Dancing performance of organic droplets in aqueous surfactant solutions

Čejková, Jitka; Schwarzenberger, Karin; Eckert, Kerstin; Tanaka, Shinpei

doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2019.01.027

Cited by 29 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“… 37 To minimize the air–water interfacial area, floating objects with menisci of equal sign attract one another, a phenomenon known as the “Cheerios effect” which enables the self-organization of floating objects. 23 , 38 , 39 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Organization Emerging from Marangoni and Elastocapillary Effects Directed by Amphiphile Filament Connections

Winkens¹,

Korevaar²

2022

Langmuir

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Self-organization of meso- and macroscale structures is a highly active research field that exploits a wide variety of physicochemical phenomena, including surface tension, Marangoni flow, and (elasto)capillary effects. The release of surface-active compounds generates Marangoni flows that cause repulsion, whereas capillary forces attract floating particles via the Cheerios effect. Typically, the interactions resulting from these effects are nonselective because the gradients involved are uniform. In this work, we unravel the mechanisms involved in the self-organization of amphiphile filaments that connect and attract droplets floating at the air–water interface, and we demonstrate their potential for directional gradient formation and thereby selective interaction. We simulate Marangoni flow patterns resulting from the release and depletion of amphiphile molecules by source and drain droplets, respectively, and we predict that these flow patterns direct the growth of filaments from the source droplets toward specific drain droplets, based on their amphiphile depletion rate. The interaction between such droplets is then investigated experimentally by charting the flow patterns in their surroundings, while the role of filaments in source–drain attraction is studied using microscopy. Based on these observations, we attribute attraction of drain droplets and even solid objects toward the source to elastocapillary effects. Finally, the insights from our simulations and experiments are combined to construct a droplet-based system in which the composition of drain droplets regulates their ability to attract filaments and as a consequence be attracted toward the source. Thereby, we provide a novel method through which directional attraction can be established in synthetic self-organizing systems and advance our understanding of how complexity arises from simple building blocks.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Organization Emerging from Marangoni and Elastocapillary Effects Directed by Amphiphile Filament Connections

Winkens¹,

Korevaar²

2022

Langmuir

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“…Motion of droplets induced by the dissolution of droplets has also been demonstrated [39][40][41][42][43] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Photoinduced Collective Motion of Oil Droplets and Concurrent Pattern Formation in Surfactant Solution

Kojima

Kitahata

Asakura

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Collective motion is ubiquitous in living systems. Although various biomimetic artificial systems have been constructed, there have been few studies reported on collective motion induced by the coupling of chemical reactions, diffusion and convection in a far-from-equilibrium state. In this study, we report an artificial system of oil droplets in a surfactant solution wherein the collective motion of multiple droplets and pattern formation occurred concurrently. Using photo-responsive surfactants with an azobenzene moiety, the assembly of droplets and the formation of circular patterns around the formed droplet clusters occurred under UV illumination, whereas the disassembly of droplets and disappearance of the patterns occurred under subsequent visible light illumination. The observed dynamics were induced by Marangoni flows based on the reversible photoisomerisation of azobenzene-containing surfactants. The phenomena were considered analogous to the bioconvection of microorganisms. These findings could be useful for understanding the mechanism of motion of life in terms of physicochemical aspects.

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“…On the other hand, some researchers want to prepare particles with life-like properties that can mimic the behaviour of living cells, although without the ability to self-replicate or evolve. Such objects can move in their environment [52,53], selectively exchange molecules with their surrounding in response to a local change in temperature or concentration, chemically process those molecules and either accumulate or release the product, change their shape [54,55] and behave collectively [56,57]. Such synthetically made objects can find the application for example as smart drug delivery vehicles that can release medicine in-situ.…”

Section: Wet Alifementioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial life: sustainable self-replicating systems

Gershenson¹,

Čejková²

2021

Preprint

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Nature has found one method of organizing living matter, but maybe there are also other options -not yet discovered -on how to create life. To study the life as it could be is the objective of an interdisciplinary field called Artificial Life (commonly abbreviated as ALife) [1,2,3]. The word "artificial" refers to the fact that humans are involved in the creation process. The results might be completely unlike natural forms of life, not only because of their chemical composition, but even some computer programs exhibiting life-like behaviours interest ALife researchers.ALife was established at the first "Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems" in Los Alamos in 1987 by Christopher G. Langton [4]. ALife is a radically interdisciplinary field that contains computer scientists, physicians, chemists, biologists, engineers, roboticists, philosophers, artists, and representatives from many other disciplines. There are several approaches to defining ALife research. One ALife sorting could be into soft, hard and wet (Figure 1). "Soft" ALife is aiming to create simulations or other purely digital constructions exhibiting life-like behaviour. "Hard" ALife is related to robotics and implements life-like systems in hardware made mainly from silicon, steel and plastic. "Wet" ALife uses all kinds of chemicals to synthesize life-like systems in the laboratory.M. Bedau, et al. [5] proposed 14 open problems in ALife in the year 2000, but none of them have been solved yet. W. Aguilar, et al.

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Dancing performance of organic droplets in aqueous surfactant solutions

Cited by 29 publications

References 28 publications

Self-Organization Emerging from Marangoni and Elastocapillary Effects Directed by Amphiphile Filament Connections

Self-Organization Emerging from Marangoni and Elastocapillary Effects Directed by Amphiphile Filament Connections

Photoinduced Collective Motion of Oil Droplets and Concurrent Pattern Formation in Surfactant Solution

Artificial life: sustainable self-replicating systems

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