UC Irvine

Fuel-driven dissipative supramolecular assemblies in biology, such as actin filaments and microtubules contribute to the formation of complex, dynamic structures in living organisms and give rise to emergent functions such as motility, homeostasis, self-healing, and camouflage. Several synthetic dissipative supramolecular materials have been created using chemicals or light as fuel, with the goal of furthering our understanding of biological systems and creating synthetic materials that have life-like dynamic properties. However, electrical energy, one of the most common energy sources, has remained mostly unexplored for such purposes. Here we demonstrate the use of electrically fueled dissipative assembly as a new platform for creating active supramolecular materials. Through an electrochemical redox reaction network operating in mild aqueous buffers, a transient and highly active supramolecular assembly based on a redox-sensitive cysteine derivative is achieved by applying an electric potential. The dissipative self-assembly as well as its emergent properties can be spatiotemporally controlled by modulation of electrical signals on patterned microelectrodes. Using electrical energy as a readily available and clean fuel, we are able to create dissipative supramolecular materials rapidly (in seconds to minutes) and repetitively under mild conditions with directional and spatiotemporal control. As electronic signals are the default information carriers in modern technology, the described approach offers a promising opportunity to integrate active materials into electronic devices for bioelectronics applications.