Unravelling the multiscale surface mechanics of soft solids
Abstract
Soft solids and their surface deformations control the response of many natural and artificial systems. Yet, their underlying properties are vigorously debated, particularly for polymer networks. While molecular-scale theories predict no interfacial changes with macroscopic deformation, multiple experiments suggest otherwise. To settle this issue, we measure displacement fields near the interface of a silicone gel, in the limit of small deformations. We discover an unexpected multiscale response. The shear modulus decreases smoothly by half with 20 microns of the interface. At the same time we observe a surface excess elasticity, that depends on history and outer medium composition. These results reveal the fundamentally multiscale nature of polymeric surfaces, and call for further experimental and theoretical investigations into the basic understanding of soft solid interfaces
Cite
@article{arxiv.2410.09158,
title = {Unravelling the multiscale surface mechanics of soft solids},
author = {Nicolas Bain and Lawrence A. Wilen and Dominic Gerber and Mengjie Zu and Carl P. Goodrich and Senthilkumar Duraivel and Kaarthik Varma and Harsha Koganti and Robert W. Style and Eric R. Dufresne},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.09158},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
17 pages, 20 figures