Self-Assembled Structures


Book Description

Self-assembly is a process in which a disordered system forms an organized structure without external direction. Examples include the formation of molecular crystals, lipid bilayers, and polymer brushes. This book reviews the fabrication and use of various self-assembled materials. In particular, the author pays special attention to self-assembled




Dynamics of Self-Organized and Self-Assembled Structures


Book Description

Physical and biological systems driven out of equilibrium may spontaneously evolve to form spatial structures. In some systems molecular constituents may self-assemble to produce complex ordered structures. This book describes how such pattern formation processes occur and how they can be modeled. Experimental observations are used to introduce the diverse systems and phenomena leading to pattern formation. The physical origins of various spatial structures are discussed, and models for their formation are constructed. In contrast to many treatments, pattern-forming processes in nonequilibrium systems are treated in a coherent fashion. The book shows how near-equilibrium and far-from-equilibrium modeling concepts are often combined to describe physical systems. This inter-disciplinary book can form the basis of graduate courses in pattern formation and self-assembly. It is a useful reference for graduate students and researchers in a number of disciplines, including condensed matter science, nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, chemical biophysics, materials science, and engineering.




Evaporative Self-assembly Of Ordered Complex Structures


Book Description

The use of spontaneous self-assembly, as a lithographic tool and as an external field-free means to construct well-ordered and intriguing patterns, has received much attention due to its ease of producing complex, large-scale structures with small feature sizes. An extremely simple route to highly-ordered, complex structures is the evaporative self-assembly of nonvolatile solutes (e.g., polymers, nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and DNA) from a sessile droplet on a solid substrate. To date, a few studies have elegantly demonstrated that self-organized nanoscale, microscale, and hierarchically structured patterns have been readily obtained from sophisticated control of droplet evaporation. These include convective assembly in evaporating menisci, the alignment of nanomaterials by programmed dip coating and controlled anisotrophic wetting/dewetting processes, facile microstructuring of functional polymers by the “Breath Figure” method, controlled evaporative self-assembly in confined geometries, etc.This book is unique in this regard in providing a wide spectrum of recent experimental and theoretical advances in evaporative self-assembly techniques. The ability to engineer an evaporative self-assembly process that yields a broad range of complex, well-ordered and intriguing structures with small feature sizes composed of polymers of nanocrystals of different size and shapes as well as DNA over large areas offers tremendous potential for applications in electronics, optoelectronics, photonics, sensors, information processing and data storage devices, nanotechnology, high-throughput drug discovery, chemical detection, combinatorical chemistry, and biotechnology.




Soft Machines


Book Description

Enthusiasts look forward to a time when tiny machines reassemble matter and process information but is their vision realistic? 'Soft Machines' explains why the nanoworld is so different to the macro-world that we are all familar with and shows how it has more in common with biology than conventional engineering.




Materials Nanoarchitectonics


Book Description

Materials Nanoarchitectonics: From Integrated Molecular Systems to Advanced Devices provides the latest information on the design and molecular manipulation of self-organized hierarchically structured systems using tailor-made nanoscale materials as structural and functional units. The book is organized into three main sections that focus on molecular design of building blocks and hybrid materials, formation of nanostructures, and applications and devices. Bringing together emerging materials, synthetic aspects, nanostructure strategies, and applications, the book aims to support further progress, by offering different perspectives and a strong interdisciplinary approach to this rapidly growing area of innovation. This is an extremely valuable resource for researchers, advanced students, and scientists in industry, with an interest in nanoarchitectonics, nanostructures, and nanomaterials, or across the areas of nanotechnology, chemistry, surface science, polymer science, electrical engineering, physics, chemical engineering, and materials science. Offers a nanoarchitectonic perspective on emerging fields, such as metal-organic frameworks, porous polymer materials, or biomimetic nanostructures Discusses different approaches to utilizing "soft chemistry" as a source for hierarchically organized materials Offers an interdisciplinary approach to the design and construction of integrated chemical nano systems Discusses novel approaches towards the creation of complex multiscale architectures




