Hierarchical Tissue-like Material from Nematic Synthetic Colloids with Adaptive Internal Microstructures

In living organisms, individual cells can evolve their cytoskeletal structures and adapt their shape and stiffness to the mechanical environment, a capability that is critical for the formation of collective order in tissues. Inspired by this behavior, we design a colloid-based material in which collective order arises from mechanical adaptation within individual elastomeric liquid crystalline microparticles. Through simulation and experiment, we reveal that the ordering within individual particles evolves and differentiates in response to mechanical loading and geometric confinement. We then examine emergent collective behaviors by jamming the particles into assemblies that exhibit pronounced particle-particle contacts. We find that distinct topological defects with unusual topological charges derive from geometric confinement in 2D. In 3D, colloidal films display high stiffness and a suppressed nematic-to-isotropic transition. Together, this work offers a platform for the design of hierarchically ordered materials with adaptive properties that reflect key aspects of living organisms.