Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
R. Paxton Thedford, Fei Yu, William R. T. Tait, Kunal Shastri, Francesco Monticone, Ulrich Wiesner
Summary: This review explores the opportunities and challenges of using soft matter science to synthesize quantum materials with advanced properties, highlighting existing work at the interface of these two fields and providing perspectives on future directions.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Vincenzo Calabrese, Stylianos Varchanis, Simon J. Haward, John Tsamopoulos, Amy Q. Shen
Summary: The study focuses on the structural control of rod-like cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) in soft glasses (SG) under mixed flows. By understanding the shear rheology of CNC-based SG and using a suitable constitutive model, it is possible to predict the structure-property relationship of the material. Experimental and numerical results show that the SG exhibits velocity overshoot and pronounced CNC alignment in mixed flow conditions, laying the foundation for the development of functional soft materials.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Mechanics
Shweta Sharma, V Shankar, Yogesh M. Joshi
Summary: This study analyzes the transient dynamics of viscoelastic flows during shear start-up, focusing on the onset of shear banding using different models and methods. The results suggest that there is no universal connection between the overshoot and subsequent decay of shear stress and the unstable eigenvalues obtained from stability analysis, making it difficult to predict transient shear banding based solely on shear stress behavior. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of considering factors that may affect the transient phenomena observed during shear start-up.
JOURNAL OF RHEOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Stefano Villa, Paolo Edera, Matteo Brizioli, Veronique Trappe, Fabio Giavazzi, Roberto Cerbino
Summary: Rheo-microscopy experiments aim to observe the microscopic material structure and dynamics directly, shedding light on the underlying mechanisms that determine the macroscopic mechanical properties. This article presents a flexible rheo-microscopy setup that can be used with various waveforms and imaging methods, making it easier to perform rheo-microscopy in interested laboratories.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
F. Nicot, X. Wang, A. Wautier, R. Wan, F. Darve
Summary: This paper investigates the phenomenon of shear banding in granular materials by connecting it to the minimum entropy production theorem and the second-order work theory. The analysis shows that a bifurcation in the failure behavior of granular materials under loading can be thermodynamically interpreted, and it is verified through discrete element simulations. The study suggests a new interpretation of shear banding as the emergence of ordered dissipative structures in nonequilibrium thermodynamics.
JOURNAL OF THE MECHANICS AND PHYSICS OF SOLIDS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Peter A. Beaucage, R. Bruce van Dover, Francis J. DiSalvo, Sol M. Gruner, Ulrich Wiesner
Summary: This study presents a solution to the challenge of synthesizing high-quality superconducting materials by demonstrating a novel synthesis route for superconductors with exceptional structure retention at high temperatures. The research also reveals a method for producing multiple different ordered-structure superconductors from a single triblock terpolymer, highlighting a fruitful convergence of soft and hard condensed matter science.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
E. Lerner, E. Bouchbinder
Summary: By studying disordered crystals and structural glasses, we found that the quartic law is applicable in both materials, and disordered crystals have more quasilocalized excitations compared to structural glasses. This research contributes to understanding the essential factors for the emergence of universal nonphononic excitations in disordered solids.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Huaizhe Yu, Kunlun Wang, Tibor Szilvasi, Karthik Nayani, Nanqi Bao, Robert J. Twieg, Manos Mavrikakis, Nicholas L. Abbott
Summary: Soft matter with programmed macroscopic responses to molecular analytes, such as the nematic liquid crystal composition described in this study, shows potential utility in health and safety contexts. The composition undergoes a distinct phase transition in response to organoamine vapors, with the formation of long-lasting metastable nematic phases. By utilizing experimental and computational methods, it was concluded that a one-to-one heterodimer is the dominant species in this LC composition, offering a chemically selective way to report the presence of volatile amines.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Stefan Luding, Kianoosh Taghizadeh, Chao Cheng, Lou Kondic
Summary: This study examines the evolution of dense granular systems in three dimensions during slow compression and decompression. It finds that the transitions in the system involve both smooth and continuous reversible events, as well as fast and discontinuous irreversible events. The analysis using persistent homology reveals that kinetic energy is correlated with the strength of rearrangements, while global mechanical measures, such as pressure, are strongly correlated with the evolution of topological measures quantifying loops in the force network. Surprisingly, some transitions are detected by persistent homology even when particle motion or rearrangement is weak or not observed at all.
Editorial Material
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Charlotte Allard
Summary: An article in Nano Letters introduces a method for transferring metallic nanopatterns onto soft matter such as tissues or single cells.
NATURE REVIEWS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Qinglei Zeng, Tao Wang, Shengxin Zhu, Hao-sen Chen, Daining Fang
Summary: In this work, a phase-field model is proposed to simulate dynamic shear band formation and successfully captures the nucleation of shear bands. The capability of the model in capturing shear band formation in various scenarios is validated through strain-based and stress-based criteria.
JOURNAL OF THE MECHANICS AND PHYSICS OF SOLIDS
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
D. Parisi, D. Vlassopoulos, H. Kriegs, J. K. G. Dhont, K. Kang
Summary: Soft glasses of colloidal rods with orientational domains exhibit inhomogeneous flow profiles, including fracture, plug flow, and gradient shear-banding. The observed gradient shear-banding is mainly attributed to the strong shear thinning behavior of the material inside the domains. Both texture stress and domain-interior stress significantly contribute to the gradient shear-banding transition at high concentrations, while domain coalescence reduces texture stress at low concentrations.
JOURNAL OF RHEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Artemii S. Ivanov, Konstantin G. Nikolaev, Alexander S. Novikov, Stanislav O. Yurchenko, Kostya S. Novoselov, Daria Andreeva, Ekaterina Skorb
Summary: The research focuses on using hydrogels of polyethylenimine and poly(acrylic acid) to form an interface on the surface of gallium-indium eutectic alloy, gradually increasing voltage to create various electronic components. A multilayer perceptron model with one hidden layer and 12 nodes is used to identify hydrogels' composition and automatically set the desired architecture of electronic components. This design allows for easy production of new electronic parts and programmable soft-matter electronics.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
D. Sopu
Summary: The complex nature of shear banding and the disordered structure of metallic glasses pose challenges in understanding the mechanisms of strain localization and shear band formation. The percolation of shear transformation zones (STZs) is widely accepted as the atomic-scale mechanism for shear banding. This review provides an up-to-date assessment of the STZ-Vortex mechanism and its applications in understanding shear band dynamics and deformation mechanisms in metallic glasses. It also highlights unresolved issues where the STZ-Vortex model could be effectively applied.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Weiqin Tang, Dayong Li, Yinghong Peng, Peidong Wu
Summary: The study investigates the mechanism of shear band formation and evolution in amorphous glassy polymers, and finds that the initiation and propagation of shear bands are caused by intrinsic strain softening. Shear bands form and propagate during forward shearing, but gradually disappear during reverse shearing. Furthermore, shear bands cannot be recovered through reverse straining during plastic deformation.