Chemical Sciences Seminars

Buoyant Microcapsules: Simple motility to Complex Autonomous Behavior

by Dr. PAVAN KUMAR B.V.V.S (University of Bristol, UK)

Wednesday, May 1, 2019 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at AG-69
Description
Nature has always been a great source of inspiration for the design of artificial materials with improved hierarchical organization, superior properties and smart functions. In this age of artificial intelligence and smart systems, chemists are increasingly looking to design active and adaptive materials taking inspiration from the various biological processes and their self-regulatory mechanisms which make ‘life’ possible. In this talk, I will illustrate with an example of a microcapsule with an entrapped gas bubble whose motility is governed by buoyancy forces, how we can design complex autonomous behavior into relatively simple systems. Our results show that microcapsules can be propelled by an active control of buoyancy forces and this buoyant motility can be used to trigger chemical reactions, simulate self-sorting behavior in microcapsule communities and achieve complex oscillatory motility.
 
References:
 
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     Nat. Nanotechnol. 2016, 11, 585.
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     Higher-order Behaviour in Model Protocell Communities by Artificial Phagocytosis,
     Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, DOI: 10.1002/ange.201901469.