Using Assembly Guided by Particle Position and Shape to Build Advanced Microactuators Modulated by DNA Origami

• Applicant: Joseph Tavacoli Khalkhali, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics ; Automation, Mechatronics, Control Systems, Intelligent Technical Systems, Robotics ; Experimental Condensed Matter Physics ; Microsystems
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 394775225

Recently, a new method that uses the bespoke shape and pre-position position of micron-scaled superparamagnetic particles to guide self-assembly has emerged. Christened APPS (Assembly Guided by Particle Position and Shape), the technique is particularly suited to the building of microstructures that exhibit complex and controllable actuation on the granular/colloidal scale and that therefore have application in advanced microrobotics.However, APPS is still in its infancy and the aim of this proposal is to develop it to a point where it can be employed to make such functional microstructures of choice. To achieve this grand goal, two sets of design rules are required. The first connecting the shape and pre-position of particles to the design of architectures they form and the second relating architecture design, itself, to actuation performance.This project sets out to establish the first set of these rules by structurally categorizing architectures assembled from a large range of bespoke and systematically-altered particle shapes and patterns. To ascertain the second set of rules, the actuation performance of systematically altered architecture designs, built by applying the first set, will be characterized and categorized. Moreover, flexibility of the architectures will be ensured through the use of tailor-made DNA (DNA origami) linkers between their parts and the effect of linker design on actuation performance will also be explored. Hence, architecture, on the nano and microscale, will be connected to actuation performance to build actuators with exceptional performance on the micron scale.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Tim Liedl