Advanced Manufacturing via Diffusion-Guided Morphogenesis
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We investigate how structure can emerge from controlled transport processes in soft materials. By harnessing diffusion, gelation, and interfacial phenomena, we create materials that self-organize into architected forms without relying on conventional molds or subtractive machining.
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By coupling transport phenomena with elasticity and interfacial mechanics, we aim to establish a new fabrication paradigm in which structure is generated from within. These principles open pathways toward scalable manufacturing of soft reactors, adaptive conduits, and architected energy substrates.
Fluid-Templated Structured Colloidal Materials
I. Soft Dendritic Microparticles
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We developed a new class of hierarchically branched polymer microparticles fabricated via turbulent shear–induced precipitation. Under highly turbulent flow, polymer phase separation produces fractal, dendritic structures surrounded by nanofibrillar coronas.
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This unique morphology enables dense contact splitting, leading to strong, gecko-inspired van der Waals adhesion. In suspension, the large excluded volume and fibrillar entanglement allow ultra-efficient gelation at very low volume fractions, outperforming conventional particle-based rheology modifiers.
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By linking turbulence, fractal morphology, and interfacial mechanics, this work introduces a scalable platform for designing soft materials with exceptional adhesion and structuring capabilities, with potential applications in coatings, non-wovens, filtration, and soft composites.
II. Programmable Electro-Optic Soft Composites
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We demonstrated that liquid crystal (LC)-templated nanofiber forests (NFFs) can mechanically couple with LCs to create soft composites with programmable responses to electric fields.
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Using chemical vapor polymerization (CVP), bent polymer nanofibers (≈74 nm in diameter, ≈19 µm in length) were grown within nematic LC films, thereby templating their in-plane organization. Because the elastic energies of the nanofibers and the LC are comparable, reorientation of the LC under an applied electric field transmits mechanical torque to the fibers, leading to reversible fiber straining and reshaping.
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This strain sharing produces complex and reversible electro-optic responses, including azimuthal reorientation and rotation of optical extinction bands in spiral configurations. Mechanical modeling confirms that fiber deformation arises primarily from LC elasticity rather than direct electrical forcing.
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This work establishes a new strategy for programming dynamic shape and optical responses in soft materials by balancing elasticity, anchoring, and nanoscale geometry — offering pathways toward advanced electro-optic devices and soft actuators
Liquid Crystal and Active Soft Matter
I. Bistable and Biphasic Liquid Crystalline Emulsion
EHD flow driven emulsification
Soliton induced coalescence
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We discovered a biphasic liquid system composed of an isotropic oil and a liquid crystal that exhibits fully reversible, long-lived shape transformations between two distinct microdomain states.
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In its thermodynamic ground state, the isotropic oil forms stable planar wetting films, yielding a highly transparent optical sheet (~99% transmittance at 600 nm). Upon brief application (<1 s) of a low-frequency electric field (10 Hz), the film transforms into a long-lived emulsion of spherical droplets stabilized by topological defects in the liquid crystal, producing strong light scattering and opacity.
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Remarkably, applying a high-frequency electric field (1 kHz) generates solitons within the liquid crystal that mediate rapid (<3 s) droplet coalescence, restoring the original wetting film state.
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Both optical states persist without continuous power input, enabling reversible switching between transparent and opaque states.
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This work establishes a new principle for shape-memory behavior in fluids, linking electrohydrodynamics, liquid crystal topology, and soliton-mediated kinetics, and opens opportunities in smart windows, adaptive optics, reconfigurable emulsions, and dynamic soft materials.
Responsive and High-Entropy Soft Systems