Related papers: Spontaneous formation of complex micelles from hom…
Dynamical heterogeneities in a colloidal fluid close to gelation are studied by means of computer simulations. A clear distinction between some fast particles and the rest, slow ones, is observed, yielding a picture of the gel composed by…
Recent experiments on vesicles formed from block copolymers with liquid-crystalline side-chains reveal a rich variety of vesicle morphologies. The additional internal order ("structure") developed by these self-assembled block copolymer…
We report the synthesis of complex salts made from the cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethyl-ammonium and diblock copolymers poly(acrylic acid)-block-poly(acrylamide) of different molecular weights. In water, the complex salts self-assemble…
We present computer simulations of a realistic model of microgels. Unlike the regular network frameworks usually assumed in the simulation literature, we model and simulate a realistic and efficient synthesis route, mimicking cross-linking…
The self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules usually takes place in a liquid phase, near room temperature. Here, using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments performed in real time, we show that freezing of aqueous solutions of…
Shape transformations of flat bilayer membranes and vesicles induced by hydrolysis and condensation reactions of amphiphilic molecules are studied using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. The hydrolysis and condensation…
Microgels made of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) are the prototype of soft, thermoresponsive particles widely used to study fundamental problems in condensed matter physics. However, their internal structure is far from homogeneous, and…
The non-linear response of entangled polymers to shear flow is complicated. Its current understanding is framed mainly as a rheological description in terms of the complex viscosity. However, the full picture requires an assessment of the…
We elucidate the molecular forces leading to assembly of two dimensional membrane-like structures composed of a one rod-length thick monolayer of aligned rods from an immiscible suspension of hard rods and depleting polymers. We perform…
Self-assembly in natural and synthetic molecular systems can create complex aggregates or materials whose properties and functionality rises from their internal structure and molecular arrangement. The key microscopic features that control…
Microphase separation is common in active biological systems as exemplified by the separation of RNA and DNA-rich phases in the cell nucleus driven by the transcriptional activity of polymerase enzymes acting similarly to amphiphiles in a…
In this work we characterize the configurational space of a short chain of colloidal particles as function of the range of directional and heterogeneous isotropic interactions. The individual particles forming the chain are colloids…
We study conformations assumed by single diblock star copolymers in a poor solvent by means of the Gaussian variational theory and Monte Carlo simulation in continuous space. Cases of stars with internal and external hydrophobic blocks are…
Random sequential adsorption algorithm is a popular tool for modelling structure of monolayers built in irreversible adsorption experiments. However, this algorithm becomes very inefficient when the density of molecules in a layer rises.…
Reactions at a strongly segregated interface of a symmetric binary polymer blend are investigated via Monte Carlo simulations. End functionalized homopolymers of different species interact at the interface instantaneously and irreversibly…
Monte Carlo computer simulations of a quasi two dimensional (2D) dipolar fluid at low and intermediate densities indicate that the structure of the fluid is well described by an ideal mixture of self-assembling clusters. A detailed analysis…
Shape transformations of amphiphilic molecular assemblies induced by chemical reaction are studied using coarse-grained molecular simulations. A binding reaction between hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules is considered. It is found that…
Hard helices can be regarded as a paradigmatic elementary model for a number of natural and synthetic soft matter systems, all featuring the helix as their basic structural unit: from natural polynucleotides and polypeptides to synthetic…
Molecular Cloud Complexes (MCCs) are highly structured and ``turbulent''. Observational evidence suggests that MCCs are dynamically dominated systems, rather than quasi-equilibrium entities. The observed structure is more likely a…
The influence of immobile filler particles (spheres, fibers, platelets) on polymer blend phase separation is investigated computationally using a generalization of the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook (CHC) model. Simulation shows that the selective…