Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhen Wei Wu, Yixiao Chen, Wei-Hua Wang, Walter Kob, Limei Xu
Summary: The plastic deformation of crystalline materials can be explained by considering structural defects such as disclinations and dislocations. However, it is challenging to understand the mechanical properties and plastic events of glasses due to their liquid-like structure. In this study, the authors investigate the topological characteristics of a two-dimensional glass model and find that plastic events correlate with topological defects that have a negative charge. This provides a direct link between the structure of glasses and plastic behavior during deformation.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Kamran Karimi, Mikko J. Alava, Stefanos Papanikolaou
Summary: We investigated the behavior of the local, microstructural elastic modulus across the plastic yielding transition in six Ni-based multicomponent glasses. Elastic modulus fluctuations displayed consistent percolation characteristics, indicating universal behavior across chemical compositions and overall yielding sharpness characteristics. Elastic heterogeneity grew upon shearing via the percolation of elastically soft clusters within an otherwise rigid amorphous matrix, confirming prior investigations in granular media and colloidal glasses. We observed clear signatures of percolation transition with spanning clusters that were universally characterized by scale-free characteristics and critical scaling exponents.
PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Yashika Sharma, Sevi Murugavel
Summary: The study provides direct evidence for the behavior of single and bipolarons in chalcogenide glasses using impedance spectroscopy. Different behaviors were observed in Te-based glasses compared to amorphous tetrahedral semiconductors, depending on temperature and frequency. The presence of single polarons hopping between charged and neutral defect centers was identified in addition to bipolaronic contribution, with distinct relaxation characteristics within the measured frequency window.
JOURNAL OF NON-CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mikhail Yu Ivanov, Olga D. Bakulina, Dmitriy Alimov, Sergey A. Prikhod'ko, Sergey L. Veber, Svetlana Pylaeva, Nicolay Yu Adonin, Matvey Fedin
Summary: Recent studies have shown intriguing heterogeneities and nanostructural reorganizations in glassy ionic liquids, with alkyl chains playing a key role. Similar manifestations have been observed in common non-IL glasses containing molecules with alkyl chains, but the development of anomalies is hindered by lower glass transition temperatures.
NANOSCALE ADVANCES
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Xuanyu Zhang, Xiaobin Dai, Wenjie Wei, Wenlong Chen, Lijuan Gao, Li-Tang Yan
Summary: This study investigates the rotational diffusion dynamics and physical mechanism of rod-like particles in macromolecular networks. By conducting large-scale simulations and theoretical analysis, the researchers identify three characteristic rotational dynamics - Brownian, hopping, and restricted, and establish a phase diagram for these rotational patterns based on the diameter and length of the rods. Furthermore, they discover a strong dynamic correlation between rotational and translational dynamics at the boundary between hopping and restricted rotational dynamics. An analytical model is developed to interpret the emergence of hopping rotational dynamics. These findings contribute to the understanding of the fundamental physics of anisotropic particles in confined mediates like macromolecular networks.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Di Chen, Chujun Ni, Lulin Xie, Ye Li, Shihong Deng, Qian Zhao, Tao Xie
Summary: This research introduces a self-growth strategy to bypass conventional photolithography and achieve controllable formation of microstructures using direct soft lithography. The single-step process is not only fast and environmentally friendly but also adaptable to three-dimensional complex surfaces.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Zhijia Zhang, Haechan Jeong, Di Zu, Xintao Zhao, Pramith Senaratne, John Filbin, Brett Silber, Sarah Kang, Ann Gladstone, Matthew Lau, Guangjie Cui, Younggeun Park, Somin Eunice Lee
Summary: In this study, the conjugation, target recognition, and DNA cleavage processes of CRISPR-Cas system were dynamically observed using single particle spectroscopy. The findings show that the CRISPR-Cas system is stable and functional on single particle surfaces and there is heterogeneity in target recognition and DNA cleavage processes.
Article
Polymer Science
Wei Zhen Lian, Zhi Wei Fan, Kunpeng Cui, Panchao Yin, Junsheng Yang, Han Jiang, Liqun Tang, Taolin Sun
Summary: The recently developed tough and self-healing hydrogels with physical bonds have various applications in bioengineering and soft electronics. The structural heterogeneities of these hydrogels strongly influence their mechanical performances, with two distinct hydrogel regions observed based on different polymer compositions.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Kuniyasu Saitoh, Takeshi Kawasaki
Summary: We investigated the characteristics of two-dimensional dense granular flows using molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that the shear-induced diffusion of granular particles exhibits different behaviors at different time scales, and is also influenced by the contact damping model.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yanming Zhang, Liping Huang, Yunfeng Shi
Summary: Consolidating glassy nanoparticles with different compositions can prepare Al2O3-SiO2 binary glasses with structural and chemical heterogeneities, exhibiting excellent ductility and enhanced flow strength, offering a novel method for synthesizing strong and transparent oxide glasses.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
X. Yuan, D. Sopu, J. Eckert
Summary: The local stress state in metallic glasses can be modulated without affecting their structure, leading to enhanced ductility and strain hardening during loading. The stress heterogeneity in metallic glasses results in shear band multiplication, ultimately enhancing their macroscopic ductility. Additionally, residual compressive stress significantly increases the strength of the glass and contributes to observed strain hardening.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
D. X. Han, G. Wang, Q. Wang, R. Feng, X. D. Ma, K. C. Chan, C. T. Liu
Summary: Shear-banding behavior in metallic glasses, which is associated with yield strength, is influenced by many factors at a micro-scale. In this study, a plastic-strength model was developed considering machine compliance, micro-pillar geometry imperfection, and substrate sink-in. The model was supported by the compressive properties of 18 metallic glasses and provides guidance for elastic limits and shear-banding dynamics at the micro-scale in characterizing deformation behavior of amorphous materials.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
J. H. Yu, L. Q. Shen, D. Sopu, B. A. Sun, W. H. Wang
Summary: The study provides an intuitive interpretation for the critical growth of an atomic-scale plastic flow unit in metallic glasses through an energy conversion approach. It is found that the growth of the atomic units is a competition process between intrinsic configurational entropy change and the constraint effect of the glassy matrix on the inelastic deformation of the plastic flow unit. At the yielding point, the activation of a plastic flow unit should take the easiest path in the potential energy landscape, with the intrinsic configurational entropy change and the elastic constraint effect contributing equally to the activation energy barrier.
SCRIPTA MATERIALIA
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Sree Harsha Nandam, Ruth Schwaiger, Aaron Kobler, Christian Kuebel, Chaomin Wang, Yulia Ivanisenko, Horst Hahn
Summary: By introducing nanoscale heterogeneities, including both crystalline and amorphous, significant improvements in plasticity of metallic glasses can be achieved. Nanoglass exhibits higher yield strength compared to conventional metallic glasses.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shubham Agrawal, Peng Bai
Summary: Lithium-ion batteries rely on particulate porous electrodes to achieve high performance. This study reveals that the seemingly random reaction heterogeneities in these electrodes are actually controlled by the interplay between non-equilibrium material thermodynamics and electrochemical kinetics. Operando experiments show the existence of autonomous dynamic loops that control the phase-transformation dynamics within and between particles, determining the true local current density.
CELL REPORTS PHYSICAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Mihir Durve, Adriano Tiribocchi, Fabio Bonaccorso, Andrea Montessori, Marco Lauricella, Jan Guzowski, Sauro Succi
Summary: Deep neural networks are powerful tools for data analysis in microfluidic systems, particularly in droplet counting and tracking. This study combines the YOLO and DeepSORT algorithms to create the image analysis tool DropTrack for droplet tracking in microfluidic experiments. Training the YOLO network with hybrid datasets improves the accuracy of droplet detection and counting in real experimental videos, while reducing the labor-intensive image annotation work. DropTrack's performance is evaluated based on mean average precision, mean squared error, and image analysis speed for droplet tracking.
