How to Use self-assembly in a Sentence

self-assembly

noun
  • The entire process occurs through a process of self-assembly in which the atoms arrange themselves into these one-dimensional chains.
    — Dexter Johnson, IEEE Spectrum, 4 Aug. 2016
  • Of course, there are self-assembly methods for layering vdW heterostructures that do not involve researchers manually piling on the layers.
    — Dexter Johnson, IEEE Spectrum, 17 May 2018
  • Swedish megabrand Ikea’s affordable self-assembly furniture has made Scandi style the go-to look for homes, hotels and Airbnbs all over Europe.
    — Andrew Saunders, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2025
  • However, self-assembly of single molecules is inherently complex.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
  • The molecule was shown to form nanoscale p/n heterojunctions through self-assembly, highlighting the feasibility of molecular designs that autonomously organize into functional electronic structures, according to a press release.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Achieving quick, consistent self-assembly in solution without evaporation has remained a significant difficulty, despite advancements in block copolymer templating, metal alkoxide chemistry, and nanomaterials.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
  • However, these self-assembly methods are only capable of creating simple heterostructures (with alternating layers A-B-A-B-A-B), according to Castellanos-Gomez.
    — Dexter Johnson, IEEE Spectrum, 17 May 2018
  • Dynamic soft robots To create OCTOID’s modular actuating legs, researchers fabricated active (AL) and passive layers (PL) from cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) using a bottom-up self-assembly of reactive mesogens, crosslinkers, and chain extenders.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 26 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-assembly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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