title: Mechanical tweezer action by self-tightening knots in surfactant nanotubes.
abstract: Entanglements and trefoil knots on surfactant nanotubes in the liquid phase were produced by a combination of network self-organization and micromanipulation. The resulting knots are self-tightening, and the tightening is driven by minimization of surface free energy of the surfactant membrane material. The formation of the knot and the steady-state knot at quasi-equilibrium can be directly followed and localized by using fluorescence microscopy. Knots on nanotubes can be used as nanoscale mechanical tweezers for trapping and manipulation of single nano- and micrometer-sized high-aspect ratio objects. Furthermore, we demonstrate that by controlling the surface tension, objects captured by a knot can be transported along given trajectories defined by the nanotube axes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry and Microtechnology Centre, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tatsiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lobovkina
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dommersnes
authors.forename: Jean-Francois
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Joanny
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bassereau
authors.forename: Mattias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: Owe
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Orwar
mesh_terms: D005453:Fluorescence; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D013025:Glycine max; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D013501:Surface-Active Agents