Braided nanowires
Getting spherical colloidal particles to self-assemble is hard enough, but we decided to try something even more difficult: getting nanowires to self-assemble. The goal of this project was to get long, thin nanowires to spontaneously braid themselves.
Publications
2022
Zeng, C.; Faaborg, M. W.; Sherif, A.; Falk, M. J.; Hajian, R.; Xiao, M.; Hartig, K.; Bar-Sinai, Y.; Brenner, M.
3D-Printed Machines That Manipulate Microscopic Objects Using Capillary Forces. Nature 2022, 611, 68-73.
Zeng, C.; Faaborg, M. W.; Sherif, A.; Falk, M. J.; Hajian, R.; Xiao, M.; Hartig, K.; Bar-Sinai, Y.; Brenner, M.
3D-Printed Machines That Manipulate Microscopic Objects Using Capillary Forces. Nature 2022, 611, 68-73.
Alumni
Ahmed Sherif
ahmedsherif@g.harvard.eduPhD Applied Physics 2025
Ahmed was a PhD student in Applied Physics studying capillary machines. Ahmed is also a connoisseur of foreign and art-house films! Ahmed earned his PhD from Harvard in Spring 2025.
Charlie Greboval
cgreboval@seas.harvard.edu Charlie was a visiting student researching self-assembly of particles on micrometer-scale wires.
Cheng Zeng
chzeng@g.harvard.eduFormer postdoctoral researcher
Cheng was a postdoctoral researcher studying the self-assembly of twisted and braided nanowires. Before joining the group, Cheng earned his PhD in physical chemistry from Indiana University with Prof. Bogdan Dragnea.
Maya Faaborg
Masters Applied Physics 2019
Maya was a Masters student researching self-assembly of nanowires. She is a Midwestern transplant with undergraduate degrees in physics and music composition, and a love of dogs, video games, and playing piano. She earned her Masters in 2019.
Samaneh Mashaghi
smashaghi@g.harvard.eduFormer postdoctoral researcher
Samaneh was a postdoctoral researcher working on the self-assembly of nanowires.
