Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Materials science

Stirring stuff

Take silicon, soak in water, add acid — and stir. This simple new recipe for the self-assembly of complex microstructures belies an involved sequence of hydrophobic, electrostatic and van der Waals interactions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Self assembly in action.

References

  1. Onoe, H., Matsumoto, K. & Shimoyama, I. Small 3, 1383–3189 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Terfort, A., Bowden, N. & Whitesides, G. M. Nature 386, 162–164 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Breen, T. L., Tien, J., Oliver, S. R. J., Hadzic, T. & Whitesides, G. M. Science 284, 948–951 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Clark, T. D., Tien, J., Duffy, D. C., Paul, K. E. & Whitesides, G. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 7677–7682 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hernandez, C. J. & Mason, C. J. J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 4477–4480 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Chen, J.-H., Kallenbach, N. R. & Seeman, N. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 111, 6402–6407 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Taton, T. A., Mucic, R. C., Mirkin, C. A. & Letsinger, R. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122, 6305–6306 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pine, D. Stirring stuff. Nature 448, 876–877 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/448876a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/448876a

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing