Colloidal architectures Climbing out of equilibrium

Colloidal architectures have served a pivotal role in modeling complex natural phenomena such as self-assembly and collective behaviour. In this thesis we first explore the activation mechanism of Janus colloids by considering the effect of surface wetting and the interaction of their speed and interfacial layer. We then model the fracture mechanics of an attractive colloidal glass on the particle level by considering the vastly different dynamics of a subset ahead of the crack tip. The final two chapters combine directionally bonding colloids and active Janus colloids to explore out of equilibrium self-assembly. We show that by introducing a small fraction of active colloids and modulating activity we can control the final state of connectivity, the speed of assembly, and the mechanical response of the resulting structures.