Article
Mechanics
Valentina Lombardi, Michele La Rocca, Andrea Montessori, Sauro Succi, Pietro Prestininzi
Summary: Droplets impacting solid surfaces and jumping over gaps are common phenomena in both natural and industrial environments. Through experiments, it has been found that droplets can deform upon impact and climb sharp edges. This unique behavior is attributed to the conversion of rotational momentum into linear momentum. The study shows that droplets are more likely to jump over gaps compared to solid spheres. This research contributes to the understanding of the rotational speed of droplets on hydrophobic surfaces.
JOURNAL OF FLUID MECHANICS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Pablo G. Tello, D. O. N. A. T. O. Bini, S. T. U. A. R. T. Kauffman, S. A. U. R. O. Succi
Summary: This letter proposes an approach to the vacuum energy and the cosmological constant (CC) paradox based on the Zel'dovich's ansatz, which states that the observable contribution to the vacuum energy density is given by the gravitational energy of virtual particle-antiparticle pairs. The novelty of this work is the use of an ultraviolet cut-off length based on the holographic principle, which yields current values of the CC in semi-quantitative agreement with experimental observations.
Article
Mechanics
Lei Yi, Cheng Wang, Thomas van Vuren, Detlef Lohse, Frederic Risso, Federico Toschi, Chao Sun
Summary: This study investigates the microscopic droplet size and macroscopic rheology of emulsions in a Taylor-Couette turbulent shear flow by varying the oil volume fraction. It is found that oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions exhibit distinct hydrodynamic behaviors, which can be attributed to the presence of surface-active contaminants. The addition of an oil-soluble surfactant restores the symmetry between O/W and W/O emulsions. Furthermore, the droplet size in turbulent emulsions is determined by dynamic pressure caused by the gradient of the mean flow rather than turbulent fluctuations.
JOURNAL OF FLUID MECHANICS
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Lokahith Agasthya, Andreas Bartel, Luca Biferale, Matthias Ehrhardt, Federico Toschi
Summary: This article investigates the complex interactions between non-isothermal particles suspended in a fluid and provides a numerical study that demonstrates the control of thermal convection through pure Lagrangian forcing.
JOURNAL OF FLUID MECHANICS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Mathematical
Daniele Simeoni, Alessandro Gabbana, Sauro Succi
Summary: In this work, we provide both analytic and numerical solutions for the Bjorken flow, which is a standard benchmark in relativistic hydrodynamics. It offers a simple model for the macroscopic evolution of matter produced in heavy nucleus collisions. We consider relativistic gases with both massive and massless particles, working in a (2+1) and (3+1) Minkowski spacetime coordinate system. The numerical results obtained from a newly developed lattice kinetic scheme show excellent agreement with the analytic solutions.
COMMUNICATIONS IN COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Mathematical
Giacomo Falcucci, Giorgio Amati, Pierluigi Fanelli, Sauro Succi, Maurizio Porfiri
Summary: This study investigates the flow characteristics of the Hexactinellid Sponge Euplectella aspergillum using large-scale simulations. The findings reveal the evolutionary adaptations of deep-sea sponges to fluid flow and open up new possibilities for interdisciplinary research in physics, engineering, and biology at the ocean interface.
