Harnessing the Bacterial Bath for Self-Assembly

Microorganisms capable of converting chemical energy into work provide an avenue to introduce non-equilibrium fluctuations into soft matter systems. Previous work showed that the presence of bacteria increases the diffusivity of colloidal particles, coining the term "bacterial bath". In this work, we show how the input from the bacterial bath can be directed to assist self-assembly of colloidal particles, exceeding the capabilities of a thermal bath at hot temperature