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ASYMMETRY. "In analogy to the double-faced Roman god Janus, De Gennes formally introduced in his Nobel lecture the concept of “Janus grains” to describe grains with two distinct sides. The essential idea is that a three-dimensionally dissymmetrical distribution of certain physical/chemical features, such as size, shape, bulk composition, and surface chemistry, shall lead to the formation of specific hierarchical structures with novel properties." https://lnkd.in/e7E4Mgw View in LinkedIn

BIOMIMICRY OF NACRE. "Stable electronic switches have been fabricated by stacking alternative layers of barium and strontium oxides into a superlattice that breaks inversion symmetry, rather like shell nacre iridescence is caused by calcium and organic material in periodic layers." https://lnkd.in/eneJeki View in LinkedIn

SYMMETRY AND ENTROPY. "A breaking of symmetry involves an abrupt change in the set of micro states a system can explore. This change has unavoidable thermodynamic implications. A shrinkage of the microstates set results in an entropy decrease, which eventually needs to be compensated by heat dissipation, and hence requires work," https://lnkd.in/etyZ3Pa View in LinkedIn

NANOPARTICLES ASYMMETRY. "How can a beam of light tell the difference between left and right? Tiny particles have now been coupled to a glass fiber. The particles emit light into the fiber in such a way that it does not travel in both directions, as one would expect. Instead, the light can be directed either to the left or to the right. This has become possible by employing a remarkable physical effect – the spin-orbit coupling of light. This new kind of optical switch has the potential to revolutionize nanophotonics." https://lnkd.in/eFB2gxW View in LinkedIn

SYMMETRY AND PROGRAMMABILITY. "Symmetry-breaking transitions are very common in crystalline materials, for instance in shape memory alloys." This property of asymmetry offers a greater ability to code information into a material and program it. https://lnkd.in/esQdGYb View in LinkedIn

BIOMIMETIC DEVICES. "The reversible 3D photonic actuators transformed from the programmed 2D structures via the bending, twisting and folding mechanisms may be applied in the field of mechanical actuators, and optoelectronic and bio-mimetic devices." http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Edwin_Thomas/publication/255749505_Three-dimensional_actuators_transformed_from_the_programmed_two-dimensional_structures_via_bending_twisting_and_folding_mechanisms/links/0deec523344479213f000000.pdf View in LinkedIn

EXTERNAL FORCE DRIVERS. "Various shapes of these 3D actuating objects were constructed by transforming the programmed 2D structures via bending, twisting and folding mechanisms. These 2D structures were first programmed by breaking the symmetry." https://lnkd.in/e37ZsXZ View in LinkedIn

PHOTONIC CRYSTALS AND SYMMETRY. "Combining the physical principle of actuators with the basic concept of photonic crystals, colour-tunable 3D photonic actuators were successfully fabricated." New smart materials. https://lnkd.in/e37ZsXZ View in LinkedIn

"SMART MATERIALS have attracted much attention due to the ability to change their volume and shape in response to external stimuli." https://lnkd.in/e37ZsXZ View in LinkedIn

BIOMIMETIC ASYMMETRY. "Constructions of three-dimensional objects with arbitrary shapes and further manipulations of their colours and shapes can provide many potential applications in the field of actuators, and bio-mimetic devices." https://lnkd.in/e37ZsXZ View in LinkedIn