COMMUNICATIONS IN COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Roberto Benzi, Thibaut Divoux, Catherine Barentin, Sebastien Manneville, Mauro Sbragaglia, Federico Toschi
Summary: Soft Glassy Materials (SGM) are dense amorphous assemblies of colloidal particles with diverse shapes, elasticity, and interactions, giving them solid-like properties at rest. They are widely used in modern engineering fields such as additive manufacturing, semi-solid flow cells, dip coating, and adhesive locomotion, and often undergo a solid-to-liquid transition induced by shear. In this article, we propose a continuum model based on a spatially resolved fluidity approach to explain shear-induced yielding in SGMs. Our model captures quantitatively the key features of complex flows in SGMs, including the rate dependence of stress overshoot, transient shear-banded flows, and scaling laws for fluidization times.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Mihir Durve, Sibilla Orsini, Adriano Tiribocchi, Andrea Montessori, Jean-Michel Tucny, Marco Lauricella, Andrea Camposeo, Dario Pisignano, Sauro Succi
Summary: Tracking droplets in microfluidics is a challenging task, and choosing a tool to analyze microfluidic videos is difficult. The YOLO and DeepSORT algorithms are used for droplet identification and tracking by training networks. Several YOLOv5 and YOLOv7 models and the DeepSORT network were trained for droplet tracking. Performance comparison between YOLOv5 and YOLOv7 in terms of training time and video analysis time was conducted. Real-time tracking was achieved with lighter YOLO models on RTX 3070 Ti GPU due to additional droplet tracking costs from the DeepSORT algorithm. This work serves as a benchmark study for YOLOv5 and YOLOv7 networks with DeepSORT for microfluidic droplet analysis.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL E
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Adriano Tiribocchi, Andrea Montessori, Giorgio Amati, Massimo Bernaschi, Fabio Bonaccorso, Sergio Orlandini, Sauro Succi, Marco Lauricella
Summary: A regularized version of the lattice Boltzmann method is proposed for efficient simulation of soft materials. It reconstructs the distribution functions from available hydrodynamic variables without storing the full set of discrete populations, leading to lower memory requirements and data access costs. Benchmark tests validate the method's effectiveness for simulating soft matter systems, particularly on future exascale computers.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Gianni V. Vinci, Roberto Benzi, Maurizio Mattia
Summary: Despite the complexity and stochastic nature of brain networks, a theory for the dynamics of finite assemblies of spiking neurons is lacking. In this study, we fill this gap by extending the population density approach to include a size-dependent stochastic source in the Fokker-Planck equation. We analytically characterize the finite-size noise in this equation, providing a self-consistent and nonperturbative description of the neuronal dynamics valid for a wide range of networks.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
A. Tiribocchi, M. Durve, M. Lauricella, A. Montessori, D. Marenduzzo, S. Succi
Summary: Active droplets are artificial microswimmers that exhibit self-propelled motion. The authors study the effect of activity on a droplet containing a contractile polar fluid confined within microfluidic channels of various sizes. They find a range of shapes and dynamic regimes, regulated by contractile stress, droplet elasticity, and microchannel width.
Article
Physics, Particles & Fields
Andrea Solfanelli, Stefano Ruffo, Sauro Succi, Nicolo Defenu
Summary: In this study, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of the entanglement entropy for Kitaev chains with long-range hopping and pairing couplings. We find that the system exhibits an extremely rich phenomenology due to its truly non-local nature. In the strong long-range regime, we observe logarithmic, fractal, or volume-law entanglement scaling depending on the values of the chemical potential and power law decay strength.
JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Oceanography
Abigail Plummer, Mara Freilich, Roberto Benzi, Chang Jae Choi, Lisa Sudek, Alexandra Z. Worden, Federico Toschi, Amala Mahadevan
Summary: This study explores the impact of submesoscale velocity gradients on phytoplankton ecology using observations, simulations, and theory. The results show that these velocity gradients can significantly modify ecological competition and dispersal, resulting in variation in community composition up to 20%. The findings suggest that submesoscale divergence is a plausible contributor to observed taxonomic variability at oceanic fronts.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Roberto Benzi, Angelo Vulpiani
Summary: The introduction of the multifractal description in the 1980s played an important role in the fields of statistical physics, chaos, and disordered systems. It provided a way to characterize the anomalous scaling of fully developed turbulence and clarified the inaccuracy of the common idea from critical phenomena that only a few scaling exponents are relevant.
RENDICONTI LINCEI-SCIENZE FISICHE E NATURALI
(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.