Self-assembling Biomaterials


Book Description

Self-assembling biomaterials: molecular design, characterization and application in biology and medicine provides a comprehensive coverage on an emerging area of biomaterials science, spanning from conceptual designs to advanced characterization tools and applications of self-assembling biomaterials, and compiling the recent developments in the field. Molecular self-assembly, the autonomous organization of molecules, is ubiquitous in living organisms and intrinsic to biological structures and function. Not surprisingly, the exciting field of engineering artificial self-assembling biomaterials often finds inspiration in Biology. More important, materials that self-assemble speak the language of life and can be designed to seamlessly integrate with the biological environment, offering unique engineering opportunities in bionanotechnology. The book is divided in five parts, comprising design of molecular building blocks for self-assembly; exclusive features of self-assembling biomaterials; specific methods and techniques to predict, investigate and characterize self-assembly and formed assemblies; different approaches for controlling self-assembly across multiple length scales and the nano/micro/macroscopic properties of biomaterials; diverse range of applications in biomedicine, including drug delivery, theranostics, cell culture and tissue regeneration. Written by researchers working in self-assembling biomaterials, it addresses a specific need within the Biomaterials scientific community. Explores both theoretical and practical aspects of self-assembly in biomaterials Includes a dedicated section on characterization techniques, specific for self-assembling biomaterials Examines the use of dynamic self-assembling biomaterials




Self-Assembly Monolayer Structures of Lipids and Macromolecules at Interfaces


Book Description

Self-assembly monolayer (SAM) structures of lipids and macromolecules have been found to play an important role in many industrial and biological phenomena. This book describes two procedures, namely the STM and AFM, that are used to study SAMs at solid surfaces. K.S. Birdi examines the SAMs at both liquid and solid surfaces by using the Langmuir monolayer method. This book is intended for researchers, academics and professionals.




Protein Self-Assembly


Book Description

This volume explores experimental and computational approaches to measuring the most widely studied protein assemblies, including condensed liquid phases, aggregates, and crystals. The chapters in this book are organized into three parts: Part One looks at the techniques used to measure protein-protein interactions and equilibrium protein phases in dilute and concentrated protein solutions; Part Two describes methods to measure kinetics of aggregation and to characterize the assembled state; and Part Three details several different computational approaches that are currently used to help researchers understand protein self-assembly. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Thorough and cutting-edge, Protein Self-Assembly: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for researchers who are interested in learning more about this developing field.




Self-Assembly


Book Description

An introduction to the state-of-the-art of the diverse self-assembly systems Self-Assembly: From Surfactants to Nanoparticles provides an effective entry for new researchers into this exciting field while also giving the state of the art assessment of the diverse self-assembling systems for those already engaged in this research. Over the last twenty years, self-assembly has emerged as a distinct science/technology field, going well beyond the classical surfactant and block copolymer molecules, and encompassing much larger and complex molecular, biomolecular and nanoparticle systems. Within its ten chapters, each contributed by pioneers of the respective research topics, the book: Discusses the fundamental physical chemical principles that govern the formation and properties of self-assembled systems Describes important experimental techniques to characterize the properties of self-assembled systems, particularly the nature of molecular organization and structure at the nano, meso or micro scales. Provides the first exhaustive accounting of self-assembly derived from various kinds of biomolecules including peptides, DNA and proteins. Outlines methods of synthesis and functionalization of self-assembled nanoparticles and the further self-assembly of the nanoparticles into one, two or three dimensional materials. Explores numerous potential applications of self-assembled structures including nanomedicine applications of drug delivery, imaging, molecular diagnostics and theranostics, and design of materials to specification such as smart responsive materials and self-healing materials. Highlights the unifying as well as contrasting features of self-assembly, as we move from surfactant molecules to nanoparticles. Written for students and academic and industrial scientists and engineers, by pioneers of the research field, Self-Assembly: From Surfactants to Nanoparticles is a comprehensive resource on diverse self-assembly systems, that is simultaneously introductory as well as the state of the art.




Dynamics of Self-Organized and Self-Assembled Structures


Book Description

Describes pattern formation processes and how they can be modeled for graduate-level courses.