Related papers: Complete wetting transitions of nematic liquid cry…
The wetting properties of immiscible two-phase systems are crucial in a wide range of applications, from lab-on-a-chip devices to field-scale oil recovery. It has long been known that effective wetting properties can be altered by the…
There is a recent interest in studying odd elasticity in soft solids. Current focus has been on simple solids. However, many soft solids are structured and can exhibit nematic elasticity or viscoelasticity. Here we generalize the concept of…
We summarise some recent results on solution landscapes for two-dimensional (2D) problems in the Landau--de Gennes theory for nematic liquid crystals. We study energy-minimizing and non energy-minimizing solutions of the Euler--Lagrange…
We have studied the breakup and subsequent fluid flow in very thin films of partially wetting liquid on solid substrates, using molecular dynamics simulations. The liquid is made of short chain molecules interacting with Lennard-Jones…
We consider a nematic liquid crystal, in coexistence with its isotropic phase, in contact with a substrate patterned with rectangular grooves. In such a system, the nematic phase may fill the grooves without the occurrence of complete…
We mathematically model Smectic-A (SmA) phases with a modified Landau-de Gennes (mLdG) model. The orientational order of the SmA phase is described by a tensor-order parameter $\mathbf{Q}$, and the positional order is described by a real…
Droplets with different Weber numbers We impacting meshes at various inclination angles were investigated using high-speed photography. It was found that the droplet mesh penetration can be completely suppressed by inclining the mesh. The…
The anchoring of nematic liquid crystals on surfaces with grafted liquid crystalline chain molecules is studied by computer simulations and within a mean field approach. The computer simulations show that a swollen layer of collectively…
From hydrogels and plastics to liquid crystals, soft solids cover a wide array of synthetic and biological materials that play key enabling roles in advanced technologies such as 3D printing, soft robotics, wearable electronics,…
We discuss the effect of an external electric field on the wetting of a solid surface by liquid. To this end, we use a model of the two-level-atom fluid for which the changes in interatomic interactions due to the presence of the field can…
We study the equilibrium configuration of a nematic liquid crystal bounded by a rough surface. The wrinkling of the surface induces a partial melting in the degree of orientation. This softened region penetrates the bulk up to a length…
The profiles of a spreading wetting film are computed taking into account intermolecular forces and introducing a kinetic slip condition at a molecular cut-off distance. This eliminates the stress singularity, so that both "true" and…
Anisotropically wetting substrates enable useful control of droplet behavior across a range of applications. Usually, these involve chemically or physically patterning the substrate surface, or applying gradients in properties like…
Droplet impact on rough surfaces is of critical importance to various applications, yet remains incompletely understood. The present work aims to uncover droplet impact dynamics on random hydrophobic surfaces using volume of fluid…
In this paper, we presented an experimental and theoretical analysis of the formation of the contact between a smooth elastomer lens and an elastomer substrate micropatterned with hexagonal arrays of cylindrical pillars. We show using a JKR…
Theoretical calculations, computer simulations and experiments indicate the possible existence of a ferromagnetic liquid state. Should such a state exist, demagnetization effects would force a nontrivial magnetization texture governed by…
We consider a three dimensional liquid drop sitting on a rough and chemically heterogeneous substrate. Using a novel minimization technique on the free energy of this system, a generalized Young's equation for the contact angle is found. In…
Consideration is given to the effects of inhomogeneous shear flow (both regular and chaotic) on nematic liquid crystals in a planar geometry. The Landau--de Gennes equation coupled to an externally-prescribed flow field is the basis for the…
A mean-field theory is presented which describes the basic observations of recent experiments revealing rich wetting behaviour of n-alkane/methanol mixtures at the liquid-vapour interface. The theory, qualitative and in part heuristic, is…
The effects of line tension on the morphology of a sessile droplet placed on top of a convex spherical substrate are studied. The morphology of the droplet is determined from the global minimum of the Helmholtz free energy. The contact…