Convective assembly
Using fluid flow, often driven by evaporation, to transport and organize particles into ordered structures.
Research
Mass Transfer
The transport of matter. Controlling particle dynamics and interactions to direct colloidal assembly and collective behavior.
Directed assembly
Directed assembly uses external fields or spatial constraints to guide building blocks into organized structures. Controlling their positions, orientations, and interactions enables the design of materials with tunable structures and functions.
Interfacial assembly
Using interfaces between different phases to confine particles and guide their organization.
Magnetic assembly
Using magnetic fields to control particle orientation and interactions, forming organized structures.
Electric assembly
Using electric fields to direct particle motion and interactions, forming organized structures.
Key toolbox elements
Related work
“Hierarchical fractal assemblies from dual-anisotropic building blocks fabricated via magnetic field-assisted thermo-mechanical deformation”
Chaos Solitons & Fractals (2026), 209, 118461
“Sequence-Encoded Colloidal Origami and Microbot Assemblies from Patchy Magnetic Cubes”
Science Advances (2017), 3, e1701108
“Capillary Bridging as a Tool for Assembling Discrete Clusters of Patchy Particles”
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2016), 138, 14948
“Supraparticle formation … ”
In preparation
Collective dynamics
Collective dynamics describes how interactions among individual units give rise to coordinated motion and group behavior, forming patterns such as swarms, vortices, and moving chains. External fields can tune these interactions to direct collective motion and induce transitions between different dynamic states.
Key toolbox elements
Related work
“Field-Driven Out-of-Equilibrium Collective Patterns for Swarm Micro-Robotics”
ACS Nano (2025), 19, 16248
“From Deterministic to Adaptive Magnetic Micro-Robots”
NPG Asia Materials (2026), in press
“Manipulation of Self-Organized Multi-Vortical States in Active Magnetic Roller Suspensions”
Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (2024), 589, 171625
“Globally Correlated States and Control of Vortex Lattices in Active Roller Fluids”
Physical Review Research (2023), 5, 023040
“Programmable Chiral States in Flocks of Active Magnetic Rollers”
Lab on a Chip (2021), 21, 215
“Emergence and Dynamics of Unconfined Self-Organized Vortices in Active Magnetic Roller Liquids”
Soft Matter (2021), 17, 10536
“Emergence of Self-Organized Multi-Vortex States in Flocks of Active Rollers”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020), 117, 9706
“Reconfigurable Structure and Tunable Transport in Synchronized Active Spinner Materials”
Science Advances (2020), 6, eaaz8535
“Scalable micro-robots … ”
In preparation (invited)
Drug delivery
Drug delivery involve incorporating therapeutic cargo into carriers and transporting it to desired locations. Controlling carrier properties and interactions enables cargo encapsulation, retention, and release. External fields can provide additional control over loading and transport, offering new strategies for targeted delivery.
Controlled formulation
Tuning mixing and molecular interactions to guide the formation of organized structures.
Cargo loading
Incorporating therapeutic molecules into carriers through controlled membrane permeabilization.
Targeted delivery
Guiding cargo-loaded carriers to specific locations for localized delivery.
Key toolbox elements
Related work
“Effect of Buffer Conductivity and Osmolality on Electroporation-Mediated Drug Loading into Milk-Derived Extracellular Vesicles”
Macromolecular Research (2026), in press
“Controlled Adhesion, Membrane Pinning and Vesicle Transport by Janus Particles”
Chemical Communications (2022), 58, 3055
“Hierarchical Protein Nano-crystalline Hydrogel with Extracellular Vesicles for Ectopic Lymphoid Structure Formation”
Biomaterials (2025), 318, 123166
“Continuous electroporation … ”
Submitted
“Continuous isolation of … ”
Under review
“Micro-Mixer Integrated Continuous Flow Electroporation Platform and Method for Loading Materials using the Same”
KR Patent Application (2026), No. 10-2026-0123605