Mesoscopic, templated self-assembly at the fluid-fluid interface

Abstract

This paper demonstrates templated self-assembly-based on capillary forces-of millimeter-scale poly-(dimethylsiloxane) plates suspended at the water-perfluorodecalin interface. The system described abstracts the concept of "templating" from molecular templating and uses it to design millimeter-scale aggregates that self-assemble in ordered structures. This work points the way to new strategies for organizing complex, millimeter-scale structures.