SFB 1214: Anisotropic Particles as Building Blocks: Tailoring Shape, Interactions and Structures

自然界提供了大量有趣的例子，这些材料基于不同亚微米相的有序排列而具有优异的性能。因此，骨或木材的非凡弹性来自于不同成分的协同作用。合成物质的类似组织仍然超出了当前的技术水平。一种潜在的解决方案是通过颗粒的组装形成散装固体。颗粒的特征、表面和组装过程最终编码并决定最终固体的内部结构和性质。与研究良好的球形各向同性粒子相比，具有各向异性形状或表面化学的粒子可以创建非常丰富的相互定向相互作用和超结构。相应的能源格局从本质上来说更加复杂，因为邻居之间的相对方向变得至关重要。组装过程可以采取不同的路径，导致由颗粒属性决定的非常不同的超结构。控制颗粒属性(如形状和表面化学)是定制其组装的关键，因为结构各向异性可以编码特定取向的相互作用势。由于这种各向异性同时出现在单个粒子及其超结构的水平上，其含义不仅仅是结构属性，还可能导致具有高度方向性的光学、电、磁或化学属性的材料。这条途径是通过掌握结构各向异性来打开的，以释放功能各向异性的全部潜力。最终，不同粒子组合的结构化组装将为材料提供新的集体性质，大大超过孤立成分的简单叠加。为了利用这种巨大的潜力，控制粒子的各向异性及其相互作用是关键。为了实现这些目标，CRC建立了所需的跨学科专业知识，包括合成、分析和理论，并通过化学家和物理学家的密切合作，建立了软物质和硬物质的联系，以了解和利用结构各向异性控制粒子的功能各向异性，以便在所有尺度(时间、大小和结构)进行量身定制的定向相互作用和分级组装。这包括结构、性质和重要的亚稳态过渡态。通过发展和结合在所有尺度上可操作的实验和理论方法，我们努力了解颗粒形状、表面和相互作用的各向异性在软组装和固体形成中的作用，重点研究合作性质。这将CRC的重点转移到粒子系综及其性质，从而最终转向新的先进的基于粒子的材料。

The natural world offers a plethora of intriguing examples of materials with excellent performance based on ordered arrangements of different submicron phases. Thus, the remarkable resilience of bone or wood arise from synergistic contributions of the different constituents. A comparable organization of synthetic matter is yet beyond the current state of the art. A potential solution is the formation of bulk solids through an assembly of particles. The character, surface and assembly process of the particles ultimately code and determine the internal structure and thus the properties of the final solid. In comparison to their well-studied spherical isotropic counterparts, particles with anisotropic shape or surface chemistry can create an enormously rich variety of mutual directional interactions and superstructures. The corresponding energy landscape is inherently more complex since relative orientations between neighbors become essential. Assembly processes can take various pathways, resulting in very different superstructures determined by the particle properties.Controlling particle attributes such as shape and surface chemistry is the key to tailor their assembly as structural anisotropy can encode orientation-specific interaction potentials. Since such anisotropy arises both on the level of individual particles and their superstructures, the implications are beyond mere structural properties but can also lead to materials with highly directional optical, electronic, magnetic or chemical properties. This route is opened by mastering structural anisotropy to release the full potential of functional anisotropy. Ultimately, a structured assembly of combinations of different particles will provide materials with new collective properties that greatly surpass a simple superposition of the isolated constituents. In order to harness this vast potential, a control of particle anisotropy and their interactions is the key. To reach these goals, the CRC has built up the required interdisciplinary expertise including synthesis, analysis and theory, as well as the connection of soft and hard matter by close cooperation between chemists and physicists to understand and utilize structural anisotropy controlling functional anisotropy of particles for tailored directional interactions and hierarchical assemblies at all scales (time, size and structure). This includes structures, properties and the important metastable transitional states. By development and combination of experimental and theoretical methods, which are operational at all scales, we strive to understand the role of anisotropy of particle shape, surface and interactions in soft assembly and solid formation, with a focus on the investigation of cooperative properties. This moves the CRC focus towards particle ensembles and their properties and thus finally new advanced particle-based materials.