Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33199888›Full record

ArticleNature chemistry2020

Predator-prey interactions between droplets driven by non-reciprocal oil exchange.

Caleb H Meredith, Pepijn G Moerman, Jan Groenewold, Yu-Jen Chiu, Willem K Kegel, Alfons van Blaaderen, Lauren D Zarzar

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Nature chemistry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Artificial chemotaxis in micro/nanomotors.Nature communications · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Photoinduced non-reciprocal magnetism.Nature communications · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Surface Rolling Active Magnetic Emulsions.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025
    Article
  11. A roadmap for next-generation nanomotors.Nature nanotechnology · 2025
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Melting of nonreciprocal solids: How dislocations propel and fission in flowing crystals.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  15. Reconfigurable homochiral colloidal clusters assembled under orthogonally applied electric and magnetic fields.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  16. Article
  17. The 2025 motile active matter roadmap.Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal · 2025
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Emergent polar order in nonpolar mixtures with nonreciprocal interactions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Caleb H Meredith *Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Pepijn G Moerman *Van't Hoff Laboratory for Physical & Colloid Chemistry, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4255-2973
Jan GroenewoldVan't Hoff Laboratory for Physical & Colloid Chemistry, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Yu-Jen ChiuDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Willem K KegelVan't Hoff Laboratory for Physical & Colloid Chemistry, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Alfons van BlaaderenSoft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Lauren D ZarzarDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. ldz4@psu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3287-3602

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chemotactic interactions are ubiquitous in nature and can lead to non-reciprocal and complex emergent behaviour in multibody systems. However, developing synthetic, inanimate embodiments of a chemomechanical framework to generate non-reciprocal interactions of tunable strength and directionality has been challenging. Here we show how chemotactic signalling between microscale oil droplets of different chemistries in micellar surfactant solutions can result in predator-prey-like non-reciprocal chasing interactions. The interactions and dynamic self-organization result from the net directional, micelle-mediated transport of oil between emulsion droplets of differing composition and are powered by the free energy of mixing. We systematically elucidated chemical design rules to tune the interactions between droplets by varying the oil and surfactant chemical structure and concentration. Through the integration of experiment and simulation, we also investigated the active behaviour and dynamic reorganization of multidroplet clusters. Our findings demonstrate how chemically minimal systems can be designed with controllable, non-reciprocal chemotactic interactions to generate emergent self-organization and collective behaviours reminiscent of biological systems.

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.