Autonomous mesoscale positioning emerging from myelin filament self-organization and Marangoni flows

Arno Weijden, Mitch Winkens, Sandra M. C. Schoenmakers, Wilhelm T. S. Huck and Peter A. Korevaar ()
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Arno Weijden: Radboud University
Mitch Winkens: Radboud University
Sandra M. C. Schoenmakers: Radboud University
Wilhelm T. S. Huck: Radboud University
Peter A. Korevaar: Radboud University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Out-of-equilibrium molecular systems hold great promise as dynamic, reconfigurable matter that executes complex tasks autonomously. However, translating molecular scale dynamics into spatiotemporally controlled phenomena emerging at mesoscopic scale remains a challenge—especially if one aims at a design where the system itself maintains gradients that are required to establish spatial differentiation. Here, we demonstrate how surface tension gradients, facilitated by a linear amphiphile molecule, generate Marangoni flows that coordinate the positioning of amphiphile source and drain droplets floating at air-water interfaces. Importantly, at the same time, this amphiphile leads, via buckling instabilities in lamellar systems of said amphiphile, to the assembly of millimeter long filaments that grow from the source droplets and get absorbed at the drain droplets. Thereby, the Marangoni flows and filament organization together sustain the autonomous positioning of interconnected droplet-filament networks at the mesoscale. Our concepts provide potential for the development of non-equilibrium matter with spatiotemporal programmability.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18555-w

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