Authors: Metzmacher, J.; Poty, M.; Lumay, G.; Vandewalle, N.
Organizations: University of Liege; CESAM Research Unit
Self-assembly due to capillary forces is a common method for generating 2D mesoscale structures made of identical particles floating at some liquid-air interface. We show herein how to create soft entities that deform or not the liquid interface as a function of the strength of some applied magnetic field. These smart floating objects self-assemble or not depending on the application of an external field. Moreover, we show that the self-assembling process can be reversed opening ways to rearrange structures.
