---
_id: '13971'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: When in equilibrium, thermal forces agitate molecules, which then diffuse,
collide and bind to form materials. However, the space of accessible structures
in which micron-scale particles can be organized by thermal forces is limited,
owing to the slow dynamics and metastable states. Active agents in a passive fluid
generate forces and flows, forming a bath with active fluctuations. Two unanswered
questions are whether those active agents can drive the assembly of passive components
into unconventional states and which material properties they will exhibit. Here
we show that passive, sticky beads immersed in a bath of swimming Escherichia
coli bacteria aggregate into unconventional clusters and gels that are controlled
by the activity of the bath. We observe a slow but persistent rotation of the
aggregates that originates in the chirality of the E. coli flagella and directs
aggregation into structures that are not accessible thermally. We elucidate the
aggregation mechanism with a numerical model of spinning, sticky beads and reproduce
quantitatively the experimental results. We show that internal activity controls
the phase diagram and the structure of the aggregates. Overall, our results highlight
the promising role of active baths in designing the structural and mechanical
properties of materials with unconventional phases.
acknowledgement: D.G. and J.P. thank E. Krasnopeeva, C. Guet, G. Guessous and T. Hwa
for providing the E. coli strains. This material is based upon work supported by
the US Department of Energy under award DE-SC0019769. I.P. acknowledges funding
by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie
Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 101034413. A.Š. acknowledges funding from the
European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme (Grant No. 802960). M.C.U. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant
Agreement No. 754411.
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Daniel
full_name: Grober, Daniel
id: abdfc56f-34fb-11ee-bd33-fd766fce5a99
last_name: Grober
- first_name: Ivan
full_name: Palaia, Ivan
id: 9c805cd2-4b75-11ec-a374-db6dd0ed57fa
last_name: Palaia
orcid: ' 0000-0002-8843-9485 '
- first_name: Mehmet C
full_name: Ucar, Mehmet C
id: 50B2A802-6007-11E9-A42B-EB23E6697425
last_name: Ucar
orcid: 0000-0003-0506-4217
- first_name: Edouard B
full_name: Hannezo, Edouard B
id: 3A9DB764-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Hannezo
orcid: 0000-0001-6005-1561
- first_name: Anđela
full_name: Šarić, Anđela
id: bf63d406-f056-11eb-b41d-f263a6566d8b
last_name: Šarić
orcid: 0000-0002-7854-2139
- first_name: Jérémie A
full_name: Palacci, Jérémie A
id: 8fb92548-2b22-11eb-b7c1-a3f0d08d7c7d
last_name: Palacci
orcid: 0000-0002-7253-9465
citation:
ama: Grober D, Palaia I, Ucar MC, Hannezo EB, Šarić A, Palacci JA. Unconventional
colloidal aggregation in chiral bacterial baths. Nature Physics. 2023;19:1680-1688.
doi:10.1038/s41567-023-02136-x
apa: Grober, D., Palaia, I., Ucar, M. C., Hannezo, E. B., Šarić, A., & Palacci,
J. A. (2023). Unconventional colloidal aggregation in chiral bacterial baths.
Nature Physics. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-02136-x
chicago: Grober, Daniel, Ivan Palaia, Mehmet C Ucar, Edouard B Hannezo, Anđela Šarić,
and Jérémie A Palacci. “Unconventional Colloidal Aggregation in Chiral Bacterial
Baths.” Nature Physics. Springer Nature, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-02136-x.
ieee: D. Grober, I. Palaia, M. C. Ucar, E. B. Hannezo, A. Šarić, and J. A. Palacci,
“Unconventional colloidal aggregation in chiral bacterial baths,” Nature Physics,
vol. 19. Springer Nature, pp. 1680–1688, 2023.
ista: Grober D, Palaia I, Ucar MC, Hannezo EB, Šarić A, Palacci JA. 2023. Unconventional
colloidal aggregation in chiral bacterial baths. Nature Physics. 19, 1680–1688.
mla: Grober, Daniel, et al. “Unconventional Colloidal Aggregation in Chiral Bacterial
Baths.” Nature Physics, vol. 19, Springer Nature, 2023, pp. 1680–88, doi:10.1038/s41567-023-02136-x.
short: D. Grober, I. Palaia, M.C. Ucar, E.B. Hannezo, A. Šarić, J.A. Palacci, Nature
Physics 19 (2023) 1680–1688.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2023-08-06T22:01:11Z
date_published: 2023-11-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-04-14T07:43:56Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '530'
department:
- _id: EdHa
- _id: AnSa
- _id: JePa
doi: 10.1038/s41567-023-02136-x
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '001037346400005'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 7e282c2ebc0ac82125a04f6b4742d4c1
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2024-01-30T12:26:08Z
date_updated: 2024-01-30T12:26:08Z
file_id: '14906'
file_name: 2023_NaturePhysics_Grober.pdf
file_size: 6365607
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2024-01-30T12:26:08Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 19'
isi: 1
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '11'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 1680-1688
project:
- _id: fc2ed2f7-9c52-11eb-aca3-c01059dda49c
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '101034413'
name: 'IST-BRIDGE: International postdoctoral program'
- _id: eba2549b-77a9-11ec-83b8-a81e493eae4e
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '802960'
name: 'Non-Equilibrium Protein Assembly: from Building Blocks to Biological Machines'
- _id: 260C2330-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '754411'
name: ISTplus - Postdoctoral Fellowships
publication: Nature Physics
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1745-2481
issn:
- 1745-2473
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Unconventional colloidal aggregation in chiral bacterial baths
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 19
year: '2023'
...