From Compartmentalized Colloids to Stimuli-Responsive Materials

Electrohydrodynamic co-jetting is a simple, scalable, yet flexible fabrication method that can lead to multicompartmental particles. Using a biomimetic approach, we have designed actively responding microparticles that sense changes in their local chemical environment or respond in the form of bending movement.

Compartmentalized particles and fibers are uniquely suited to combine synergetic sets of properties. The ability to co-locate materials with orthogonal properties within close proximity enables chemical synergy and opens a broad design space for engineering of multifunctional materials. A range of microactuators as well as other examples of responsive materials, which are enabled by compartmentalization, will be discussed in this presentation.

For example, we have also developed stimuli-responsive magnetoactive Janus particles (MAJP) with a wide variety of programmable functions. Appropriately designed MAJPs undergo fully reversible switching and can thus enable programmable dynamic display, non-volatile and semi-volatile memory, Boolean logic, and information encryption functions in soft, wearable devices. MAJPs display a range of distinct swarming behaviors with potential applications as reconfigurable display devices.

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