelin growth from the

SUBMITTER: de Visser PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11579963 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature