Bridging size scales with self-assembling supramolecular materials

Micromachines can accurately mimic the complex processes of living organisms. Nanotechnology, microelectromechanical systems, and molecular self-assembly are small steps in that direction. Two approaches are envisaged for making devices on a continually shrinking length scale: the top-down approach and the bottom-up approach. In the top-down approach, technology and control of it become more difficult as the size regime shrinks, and the control is direct. In the bottom-up approach, the control is chemical, and the complexity of structural assembly scales with size, problems increase as the size and flexibility of the building blocks increase. The gap between the two domain size scales are being bridge through self-assembling supramolecular materials.