---
OA_place: repository
OA_type: green
_id: '22893'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Many biological machines function through controlled conformational transitions,
    yet designing synthetic nanostructures with prescribed dynamical behavior remains
    a major challenge. Here, we develop a modular inverse-design framework for bistable
    nanostructures whose function is controlled by an energy profile along a geometric
    reaction coordinate. Inspired by proteins with rigid domains connected by flexible
    hinges, we introduce a hinge-arm paradigm in which a small bistable hinge controls
    the energetics of a conformational transition, while rigid arms map this transition
    onto the separation between external binding sites. Specifically, we ask which
    features of a target energy profile can be programmed under different design constraints.
    We find that the energy barriers and the binding-site separations in the two metastable
    states can be readily designed, while controlling the location of the transition
    state or the full shape of the energy profile requires additional design freedom.
    Using a differentiable design framework, we find that some optimized solutions
    are numerically inexact but still display the functional behavior for which the
    target profile was selected, emphasizing the importance of function-based evaluation
    criteria. These results establish a practical hierarchy of designability for bistable
    nanostructures and provide a route toward synthetic nanomachines that couple conformational
    transitions to target behavior.
acknowledgement: "We thank Maitane Muñoz-Basagoiti for stimulating\r\ndiscussions.
  This research was funded in part by the\r\nAustrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/PAT8537123].\r\n"
article_processing_charge: No
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Andreas
  full_name: Ehrmann, Andreas
  id: eaa689ed-f6e0-11ea-865d-bd98cbcf83c2
  last_name: Ehrmann
  orcid: 0000-0002-0997-5678
- first_name: Marija
  full_name: Krstić, Marija
  id: a8f6d1c6-3200-11ee-973b-dab948eace26
  last_name: Krstić
- first_name: Sahar
  full_name: Samadzadeh, Sahar
  id: 0099896b-5fb8-11ef-8420-b30b14627e93
  last_name: Samadzadeh
- first_name: Carl Peter
  full_name: Goodrich, Carl Peter
  id: EB352CD2-F68A-11E9-89C5-A432E6697425
  last_name: Goodrich
  orcid: 0000-0002-1307-5074
citation:
  ama: Ehrmann A, Krstić M, Samadzadeh S, Goodrich CP. Designing bistable nanostructures
    for target behavior. <i>arXiv</i>. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620">10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620</a>
  apa: Ehrmann, A., Krstić, M., Samadzadeh, S., &#38; Goodrich, C. P. (n.d.). Designing
    bistable nanostructures for target behavior. <i>arXiv</i>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620">https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620</a>
  chicago: Ehrmann, Andreas, Marija Krstić, Sahar Samadzadeh, and Carl Peter Goodrich.
    “Designing Bistable Nanostructures for Target Behavior.” <i>ArXiv</i>, n.d. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620">https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620</a>.
  ieee: A. Ehrmann, M. Krstić, S. Samadzadeh, and C. P. Goodrich, “Designing bistable
    nanostructures for target behavior,” <i>arXiv</i>. .
  ista: Ehrmann A, Krstić M, Samadzadeh S, Goodrich CP. Designing bistable nanostructures
    for target behavior. arXiv, <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620">10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620</a>.
  mla: Ehrmann, Andreas, et al. “Designing Bistable Nanostructures for Target Behavior.”
    <i>ArXiv</i>, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620">10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620</a>.
  short: A. Ehrmann, M. Krstić, S. Samadzadeh, C.P. Goodrich, ArXiv (n.d.).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2026-09-09T13:19:13Z
date_published: 2026-06-30T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-09-11T07:37:58Z
day: '30'
department:
- _id: CaGo
- _id: EdHa
- _id: AnSa
doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '2606.31620'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.31620
month: '06'
oa: 1
oa_version: Preprint
project:
- _id: 90a98bb5-16d5-11f0-9cad-9675f3f8015d
  grant_number: PAT 8537123
  name: Functional bio-inspired nanomachines from sticky colloids
publication: arXiv
publication_status: draft
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '22873'
    relation: dissertation_contains
    status: for_moderation
status: public
title: Designing bistable nanostructures for target behavior
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by_nc_nd.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
    (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
  short: CC BY-NC-ND (4.0)
type: preprint
user_id: 8b945eb4-e2f2-11eb-945a-df72226e66a9
year: '2026'
...