H2020Индивидуална стипендия2015–2017

PFCCMS · Pattern Formation in Catalytic Colloidal Microswimmers

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2015-04-01 → 2017-03-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 183 455 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Микроскопични частици и клетки се движат в течност, като реагират на химични сигнали от околните, подобно на някои биологични клетки. Разбирането на тези процеси помага при създаването на активни материали, които се самоорганизират в определени структури.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Pattern Formation in Catalytic Colloidal Microswimmers

Chemical signalling among cells is responsible for many of the fascinating self-organization processes observed in the biological world. Some Dictyostelium cells for example, can excrete certain chemicals which other Dictyostelium cells can "smell". These other Dictyostelium cells feel attracted by the smell of the chemicals and move towards the former ones, leading to aggregation or clustering. Very recently, it has become possible to design micrometer small synthetic particles which are able to "swim" through a fluid due to chemical reactions taking place predominantly on half of their surface. These reactions lead to an accumulation of certain molecules on the reactive side of the particle and ultimately lead to its motion through a fluid. Similar to Dictyostelium cells, these synthetic swimmers can effectively smell the chemicals produced by other swimmers and sometimes move towards them, which can lead to their aggregation and the formation of clusters. (The 'smelling' occurs because the synthetic particles do not only swim due to the reactions on their own surfaces, but also due to reactions produced by other ones) The aim of the present project was to develop a new description for such signalling particles (both biological and synthetic ones) to uncover novel routes to aggregation and pattern formation in microswimmers with chemical interactions. In the framework of the present action, we have successfully developed a description for signalling microswimmers. Conversely to previous studies which have suggested pattern formation scenarios in cases where microswimmers attract each other, we have uncovered a novel route to pattern formation applying to microswimmers migrating away from each other. Our route might be relevant for the self-assembly of active material or may shed new light on the collective behaviour of biological microorganisms.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Self-propelled particles such as bacteria, or 'Janus colloids' partially coated with catalyst, consume energy from their environment and convert it into systematic motion. Interacting ensembles of these particles compose so-called active matter which is intrinsically driven out of thermodynamic equilibrium. This allows for a rich and unusual phenomenology that includes condensation and phase separation in systems with purely repulsive interactions; giant density fluctuations; and various types of self-organized structure formation whose origin lies beyond the equilibrium principle of entropy maximization (free energy minimization). In PFCCMS we propose a novel theoretical study of activity-induced pattern formation with active colloids, addressing the interplay of an anisotropic production of chemicals at the colloidal surfaces and a chemotactic coupling of the particles to the resulting chemical gradients. Careful inclusion of noise within our coarse grained descriptions will enrich the emerging self-organized spatiotemporal structures with phenomena based on nucleation and topological defects. Our findings are expected to inform design principles for activity-induced self-organization of soft materials; we also plan to link them with the physics of gene-surfing and the spatiotemporal organization of bacterial colonies.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH · EdinburghКоординаторОбединеното кралство