Synthetic active Matter
Challenges and ideas:
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Are there modes of propulsion we have not explored, yet? From the ones we have, which chemical propulsion ( biocatalytic or catalytic) is the most ideal for complex biological media? How do we expect to modify the behavior in complex media?
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Interaction with their surrounding:
How do we expect to modify the behavior of the swimmers in complex media?
How can individual active particles “read” and respond to their environment? Can you tailor collective response different from the individual ones? (even if we study large populations they are still individually guided). Can we have responsive swarms of active particles where the properties emerge only when they are in swarm. -
Beyond synthetic swimmers: can we harness what we have learned in designing active particles to program self-assembly? How is this communication among single units of the self-assembled structure happening?