Self-healing colloidal crystals.
Healing hands: A complex interplay between colloidal and polymeric energetics in microgel self-assembly behavior results in soft colloidal assemblies with self-healing properties. Repulsive soft spheres can adopt highly compressed conformations in colloidal crystalline lattices without directly contacting the nearest neighbors (see picture). This distant action is directly responsible for the self-healing of the assemblies.
Iyer
Ashlee St John
AS
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0400, USA.
Lyon
L Andrew
LA
D000178:Acrylamides / Q000737:chemistry*; D000180:Acrylic Resins; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D003460:Crystallization; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation
D000178:Acrylamides; D000180:Acrylic Resins; D003102:Colloids; D005782:Gels; D011108:Polymers; C052970:poly-N-isopropylacrylamide