Customizing mesoscale self-assembly with three-dimensional printing

Self-assembly due to capillary forces is a common method for generating two-dimensional mesoscale structures from identical floating particles at the liquid-air interface. Designing building blocks to obtain a desired mesoscopic structure is a scientific challenge. We show herein that it is possible...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New journal of physics 2014-02, Vol.16 (2), p.23013-9
Main Authors: Poty, M, Lumay, G, Vandewalle, N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capillarity
Composing
Customizing
Low cost
Multipoles
Particles (of physics)
Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences
Physics
Physique
Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre
Printers
Self assembly
Three dimensional printing
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Description
Summary:Self-assembly due to capillary forces is a common method for generating two-dimensional mesoscale structures from identical floating particles at the liquid-air interface. Designing building blocks to obtain a desired mesoscopic structure is a scientific challenge. We show herein that it is possible to shape the particles with a low cost three-dimensional printer, for composing specific mesoscopic structures. Our method is based on the creation of capillary multipoles inducing either attractive or repulsive forces. Since capillary interactions can be downscaled, our method opens new paths toward low cost microfabrication.
ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/16/2/023013