Chemical systems out of equilibrium
Guest editors Jan van Esch, Rafal Klajn and Sijbren Otto introduce the chemical systems out of equilibrium issue of Chemical Society Reviews.
Review Article
Stimuli-responsive self-assembly of nanoparticles
Ligand-protected nanoparticles can serve as attractive building blocks for constructing complex chemical systems.
Two-dimensional flow of driven particles: a microfluidic pathway to the non-equilibrium frontier
We discuss the basic physics of the flow of micron-scale droplets in 2D geometry.
Photoswitchable molecules as key ingredients to drive systems away from the global thermodynamic minimum
We highlight the unique features of photodynamic equilibria that drive chemical reactions and transport, structure formation and molecular motion.
Active colloids with collective mobility status and research opportunities
A survey is presented of the status of and research opportunities in the field of collectively moving active matter.
From dynamic self-assembly to networked chemical systems
Structures self-assembled away from thermodynamic equilibrium can control the flux of matter and energy within larger, networked chemical systems.
Non-equilibrium assembly of microtubules: from molecules to autonomous chemical robots
Biological systems have evolved to harness non-equilibrium processes from the molecular to the macro scale.
Materials learning from life: concepts for active, adaptive and autonomous molecular systems
A broad overview of functional aspects in biological and synthetic out-of-equilibrium systems.
Dissipative out-of-equilibrium assembly of man-made supramolecular materials
This tutorial review focuses on the structural and kinetic design of dissipative self-assembling systems and highlight their resulting unique properties.
‘Fuelled’ motion: phoretic motility and collective behaviour of active colloids
Phoretic motility is a propulsion mechanism used to design active particles which display complex collective behaviours, characterised experimentally and theoretically.
Tutorial Review
Non-equilibrium supramolecular polymerization
Supramolecular polymers can reside in four distinct thermodynamic states. The preparation protocol and mechanistic insights allow to identify each one of them. Going beyond equilibrium polymerization is an exciting new direction in the field of supramolecular chemistry.
Mastering the non-equilibrium assembly and operation of molecular machines
External fluctuations can drive formation of a non-equilibrium steady state.
About this collection
After many decades of research on self-assembled systems that are under thermodynamic control, non-equilibrium systems are, more recently, receiving rapidly increasing attention. Biology clearly shows the wealth of functional potential contained in non-equilibrium systems, and impressive progress has recently been made in mimicking such systems and synthesizing completely synthetic systems that operate away from thermodynamic equilibrium. This Chemical Society Reviews themed issue, guest edited by Rafal Klajn (Weizmann Institute), Jan van Esch (Delft University of Technology) and Sijbren Otto (University of Groningen), aims to give the state of the art in this area by compiling contributions from different fields (biophysics, supramolecular chemistry, colloid chemistry). New articles will be added to this collection as they are published.