Article
Physics, Condensed Matter
Manuel Camargo, Diego Luis Gonzalez
Summary: This study explores the application of a two-step growth protocol to a one-dimensional colloidal model, comparing analytical results with those from molecular dynamics simulations. It is found that the two-step protocol allows for a better understanding and control on the island formation mechanism compared to the standard one-step protocol. The predicted features and advantages of the two-step process could be experimentally tested using deposition of colloidal spheres on pattern substrates.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Duowei Lu, Pedram Fatehi
Summary: This study developed mathematical models to investigate the interfacial energy between rough particles in colloidal systems. The results showed that higher aspect ratio, surface roughness, and relative surface roughness weakened the interaction energy and promoted particle aggregation. Furthermore, increasing particle size resulted in greater interaction energy, while the asperity ratio played a more significant role in controlling interfacial energy than the asperity number.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gavin J. Donley, Suresh Narayanan, Matthew A. Wade, Jun Dong Park, Robert L. Leheny, James L. Harden, Simon A. Rogers
Summary: We investigate the microstructural yielding dynamics of concentrated colloidal systems through creep/recovery tests coupled with X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS). The results reveal that the microstructural dynamics are closely related to the applied creep stresses, with small stresses leading to nearly complete recovery, while larger stresses accelerating the dynamics. The study also demonstrates that the yielding transition in these systems exhibits high heterogeneity on the microstructural level.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Deepak Mangal, Mohammad Nabizadeh, Safa Jamali
Summary: Yielding of colloidal gels under applied deformation involves various microstructural changes, including rearrangement, bond rupture, anisotropy, and reformation of secondary structures. This study applies network science tools to characterize the bonds based on their orientation and network centrality. The findings suggest that bonds with higher centralities in the network are more likely to rupture, indicating that network analysis can be used to predict failure points in colloidal gels.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Bernard Derrida, Peter Mottishaw
Summary: This study investigates the fluctuations in block sizes of a random energy model (REM) at two temperatures, analyzing the recurrence relations of overlap probabilities through the replica method and extending Parisi's replica symmetry breaking ansatz. The key finding is the necessity of allowing for fluctuations in block sizes even in the thermodynamic limit, which contrasts with fixed block sizes in the single temperature case.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS A-MATHEMATICAL AND THEORETICAL
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cecilia Herrero, Camille Scalliet, M. D. Ediger, Ludovic Berthier
Summary: The discovery of ultrastable glasses presents new challenges in understanding glassy systems. Recent experiments have studied the macroscopic devitrification of ultrastable glasses into liquids upon heating, but lacked microscopic resolution. By using molecular dynamics simulations, we analyze the kinetics of this transformation. Our study elucidates the nonequilibrium kinetics of glasses following a large temperature jump, which differs from both equilibrium relaxation and aging dynamics, and will guide future experimental studies.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Daniel Grober, Ivan Palaia, Mehmet Can Ucar, Edouard Hannezo, Andela Saric, Jeremie Palacci
Summary: The structure and mechanical properties of colloidal aggregates can be controlled by an active bath of swimming Escherichia coli. Passive beads immersed in this bath form unconventional clusters and gels, driven by the activity of the bacteria. The rotation of the aggregates, directed by the chirality of the E. coli flagella, and the internal activity control the phase diagram and structure of the aggregates.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Avni Jain, Florian Schulz, Francesco Dallari, Verena Markmann, Fabian Westermeier, Yugang Zhang, Gerhard Gruebel, Felix Lehmkuehler
Summary: In this study, the gelation of PEGylated gold nanoparticles dispersed in a glycerol-water mixture was investigated in situ by x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. The results reveal a three-step gelation process, including the simultaneous changes of structure and dynamics, establishment of gel network structure, and aging after the arrest of particle motion. Additionally, the gelation process is characterized by stress release.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Jae Hyung Cho, Irmgard Bischofberger
Summary: The study uses differential dynamic microscopy to investigate the thermal fluctuations of colloidal gels formed by strongly attractive particles at low volume fractions and decomposes them into two modes of dynamics, eventually linking them to macroscopic viscoelasticity via rheometry. Mixing two types of particles of distinct attraction strengths in different proportions allows control over the frequency dependence of the linear viscoelastic moduli of the binary gels by tuning the transition time at which the collective mode starts to dominate.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nobutomo Nakamura, Yuto Sakamoto, Hirotsugu Ogi
Summary: Nucleation by sedimentation of colloidal particles on a flat surface was experimentally observed, and the effect of attractive depletion force generated by polymers on nucleation was investigated. The study showed that above a threshold polymer concentration, the ratio of spontaneous nucleation increases, leading to a decrease in grain size, without observable dependence of contact angle on polymer concentration. The interaction between particles and the flat surface was found to mainly affect spontaneous nucleation, rather than the interaction between particles, and the nucleation process was successfully reproduced numerically using rate equations.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Jiankai Hu, Luhui Ning, Rui Liu, Mingcheng Yang, Ke Chen
Summary: By using video microscopy, the long-time diffusion coefficients of colloidal particles at different concentrations were measured. It was found that the measured values deviate from theoretical predictions in the supercooled regime. However, the theoretical diffusion relation can be recovered by assigning an effective mass proportional to the size of structurally correlated clusters to the diffusing particles, which provides an indirect method to probe the growth of static correlation length scales approaching the glass transition. This method was validated in quasi-two-dimensional experiments of crystallization of mono-disperse colloids.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Fengxian Cao, Huiwen Chen, Shibo Wang, Pengxu Chen, Chenwei Zhu, Zhang Lan, Weihai Sun, Yunlong Li, Jihuai Wu
Summary: By in-situ forming two-dimensional perovskites on the surface of three-dimensional perovskite films through a self-assembly method, along with the deposition of hole transporting material simultaneously, the fabrication process of PSCs is greatly simplified. This approach reduces trap states in devices and enhances the performance of the solar cells, leading to an increase in average power conversion efficiency by 10% and maintaining more than 82% of initial PCE after 672 hours of exposure under full 1-sun simulation.
