Article
Chemistry, Physical
Michio Tateno, Taiki Yanagishima, Hajime Tanaka
Summary: The study on colloidal gelation using core-shell fluorescent colloidal particles reveals that the enhancement of local packing and the formation of locally stable rigid structures are the key factors leading to gel formation during phase separation. These findings support a mechanical perspective on dynamic arrest of sticky-sphere systems based on microstructure, replacing conventional explanations based on macroscopic vitrification of colloidal-rich phase.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Jerome Hem, Caroline Crauste-Thibierge, Thomas C. Merlette, Florence Clement, Didier R. Long, Sergio Ciliberto
Summary: The study investigates the molecular dynamics of relaxation processes during plastic flow of glassy polymers under different deformation protocols using dielectric spectroscopy. It identifies variations in relaxation time and distribution width under different protocols, as well as behavioral differences in strain hardening regime under different strain protocols.
Article
Physics, Condensed Matter
Minaspi Bantawa, Wayan A. Fontaine-Seiler, Peter D. Olmsted, Emanuela Del Gado
Summary: By varying the model parameters of particulate gels, different gel morphologies can be obtained, and the local elastic structures identified to estimate their contribution to the gel elasticity.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER
(2021)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Abdolhalim Torrik, Ali Naji, Mahdi Zarif
Summary: This study investigates the effects of channel confinement and bath chirality on the effective forces and torques mediated between two inclusions. The research shows that confinement has a strong impact on effective interactions, while active particle chirality leads to force imbalance and net torque generation on the inclusion dimer.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Andreas Schoenhals, Paulina Szymoniak, Mohamed A. Kolmangadi, Martin Boehning, Michaela Zamponi, Bernhard Frick, Markus Appel, Gerrit Guenther, Margarita Russina, Dmitry A. Alentiev, Maxim Bermeshev, Reiner Zorn
Summary: The study found that poly(tricyclononenes) with Si-substituted bulky side groups have high microporosity, making them potential candidates for active separation layers for gas separation membranes. The low temperature relaxation process involving methyl group rotation suggests that some methyl groups may be immobilized in their rotation due to steric hindrance.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Rahul Chand, Chaudhary Eksha Rani, Diptabrata Paul, G. V. Pavan Kumar
Summary: We experimentally demonstrate the emergence of directional rotation in thermally active-passive colloidal structures under optical confinement. The observed handedness of the rotation can be controlled by changing the positions of the constituent colloids. The angular velocity of rotation is sensitive to the intensity of optical fields and the size of colloidal entities.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ling Li, Carl Goodrich, Haizhao Yang, Katherine R. Phillips, Zian Jia, Hongshun Chen, Lifeng Wang, Jinjin Zhong, Anhua Liu, Jianfeng Lu, Jianwei Shuai, Michael P. Brenner, Frans Spaepen, Joanna Aizenberg
Summary: This study investigates the underlying mechanisms of texture evolution in an evaporation-induced colloidal assembly process. The research shows that at the later stage of self-assembly, the colloidal crystal undergoes a gradual rotation facilitated by geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs). The generation of GNDs is due to the tensile stress field along the meniscus direction during the constrained shrinkage of the colloidal crystal, leading to crystallographic rotation to accommodate the mechanical stress.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Dominik Lips, Eric Cereceda-Lopez, Antonio Ortiz-Ambriz, Pietro Tierno, Artem Ryabov, Philipp Maass
Summary: The study investigates the collective transport properties of colloidal particles in a rotating ring of optical traps. It is found that the particles are driven by a vortex flow of the surrounding fluid in the corotating reference frame. The jamming behavior observed with increasing particle density is attributed to enhanced energetic barriers between the optical traps due to hydrodynamic interactions. The study highlights the importance of considering the driving mechanism and hydrodynamic interactions in soft matter and biological systems.
Article
Physics, Applied
Raul Josue Hernandez-Hernandez, Thomas M. Fischer, Pietro Tierno
Summary: This study investigates the pair interactions between magnetically driven colloidal microrotors with an anisotropic shape. The particles interact through dipolar forces and hydrodynamic interactions (HIs) when they approach each other. When the magnetic field is close to a specific angle, dipolar interactions vanish and the pair's dynamics are solely driven by HIs. A theoretical description is provided to understand the role of anisotropy on the collective dynamics.
