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The organized assembly of particles into superstructures is typically governed by specific molecular interactions or external directing factors associated with the particle building blocks, both of which are particle-dependent. These superstructures are of interest to a variety of fields because of their distinct mechanical, electronic, magnetic and optical properties. Here, we establish a facile route to a diverse range of superstructures based on the polyphenol surface-functionalization of micro- and nanoparticles, nanowires, nanosheets, nanocubes and even cells. This strategy can be used to access a large number of modularly assembled superstructures, including core-satellite, hollow and hierarchically organized supraparticles. Colloidal-probe atomic force microscopy and molecular dynamics simulations provide detailed insights into the role of surface functionalization and how this facilitates superstructure construction. Our work provides a platform for the rapid generation of superstructured assemblies across a wide range of length scales, from nanometres to centimetres.

The understanding of static interactions in colloidal suspensions is well established, whereas dynamic interactions more relevant to biological and other suspended soft-matter systems are less well understood. We present the direct force measurement and quantitative theoretical description for dynamic forces for liquid droplets in another immiscible fluid. Analysis of this system demonstrates the strong link between interfacial deformation, static surface forces, and hydrodynamic drainage, which govern dynamic droplet-droplet interactions over the length scale of nanometers and over the time scales of Brownian collisions. The results and analysis have direct bearing on the control and manipulation of suspended droplets in soft-matter systems ranging from the emulsions in shampoo to cellular interactions.

The interaction between moving bubbles, vapor voids in liquid, can arguably represent the simplest dynamical system in continuum mechanics as only a liquid and its vapor phase are involved. Surprisingly, and perhaps because of the ephemeral nature of bubbles, there has been no direct measurement of the time-dependent force between colliding bubbles which probes the effects of surface deformations and hydrodynamic flow on length scales down to nanometers. Using ultrasonically generated microbubbles (∼100 μm size) that have been accurately positioned in an atomic force microscope, we have made direct measurements of the force between two bubbles in water under controlled collision conditions that are similar to Brownian particles in solution. The experimental results together with detailed modeling reveal the nature of hydrodynamic boundary conditions at the air/water interface, the importance of the coupling of hydrodynamic flow, attractive van der Waals-Lifshitz forces, and bubble deformation in determining the conditions and mechanisms that lead to bubble coalescence. The observed behavior differs from intuitions gained from previous studies conducted using rigid particles. These direct force measurements reveal no specific ion effects at high ionic strengths or any special role of thermal fluctuations in film thickness in triggering the onset of bubble coalescence.bubble collision | colloidal forces | hydrodynamic interaction | soft matter | thin films B ubble dynamics has attracted scientific interest since the time of Leonardo da Vinci (1), yet the observation that some simple salts can prevent bubble coalescence at high concentrations whereas others cannot remains unexplained even after over a decade of systematic study (2). In themselves, bubble-bubble interactions are very important because they feature in diverse situations, from the basis of the bends in deep-sea divers, to the development of effective ultrasonic imaging contrast agents, through to enhancing the quality of champagne. However, the delicate and ephemeral nature of bubbles poses significant technical challenges to the precise quantification of the force-displacement characteristics of bubble collisions.As a vapor phase in a liquid, the interaction between bubbles should be amenable to a simple explanation in terms of basic physical and chemical principles. A detailed understanding of the interaction between moving bubbles can provide the foundation on which to study the fundamental coupling between forces and deformations that defines the dynamic interaction on the nanoscale between soft-matter materials, such as bubbles, drops, emulsions, biological cells, soft tissues, and gels. Here we report direct measurements of the dynamic force between two deformable microbubbles in water under a variety of accurately controlled collision protocols. The typical collision velocities are in the regime of Brownian particles of comparable dimensions. The experimental conditions are such that only attractive van der Waals-Lifshitz forces and hydrodynami...