Arming nano-electronics with mobility extends artificial systems into traditionally inaccessible environments. Albert’s prior work has established that carbon nanotubes (1D), graphene (2D) and other crystalline materials with well-defined lattice structures can be incorporated into polymer microparticles, granting them unique electronic functions. The resulting colloidal electronic ‘cells’ (ca. 10 μm in diameter), comprised of microscopic circuits connecting artificial ‘organelles’ (e.g., generators, sensors, logic gates, etc.), combine the modularity of modern electronics with the characteristic mobility found in dispersive colloidal systems. They perform autonomous functions integrating optical energy harvesting, chemical detection and digital memory recording – all within a form-factor no larger than biological cells.

The Liu laboratory seeks to advance device capabilities for individual colloidal electronic particles, and explores higher-order assemblies of these building-blocks into hierarchical colloidal electronic matter. This research program, positioned at the intersection between materials design, chemical catalysis, and electronic device fabrication, aims to address one central challenge: Can we build materials the way nature builds us? Biological scaffolds are constructed with long-range order that spans many orders of magnitude, affording control checkpoints not only at the molecular (e.g., protein) level, but also on the micro- (e.g., organelle) and meso- (e.g., cellular) scales. The ability to create ‘tissue’-like colloidal electronic matter, consisting of heterogeneously integrated electronic ‘cells’, will enable access to complex functions observed previously only in biological systems.