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Jian Li, Bo-kai Zhang, Yu-Shan Li
Summary: Colloidal polymers with tunable chain stiffness have been successfully assembled, and their dynamical behaviors are affected by chain stiffness. The mean square displacement of monomers exhibits sub-diffusion behavior, and the data of localization length versus rescaled volume fraction can gather close to an exponential curve.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuntian Yang, Jirong He, Qi Mou, Bo Quan, Mingshi Jin, Chunzhi Cui, Long Yi Jin, Zhegang Huang
Summary: Despite effective design of photosensitizers, controlling the assembly of individual photosensitizers with distinct functions and morphological architectures remains challenging. This study presents the assembly of organic photosensitizer-based supramolecules to form ordered one-dimensional polymers and hollow tubular structures. The di-blocked photosensitizers form interdigitated fibrils, significantly quenching photooxidation. On the other hand, the tri-blocked photosensitizers generate tilted hollow tubules, showing remarkable photo-activities and stability, making them suitable for green chemistry.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alexander Deptula, Jessica Rangel-Galera, Rosa. M. M. Espinosa-Marzal
Summary: The study investigates the semicrystalline colloidal gels composed of poly(methacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) in water and reveals the influence of colloidal microstructure evolution on the gel's interfacial characteristics and underlying interactions. These interactions are crucial for the spatial and dynamic control of surface properties, and have implications for applications in biomedical devices, soft tissue design, soft robotics, and other engineered tribosystems.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Hrishikesh Pingulkar, Jean-Baptiste Salmon
Summary: This article presents a model to describe the dynamics of confined directional drying of a colloidal dispersion. Based on classical fluid mechanics and capillary phenomena, the model predicts different growth regimes for the consolidated packing. These findings emphasize the importance of relative humidity control in such experiments.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Taejin Kwon, Tanner A. Wilcoxson, Delia J. Milliron, Thomas M. Truskett
Summary: This study investigates the dynamic behavior of linked networks of patchy colloids using a coarse-grained model and reveals the control of colloid-colloid bond persistence time on the slow relaxation of the self-intermediate scattering function. The model exhibits characteristic equilibrium gel formation and re-entrant network formation without phase separation as a function of linker concentration.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Roberto Benzi, Thibaut Divoux, Catherine Barentin, Sebastien Manneville, Mauro Sbragaglia, Federico Toschi
Summary: Yield stress fluids display a dual nature where they exhibit solid or liquid properties depending on the imposed stress, with a transition characterized by stress overshoot and subsequent relaxation. The complex spatiotemporal dynamics of shear-induced yielding in YSFs can be summarized into short-term response and stress relaxation stages.
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
John C. Mauro, Charles R. Kurkjian, Prabhat K. Gupta, Walter Kob
Summary: Various impurities in silica glass samples have a significant impact on the glass transition temperature, which can vary by nearly 300 K depending on the type of dopant. A common crossover point is found for all viscosity curves around 2200-2500 K, indicating a change in the transport mechanism from intrinsic defects at high temperatures to dopant-induced defects at low temperatures.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Zhen Zhang, Simona Ispas, Walter Kob
Summary: In this study, atomistic computer simulations are used to establish a connection between the stress-strain relation and microscopic properties of silicate glasses. The mobility of modifiers is identified as the mechanism responsible for the complex dependence of stress on strain.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jiting Tian, Walter Kob, Jean-Louis Barrat
Summary: Quasi-2D colloidal suspensions in a slit geometry exhibit faster diffusion and relaxation compared to their 2D counterparts due to the additional vertical space that allows overlapping of particles in the projected trajectories. The difference in dynamics can be explained by characterizing the systems using a suitable structural quantity instead of surface density. These results have practical implications for 2D colloidal experiments and provide insights into the 3D-to-2D crossover in glass-forming systems.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ivan Palaia, Abhay Goyal, Emanuela Del Gado, Ladislav Samaj, Emmanuel Trizac
Summary: This article discusses the attraction between like charges, challenging our understanding of electrostatics in both soft and hard matter. The research shows that even at low correlation strength, the relevant physics can be understood by studying the ground-state properties, regardless of fluctuations. By deriving a simple and accurate interaction pressure equation, the researchers explain the exotic attractive regime observed in certain materials, even without the presence of multivalent counterions.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Francis Dragulet, Abhay Goyal, Katerina Ioannidou, Roland J-M Pellenq, Emanuela Del Gado
Summary: Ion specificity has significant effects on hydrated clays, influencing the swelling and shrinkage behaviors of soil and sediments. Our computational approach reveals that the ion-water structures in nanoscale confinement are responsible for the ion-specific surface forces between clay particles. As confinement and surface charge densities increase, the ion-water structures deviate from the ions' bulk hydration shells, forming highly ordered, nearly solid-like assemblies and leading to strongly attractive interactions between charged surfaces.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Gavin J. Donley, Minaspi Bantawa, Emanuela Del Gado
Summary: This study investigates the microscopic dynamics and macroscopic rheology of soft particulate gels through numerical simulations and experiments. By establishing a connection between time-resolved dynamic moduli and microstructural changes, the microscopic origin of nonlinear rheology is revealed.
