Many natural micrometre-scale assemblies can be actuated to control their optical, transport and mechanical properties, yet such functionality is lacking in colloidal structures synthesized thus far. Here, we show with experiments and computer simulations that Janus ellipsoids can self-assemble into self-limiting one-dimensional fibres with shape-memory properties, and that the fibrillar assemblies can be actuated on application of an external alternating-current electric field. Actuation of the fibres occurs through a sliding mechanism that permits the rapid and reversible elongation and contraction of the Janus-ellipsoid chains by ~36% and that on long timescales leads to the generation of long, uniform self-assembled fibres. Colloidal-scale actuation might be useful in microrobotics and in applications of shape-memory materials.

DC electric fields are used to produce colloidal assemblies with orientational and layered positional order from a dilute suspension of spheroidal particles. These 3D assemblies, which can be visualized in situ by confocal microscopy, are achieved in short time spans (t < 1 h) by the application of a constant voltage across the capacitor-like device. This method yields denser and more ordered assemblies than had been previously reported with other assembly methods. Structures with a high degree of orientational order as well as layered positional order normal to the electrode surface are observed. These colloidal structures are explained as a consequence of electrophoretic deposition and field-assisted assembly. The interplay between the deposition rate and the rotational Brownian motion is found to be critical for the optimal ordering, which occurs when these rates, as quantified by the Peclet number, are of order one. The results suggest that the mechanism leading to ordering is equilibrium self-assembly but with kinetics dramatically accelerated by the application of the DC electric field. Finally, the crystalline symmetry of the densest structure formed is determined and compared with previously studied spheroidal assemblies.

We report the application of low-voltage direct current (dc) electric fields to self-assemble close-packed colloidal crystals in nonaqueous solvents from colloidal spheres that vary in size from as large as 1.2 μm to as small as 0.1 μm. The assemblies are created rapidly (∼2 min) from an initially low volume fraction colloidal particle suspension using a simple capacitor-like electric field device that applies a steady dc electric voltage. Confocal microscopy is used to observe the ordering that is produced by the assembly method. This spatial evidence for ordering is consistent with the 6-fold diffraction patterns identified by light scattering. Red, green, and blue structural color is observed for the ordered assemblies of colloids with diameters of 0.50, 0.40, and 0.29 μm, respectively, consistent with spectroscopic measurements of reflectance. The diffraction and spectrophotometry results were found to be consistent with the theoretical Bragg's scattering expected for closed-packed crystals. By switching the dc electric field from on to off, we demonstrate reversibility of the structural color response on times scales ∼60 s. The dc electric field assembly method therefore represents a simple method to produce reversible structural color in colloidal soft matter.