Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research talk*

Colloidal self-assembly today is increasingly focused on the development of particles that mimic atomic properties. Atoms serve as inspiration for what simple but ideal building blocks are capable of, and through the mastery of relatively few design principles, such as directionality, valence, and well-defined bonds, many target architectures become rationally accessible. A colloidal diamond lattice, for example, theoretically operates as an exotic semiconductor for light, and is just now becoming available through molecular mimetic routes. Myriad syntheses have been developed to accomplish this by targeting specific geometries and surface patterns, which serve to direct assembly. In this talk, I will break down and categorize the wide selection of colloidal reactions available by using an analogy to synthetic chemistry, helping to index and navigate the ever-expanding colloidal toolbox. Beginning with elementary colloidal particles, I will define the set of directions synthetic routes can take, firstly, through inter-particle reactions, which combine disparate particles into new well-defined units and secondly through intra-particle reactions, which occur through a particle’s internal transformation. I will also discuss the most prominent colloidal interactions available for assembly, and which are most useful for a given synthetic route. Today, long-sought-after target structures are just coming to fruition, so it is an ideal time in the colloidal community to examine the most efficient ways to generate particles and how to make them assemble. Drawing from many fields including colloid and surface chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, biochemistry, and photonics, molecular mimetic colloids represent a point of interest for any materials scientist.