JOURNAL OF RHEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Valerio Sorichetti, Andrea Ninarello, Jose Ruiz-Franco, Virginie Hugouvieux, Emanuela Zaccarelli, Cristian Micheletti, Walter Kob, Lorenzo Rovigatti
Summary: We used simulations to self-assemble polymer networks with a mixture of bivalent and tri- or tetravalent patchy particles, resulting in an exponential strand length distribution similar to experimental cross-linked systems. The fractal structure of the network depends on the assembly number density, but systems with the same mean valence and assembly density have the same structural properties. We also examined the dynamics of long strands using the tube model and found a relation between the localization lengths and shear modulus.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Misaki Ozawa, Yasutaka Iwashita, Walter Kob, Francesco Zamponi
Summary: A recent breakthrough in glass science involves the synthesis of ultrastable glasses using physical vapor deposition techniques. These glasses exhibit increased stability in terms of thermodynamics, kinetics, and mechanics, with significant implications for both fundamental research and practical applications. However, the current deposition technique is limited to specific types of glass-formers and can only produce thin film samples. In this study, a novel approach using random particle bonding is proposed to generate ultrastable glassy configurations in bulk materials. Computer simulations show the effectiveness of this method, which can be applied to various molecular and soft matter systems, offering great potential for the design of a wide range of ultrastable glasses.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
H. A. Vinutha, Fabiola Doraly Diaz Ruiz, Xiaoming Mao, Bulbul Chakraborty, Emanuela Del Gado
Summary: We investigated the spatial correlations of microscopic stresses in soft particulate gels through 2D and 3D numerical simulations. By using a newly developed theoretical framework, we predicted the analytical form of stress-stress correlations in amorphous assemblies of athermal grains that acquire rigidity under an external load. These correlations exhibit a pinch-point singularity in Fourier space, resulting in long-range correlations and strong anisotropy in real space. Our analysis of model particulate gels showed that stress-stress correlations have similar characteristics to granular solids and can be used to identify force chains. We demonstrated that these correlations can distinguish between floppy and rigid gel networks and reflect changes in shear moduli and network topology during solidification.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Minaspi Bantawa, Bavand Keshavarz, Michela Geri, Mehdi Bouzid, Thibaut Divoux, Gareth H. McKinley, Emanuela Del Gado
Summary: Soft particulate gels consist of a small amount of particulate matter dispersed in a continuous fluid phase. The mechanical response and gel elasticity are determined by the particle volume fraction. However, the diverse range of functional dependencies reported experimentally has made it difficult to identify general scaling laws.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ippolyti Dellatolas, Minaspi Bantawa, Brian Damerau, Ming Guo, Thibaut Divoux, Emanuela Del Gado, Irmgard Bischofberger
Summary: We reveal the mechanism for the strong reinforcement of attractive nanofiller-hydrogel composites. The attractive interactions induce a local increase in the gel density around the nanofillers, which leads to the formation of a percolated network. This network constrains the gel displacement and enhances stress coupling, resulting in a global reinforcement of the composite.
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Physical
Emanuela Del Gado, Andrea Liu, C. Patrick Royall
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
Meera Ramaswamy, Itay Griniasty, Danilo B. Liarte, Abhishek Shetty, Eleni Katifori, Emanuela Del Gado, James P. Sethna, Bulbul Chakraborty, Itai Cohen
Summary: Nearly all dense suspensions undergo dramatic and abrupt thickening transitions in their flow behavior when sheared at high stresses. In this study, we propose a complete theory of viscosity and find that the viscosity of two different systems can be collapsed onto a single universal curve. By incorporating microscale particle interactions into a scaling variable, we gain insights into the fundamental physical aspects of shear thickening transition. This research is of great importance for understanding the rheological behavior of fluids.