MATERIALS TODAY PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Himangsu Bhaumik, Giuseppe Foffi, Srikanth Sastry
Summary: We numerically study the yielding transition of a two-dimensional model glass under athermal quasi-static cyclic shear deformation and investigate the effect of the degree of annealing on the yielding behavior. We find two distinct annealing regimes separated by a threshold energy. Poorly annealed glasses evolve towards the threshold energy as the strain amplitude increases, while well annealed glasses with initial energies below the threshold energy exhibit stable behavior until yielding. The discontinuities in energy and stress at yielding increase with the degree of annealing, consistent with recent findings in three dimensions.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Qihong Zhang, Zhaohui Lu, Chen Su, Zongmiao Feng, Hui Wang, Jingbo Yu, Weike Su
Summary: This study successfully improved the yield and production efficiency of CNCs through mechano-enzymatic hydrolysis, avoiding the use of bulk water and reducing production costs.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
J. D. Hernandez Velazquez, A. Gama Goicochea
Summary: Using mesoscale numerical simulations, the line tension and liquid-liquid correlation length of two immiscible liquids under two-dimensional and quasi-two dimensional conditions are calculated as a function of temperature. The results are compared with experiments on lipid membranes, showing good agreement. The scaling exponents of the line tension and correlation length with temperature are extracted, fulfilling the hyperscaling relationship, and the scaling of specific heat with temperature of the binary mixture is obtained. This work contributes to the understanding of nanomaterial properties using simple scaling laws.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Kinga Grenda, Julien Arnold, Jose A. F. Gamelas, Olivier J. Cayre, Maria G. Rasteiro
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
James Hitchcock, Alison L. White, Nicole Hondow, Thomas A. Hughes, Hanae Dupont, Simon Biggs, Olivier J. Cayre
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Polymer Science
Kinga Grenda, Jose A. F. Gamelas, Julien Arnold, Lorenzo Pellizzer, Olivier J. Cayre, Maria G. Rasteiro
Summary: This study successfully anionized Eucalyptus pulps from wood wastes using a two-step reaction method, producing a range of cellulose-based anionic PELs with different characteristics. These PELs showed promising performance in decolouration processes and are demonstrated to be potential eco-friendly alternatives for flocculation agents.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mariam Hussain, Mamatha Nagaraj, Olivier J. Cayre, Eric S. J. Robles, Hossam Tantawy, Andrew E. Bayly
Summary: The combination of NaLAS surfactant with polycarboxylate polymers in detergent formulations has been studied. The behavior of these systems in the absence of added electrolyte was explored using various techniques, revealing phase transitions and structural changes induced by the addition of polymers. The observed behaviors are attributed to depletion flocculation and salting-out effects, leading to the formation of different phases depending on the surfactant and polymer concentrations.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ouassef Nahi, Alexander N. Kulak, Alexander Broad, Yifei Xu, Cedrick O'Shaughnessy, Olivier J. Cayre, Sarah J. Day, Robert Darkins, Fiona C. Meldrum
Summary: The addition of miscible organic co-solvents to aqueous crystallization solutions can significantly enhance the potency of soluble additives, leading to improved morphological changes and increased additive incorporation within single crystals, demonstrating a general strategy for enhancing the efficacy of additives at low concentrations.
CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Samuel J. Stubley, Olivier J. Cayre, Brent S. Murray, Isabel Celigueta Torres, Isabel Fernandez Farres
Summary: A new enzyme-based method for producing permanently cross-linked pectin microgels was reported, compared with more traditional calcium cross-linked pectin microgels. The study found that sugar beet pectin microgels covalently cross-linked via lactase resisted dissolution in water for several months and exhibited highly irregular shapes.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Charlotte E. Pugsley, R. Elwyn Isaac, Nicholas J. Warren, Juliette S. Behra, Kaat Cappelle, Rosa Dominguez-Espinosa, Olivier J. Cayre
Summary: The interaction between the anionic phosphodiester backbone of DNA / RNA and polycations can be utilized for delivering genetic material. In this study, a nonviral delivery vehicle was synthesized for double-stranded RNA. The length of the polymer was found to affect the size, complexation efficiency, and stability of the polyplexes.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kirsty Stark, Cheng Cheng, James P. Hitchcock, Alison L. White, Nicole Hondow, Simon Biggs, Olivier J. Cayre
Summary: Emulsion droplets serve as templates for depositing metallic nanoparticles, utilizing both sides of the nanoparticles and the liquid core. Studies show that nanoparticles with diameters less than 10 nm are particularly important for catalytic purposes.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Samuel J. Stubley, Olivier J. Cayre, Brent S. Murray, Isabel Celigueta Torres
Summary: A novel range of microgel particles with different internal cross-linking densities was successfully created by covalently cross-linking sugar beet pectin (SBP) with the enzyme laccase and mechanically breaking down the subsequent parent hydrogels to sugar beet pectin microgels (SBPMG) via shearing. The rheological properties of SBPMG suspensions were studied in detail, and it was found that microgel morphology, elasticity (crosslinking density), and volume fraction had significant effects on the bulk rheological properties.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Peter M. Pittaway, Ghadir Ghasemi, Stephen T. Knox, Olivier J. Cayre, Nikil Kapur, Nicholas J. Warren
Summary: Miniaturised continuous-flow reactors provide a safe and cost-effective method for the synthesis of high-value chemical products. In this study, a miniature continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) cascade was used for continuous-flow RAFT polymerisation, which showed high performance and close resemblance to the theoretical CSTR cascade. The reactor's performance was evaluated for different polymerisation processes, and it was found that the residence time distribution (RTD) plays a crucial role in determining the properties of the resulting polymers.
REACTION CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Samuel J. Stubley, Olivier J. Cayre, Brent S. Murray, Isabel Celigueta Torres
Summary: Particle stabilized oil-in-water emulsions were fabricated using sugar beet pectin microgel particles with different crosslinking densities. The microgel particles showed improved physical stability compared to native sugar beet pectin, reducing droplet coarsening and creaming. The higher viscoelasticity of the microgel-stabilized emulsions was attributed to weak flocculation of droplets or the influence of the microgel on the aqueous phase.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Mohamed S. Manga, Lucy Higgins, Akshai A. Kumar, Benjamin T. Lobel, David W. York, Olivier J. Cayre
Summary: The diffusion rates and molecular weight of polymer emulsifiers have a significant impact on the stability and size of emulsion droplets. Larger molecules diffuse more slowly, resulting in larger and stable droplets, while smaller molecules diffuse quickly but offer limited stability, leading to droplet coalescence. Combining high and low molecular weight polymers as emulsifiers can achieve low dispersity and controllable emulsion sizes.
Article
Polymer Science
Charlotte E. Pugsley, R. Elwyn Isaac, Nicholas J. Warren, Olivier J. Cayre
Summary: This study reports the synthesis and characterization of linear ABC triblock copolymers, their self-assembly in aqueous solution, and their complexation and protection with dsRNA. The controlled polymerization allowed for modification of the hydrophobicity of the copolymers, while the cationic functionality enabled electrostatic interactions with anionic biomolecules.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ouassef Nahi, Alexander N. Kulak, Thomas Kress, Yi-Yeoun Kim, Ola G. Grendal, Melinda J. Duer, Olivier J. Cayre, Fiona C. Meldrum
Summary: A strategy of encapsulating protein nanogels within single crystals of calcite is presented to overcome the leakage and instability issues of current nanocarriers. The nanogels loaded with active compounds demonstrate stable storage and controlled release capabilities within the calcite host, making them resistant to harsh conditions like high temperature and pH. Comparisons with other systems show the superior encapsulation performance of the nanogel/calcite system for efficient storage, transport, and controlled release of active compounds.
Review
Agronomy
Charlotte E. Pugsley, R. E. Isaac, Nicholas J. Warren, Olivier J. Cayre
Summary: Since the discovery of RNA interference in 1998, research efforts have been focused on developing methods for protecting and delivering environmental dsRNA to enable RNAi-induced insect control. The main challenges include various obstacles in dsRNA delivery and the hindrances in the development of well-designed nanoparticles during the process of RNAi enhancement.
FRONTIERS IN AGRONOMY
(2021)
