Abstract

The function of a material is defined not only by its chemical composition, but also by the structural organization of its constituents across multiple length scales, from the architecture of individual building blocks to their collective arrangement. Developing strategies to access, engineer, and reconfigure that structure on demand represents a central opportunity in the design of adaptive materials. Here, we present a thermoresponsive polymer-colloid platform that enables high-precision tuning of colloidal structures using only thermal stimuli. Rather than adsorbing to the surface, our polymers diffuse inside organosilica colloids to reshape them from within, allowing continuous modulation of their size, shape, and internal configuration in a single, reversible step. This strategy yields new colloidal systems with an expansion capacity reaching more than 1,000-fold in volume. Directional crosslinking of expanded colloids offers a continuum of reconfigurable morphologies through controlled buckling instabilities and asymmetric shape evolution. Combining thermal and light stimuli further allows us to program both individual particle transformations and the collective organization of colloidal assemblies, switching suspensions between disordered and tightly packed, crystal-like arrangements while patterning particle shape locally within a sample.  Finally, we translate our reconfigurable colloids into topographical interfaces, exploring how their distinctive geometries guide cell-material interactions, opening a route toward novel colloid-based engineered platforms for cell guidance. This approach ultimately demonstrates the broader potential of programmable colloidal architectures as adaptive building blocks across physical and biological disciplines.

Publication Date

8-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering (Ph.D)

Department, Program, or Center

Chemical Engineering

College

Kate Gleason College of Engineering

Advisor

Jairo A. Díaz Amaya

Advisor/Committee Member

Steven J. Weinstein

Advisor/Committee Member

Patricia Taboada-Serrano

Comments

This thesis has been embargoed. The full-text will be available on or around 8/13/2027.

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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