JOURNAL OF RHEOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Francis Dragulet, Abhay Goyal, Katerina Ioannidou, Roland J. -M. Pellenq, Emanuela Del Gado
Summary: Ion specificity and Hofmeister effects play an important role in hydrated clays, determining the swelling and shrinkage behaviors of soil and sediments. A computational study reveals that nanoscale confinement leads to ion-specific surface forces between clay particles. Increased confinement and surface charge densities result in deviations from bulk hydration shells and the formation of highly organized water-ion structures, leading to strong attractive interactions between charged surfaces.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Shang Zhang, Ethan Stanifer, Vishwas V. Vasisht, Leyou Zhang, Emanuela Del Gado, Xiaoming Mao
Summary: Prestress in amorphous solids plays a significant role in their mechanical properties by encoding formation memory and affecting mechanical response. Using stress as the fundamental variable, a set of mathematical tools are developed to investigate the mechanical response of prestressed systems, which is particularly suitable for nonconservative systems. The study reveals that amorphous materials can exhibit drastically different mechanical responses at the same density due to nonconservative interactions evolving over time or different preparation protocols, which are not visible from the configurations of the network in the case of nonconservative interactions.
PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yiping Yin, Zhe Wang, Hua Zou
Summary: This study presents a novel method for preparing dimpled polymer-silica nanocomposite particles using interfacial swelling-based seeded polymerization. The optimized conditions allow for a relatively high percentage of dimpled particles to be achieved.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Brenden D. Hoehn, Elizabeth A. Kellstedt, Marc A. Hillmyer
Summary: Porous materials with nanometer-scale pores have important applications as nanoporous membranes. In this study, ABA triblock copolymers were used as precursors to produce nanoporous polymeric membranes (NPMs) in thin film form by degrading the end blocks. Polycyclooctene (PCOE) NPMs with tunable pore sizes were successfully prepared using solvent casting technique. Oxygen plasma etching was employed to improve the surface porosity and hydrophilicity of the membranes. This study provides a straightforward method to produce tough NPMs with high porosity and hydrophilic surface properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Vladislav S. Petrovskii, Stepan I. Zholudev, Igor I. Potemkin
Summary: This article investigates the behavior of linear and ring polypeptide chains in aqueous solution and explores the properties of the complexes formed by these chains with oppositely charged surfactants. The results demonstrate that the complexes of linear supercharged unfolded polypeptides and the corresponding surfactants exhibit impressive adhesive properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Merve Cevik, Serkan Dikici
Summary: Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death globally, and vascular grafts are a promising treatment option. This study focuses on tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) using decellularized parsley stems as a potential biomaterial. The decellularized parsley stems showed suitable properties for TEVGs, providing a suitable environment for human endothelial cells to form a pseudo endothelium. This study showcases the potential of using parsley stems for TEVGs.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Gustavo A. Vasquez-Montoya, Tadej Emersic, Noe Atzin, Antonio Tavera-Vazquez, Ali Mozaffari, Rui Zhang, Orlando Guzman, Alexey Snezhko, Paul F. Nealey, Juan J. de Pablo
Summary: The optical properties of liquid crystals are typically controlled by electric fields. In this study, we investigate the effects of microfluidic flows and acoustic fields on the molecular orientation and optical response of nematic liquid crystals. We identify several previously unknown structures and explain them through calculations and simulations. These findings hold promise for the development of new systems combining sound, flow, and confinement.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xinjun Wu, Xin Guan, Shushu Chen, Jiangpeng Jia, Chongyi Chen, Jiawei Zhang, Chuanzhuang Zhao
Summary: This research presents a novel shape memory hydrogel with a remodelable permanent shape and programmable cold-induced shape recovery behavior. The hydrogel is prepared using specific treatment methods to achieve shape fixation by heating and shape recovery by cooling. Additionally, deformable devices can be obtained by assembling hydrogel blocks with different concentrations.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rebecca Hengsbach, Gerhard Fink, Ulrich Simon
Summary: This study examines the properties of DNA functionalized pNipmam microgels and pure pNipmam microgels at different concentrations of sodium chloride and in PBS solutions using temperature dependent H-1-NMR measurements. The results show that DNA modification affects the volume phase transition temperature and the addition of salt and PBS further enhances this effect.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ningyi Li, Junhong Li, Lijingting Qing, Shicheng Ma, Yao Li, Baohui Li
Summary: This paper investigates the self-assembly behavior of colloids with competing interactions under spherical confinement and finds that different ordered structures can be formed under different sized spherical confinements. Moreover, more perforated structures are formed in smaller spheres.
