HEИндивидуална стипендия2023–2026

brightLINK · Light-induced macroscopic assembly under dissipative conditions: communication between artificial swimmers

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

Период: 2023-09-01 → 2026-08-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 265 099 €
Участници: 2
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Микроскопични меки машини се движат чрез светлина и обменят химически сигнали чрез специални хидрогели. Това помага за създаването на прецизни системи за доставка на вещества и интелигентни повърхности с минимален разход на енергия.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

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

Резултати накратко

Light-induced macroscopic assembly under dissipative conditions: communication between artificial swimmers

How can we build tiny, soft machines that move and coordinate without batteries, wires or complex electronics? This project explores materials that convert light into motion and motion into chemical messages to create simple, life‑like behaviours. The scientific need is two-fold: (i) light‑powered locomotion at small scales, and (ii) ways for soft devices to store, send, and receive information through their environment. These capabilities matter for future lab‑on‑a‑chip, smart surfaces, a top-down approach for controlling chemical reactions, and targeted release systems where devices must work safely, precisely, and with minimal energy. The project’s objectives are: (1) design and fabricate photo‑responsive soft walkers—miniature structures that bend and walk under controlled light; (2) engineer functional hydrogels that act as a “chemical message bus,” storing and transporting molecules on demand; (3) couple walkers and hydrogels so that motion can trigger, route and time chemical signals across space; and, overall, extract general design rules (materials, geometry, illumination) that others can reuse. During the first phase, we achieved light‑driven walking on surfaces (a walker rather than the initially envisioned swimmer) and established hydrogel thin film platforms for controllable reaction diffusion capabilities. By turning light into coordinated function at the micro‑ to mesoscale, the project advances soft robotics and responsive materials. Expected impacts include cleaner actuation (light as an external, on‑demand input), programmable communication between devices, and reusable protocols and datasets to accelerate innovation. These outcomes support broader priorities on sustainable, digitised technologies by enabling precise control of materials and processes with low-footprint methods.

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

Цел на проекта

Nature exploits transient self-assembled architectures that require a continuous input of energy to express functional properties across length scales. The development of synthetic mimics of such non-equilibrium systems provides access to innovative materials with life-like properties, which respond to external stimuli while adapting their structure. However, the production of macroscopic building blocks that self-assemble under dissipative conditions to display emergent functionalities remains an ongoing challenge. This multidisciplinary project aims to create a macroscopic self-assembling system that shows communication between the constituent artificial building blocks under dissipative conditions. In particular, swimmers that self-assemble under light irradiation are exploited as a minimalistic model of responsive macroscopic matter with dissipative characteristics. Light induces the swimmer locomotion, concomitantly providing energy to allow the anchoring between them. Thanks to a reaction-diffusion network, a successful connection is signalled by fluorescence emission confined at the interface of the interlinked swimmers. Due to the nonequilibrium state, the fluorescence is maintained when light is removed and the assembled structure slowly relaxes back to individual entities (no emission). Upon re-establishing the illumination, the cycle is repeated. These results make a leap from passive building blocks to dynamic molecular systems to macroscopic functional matter with embedded networks. This MSCA project will be performed at the Aizenberg and Prins groups, where I will enrich his scientific background with acquired knowledge in adaptive materials and dissipative systems. Moreover, I will improve my leadership, management and teaching skills with the proposed training activities and by closely working with both Supervisors. Ultimately, this MSCA will allow me to become an established researcher in a highly competitive scientific environment.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA · PadovaКоординаторИталия
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE · CambridgeСъединени щати