Active Colloidal Molecules with Dynamic Configurational Freedom.

ABSTRACT: Molecular machines and microorganisms employ dynamic shape changes to enable adaptive function. In contrast, active colloidal machines and micromotors, their synthetic counterparts, are typically preconfigured and mechanically rigid, which limits the range of their dynamic behavior and thereby their functionality. Here, through physical interactions alone, we assemble active colloidal molecules with flexible configurations that evolve freely and continuously in time. Unlike existing colloidal systems that either offer structural flexibility in passively diffusing assemblies, or impose fixed configurations in self-propelling ones, our colloidal molecules both dynamically self-assemble and disassemble on demand and directly propel themselves through their own internal restructuring. This, in

SUBMITTER: Ketzetzi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12369011 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature