--Photo taken in Dec 2023 at HIT (Shenzhen)
哈尔滨工业大学(深圳),王威课题组
Wei Wang Research Group
Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
深圳市南山区西丽大学城哈工大校区G栋908, 邮编518055
Email:[email protected] , Twitter: @HitszWang
B站账号:HITSZ-WangLab
Exploring Active, Smart and Biomimetic Materials at Micro- and Nanoscales
微纳米尺度的活性、智能、仿生材料
Nature is vast, deep, beautiful yet complex. It is almost impossible to stare at the greatest show of strength, color, speeds and adaptability without being flooded with a sense of wonder, excitement and inspiration. In our group, we are especially curious with nature’s grand shows staged at the micro and nanoscale. A drop of water appears peaceful macroscopically, but is in fact buzzing with activity under a microscope. How do microorganisms such as bacteria and cells live, talk and organize? Where does their group intelligence come from, and what does it lead to? Do we need life for all these activities to emerge, or can they be reproduced with synthetic, dead materials?
It is these interesting questions that fuel our exploration. In our lab, we are primarily focused on synthetic microswimmers (aka. micromotors or active colloids), especially those powered by chemical reactions. A moving micromotor is in many ways similar to living bacteria (such as E coli), and serves as both a good model system to study active matter, and a base from which future microrobots can be built. Furthermore, depending on how these micromotors are powered, they could interact with each other as well as their environments via electrostatics, electrokinetics, hydrodynamics, and their combinations. Finally, a large population of micromotors, just like their biological counterparts, could exhibit fascinating and complex collective behaviors, ranging from schooling and swarming, to non-linear behaviors such as waves and synchronization. A single micromotor is often negligibly simple compared to a living microorganism, but moving from one to many micromotors unveils hidden layers of complexity that are awesome.
There are two answers to the popular question “why should anyone care about these things”. The first one is that micromotors, or synthetic microswimmers, are a kind of active, smart and biomimetic materials that are fun to watch, interesting to learn, and fascinating to discover. There are so many things unknown with these tiny particles, and many surprises along the way of exploration. To explorers like us, the simple joy of discovering is a reward as good as any. The other answer is perhaps more practical: micromotors are primitive models of future micro-, or even nanorobots, that have been fantasized of operations that are potentially useful in biomedicine, environmental monitoring, sensing, and national defenses. A thorough understanding of their operation principles is therefore profoundly important.
It is up to you to decide which answer is better. Either way, opportunities are only bounded by our imaginations.
It is these interesting questions that fuel our exploration. In our lab, we are primarily focused on synthetic microswimmers (aka. micromotors or active colloids), especially those powered by chemical reactions. A moving micromotor is in many ways similar to living bacteria (such as E coli), and serves as both a good model system to study active matter, and a base from which future microrobots can be built. Furthermore, depending on how these micromotors are powered, they could interact with each other as well as their environments via electrostatics, electrokinetics, hydrodynamics, and their combinations. Finally, a large population of micromotors, just like their biological counterparts, could exhibit fascinating and complex collective behaviors, ranging from schooling and swarming, to non-linear behaviors such as waves and synchronization. A single micromotor is often negligibly simple compared to a living microorganism, but moving from one to many micromotors unveils hidden layers of complexity that are awesome.
There are two answers to the popular question “why should anyone care about these things”. The first one is that micromotors, or synthetic microswimmers, are a kind of active, smart and biomimetic materials that are fun to watch, interesting to learn, and fascinating to discover. There are so many things unknown with these tiny particles, and many surprises along the way of exploration. To explorers like us, the simple joy of discovering is a reward as good as any. The other answer is perhaps more practical: micromotors are primitive models of future micro-, or even nanorobots, that have been fantasized of operations that are potentially useful in biomedicine, environmental monitoring, sensing, and national defenses. A thorough understanding of their operation principles is therefore profoundly important.
It is up to you to decide which answer is better. Either way, opportunities are only bounded by our imaginations.
Our research interests mainly focus on:
1) Synthesis and functionalization of low dimensional materials and structures 低维材料、结构的合成与功能化
2) Active particles at the nano- and microscale (aka. "nanomotors", "micromotors", "synthetic microswimmers", or "active colloids");
微纳米自驱动胶体颗粒(又称为“胶体马达”,“微纳米马达”,“活性胶体”和“微纳米机器人”)
3) Ultrasonic manipulation of microparticles; 使用超声波操控微颗粒
4) Other interesting, fundamental and interdisciplinary topics, such as colloid sedimentation, pattern formation, and biomimetics 其他有趣的多学科交叉基础问题,例如胶体沉降、斑图、仿生等
- Electrochemical synthesis of microrods and tubes; 微米棒、管的电化学合成
- Chemical synthesis of functional microspheres, Janus particles and more. 功能微球、Janus球及其他材料的化学合成
- Regular and random patterns 规则与无序的斑图
2) Active particles at the nano- and microscale (aka. "nanomotors", "micromotors", "synthetic microswimmers", or "active colloids");
微纳米自驱动胶体颗粒(又称为“胶体马达”,“微纳米马达”,“活性胶体”和“微纳米机器人”)
- Observing and tracking colloidal particles via computer assisted optical microscopy; 使用计算机辅助光学显微镜观测与跟踪胶体颗粒的运动
- Electrokinetic effects of colloidal suspensions; 胶体电动力学
- Numerical simulation of multi-physics problems at the nano- and microscale; 微纳米尺度多物理耦合问题的数值模拟
- Collective behaviors, controlled self-assembly and pattern formation by active colloids (active matter); 活性胶体的群体行为、可控自组装与斑图(活性物质)
- Oscillation, synchronization, and chemical waves from active matter. 活性物质的非线性科学问题,例如震荡、同步及化学波的传递等
3) Ultrasonic manipulation of microparticles; 使用超声波操控微颗粒
- Acoustophoresis, and the interplay between acoustic radiation forces and acoustic streaming 声泳效应,及声辐射力与声流效应的结合
- Acoustic levitation, and its application in studies of active matter 声悬浮,及该技术在活性物质研究中的应用
- Particle assembly assisted/enabled by acoustophoresis, and its application in soft matter physics and functional materials. 利用声泳效应实现颗粒的组装,及其在软物质、功能新材料研究中的应用
4) Other interesting, fundamental and interdisciplinary topics, such as colloid sedimentation, pattern formation, and biomimetics 其他有趣的多学科交叉基础问题,例如胶体沉降、斑图、仿生等
Below is a (somehow low-resolution) summary of our lab activities in Chinese A high-resolution pdf can be downloaded at the link to the right. |
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We are always looking for qualified students (pursing a Master or PhD degree), postdocs and other junior researchers to join/visit us.
本课题组欢迎有志攻读硕士、博士学位的同学报考哈工大(深圳)材料学院,并与王威联系。同样欢迎博士后、交流访问学生及学者!
本课题组欢迎有志攻读硕士、博士学位的同学报考哈工大(深圳)材料学院,并与王威联系。同样欢迎博士后、交流访问学生及学者!
实验室(哈工大校区G栋908)全景(拍摄于2021年8月,Photo taken in August 2021)
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
Shenzhen, China, 518055
Shenzhen, China, 518055