Complex structures in nature are often composed of elemental subunits, which are not mounted together by an intelligent designer, instead they spontaneously self-assemble based on protocols 'coded' in each subunit. Taking inspiration form the nature and use self-assembly in man-made systems is a tempting alternative to current manufacture routines, relying mainly on direct ‘pick and place’ techniques. Numerous functional self-assembling systems were reported at supramolecular and even colloidal scale. At larger lengthscales, however, utilization of self-assembly as a construction approach is scarce, mainly due to the absence of thermal motion of micro/macroscaled building blocks. We aim to exploit the methods of microscale self-assembly for construction of ordered structures and subsequently use these as self-assembled artificial tissues and as self-assembled robots.
Figure: Microgel discs 100 micron in diameter, assembled into ordered hexagonal sheet.