Non-Equilibrium Self-Assembly of Monocomponent and Multicomponent Tubular Structures in Rotating Fluids

Abstract

When suspended in a denser rotating fluid, lighter particles experience a cylindrically symmetric confining potential that drives their crystallization into either monocomponent or unprecedented binary tubular packing. These assemblies form around the fluid's axis of rotation, can be dynamically interconverted (upon accelerating or decelerating the fluid), can exhibit preferred chirality, and can be made permanent by solidifying the fluid. The assembly can be extended to fluids forming multiple concentric interfaces or to systems of bubbles forming both ordered and "gradient" structures within curable polymers.

Lighter particles immersed in a denser fluid experience a cylindrically symmetric confining potential. Under the action of this potential, the particles organize into various non-equilibrium tubular structures that can be made permanent by gelating or polymerizing the fluid phase. The tubular structures can exhibit preferred chirality and can undergo dynamic phase transitions when the rotation speed of the fluid is changed.

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