Related papers: Brush-like Interactions between Thermoresponsive M…
The behavior of microgels near surfaces and their adsorption is studied by simple scaling theory. Two different types of microgels can be studied, i.e., fractal type microgels and randomly crosslinked polymer chains. In the first case the…
Soft membranes are commonly employed in shape-morphing applications, where the material is programmed to achieve a target shape upon activation by an external trigger, and as coating layers that alter the surface characteristics of bulk…
We present a systematic investigation of static and dynamic properties of block copolymer micelles with crosslinked cores, representing model polymer-grafted nanoparticles, over a wide concentration range from dilute regime to an arrested…
We present a systematic investigation of static and dynamic properties of block copolymer micelles with crosslinked cores, representing model polymer-grafted nanoparticles, over a wide concentration range from dilute regime to an arrested…
Within a model where micrometer-size soft colloidal particles are viewed as liquid drops, we theoretically study the contact interaction between them. We compute the exact deformation energy across a broad range of indentations and for…
The elastic properties of a soft matter material can be greatly altered by the presence of solid inclusions whose microscopic properties, such as their size and interactions, can have a dramatic effect. In order to shed light on these…
The efficiency of soft particles to stabilize emulsions is examined by measuring their desorption free energy, i.e., the mechanical work required to detach the particle from a fluid interface. Here, we consider rubber-like elastic as well…
This paper adopts a previously developed activation model of shear thickening, published by the authors, to sterically stabilized colloidal suspensions. When particles arranged along the compression axis of a sheared suspension, they may…
Current engineering wear models are often based on empirical parameters rather than built upon physical considerations. Here, we look for a physical description of adhesive wear at the microscale, at which the interaction between two…
We study the swelling and shrinking behavior of core-shell microgels adsorbed on silicon wafers. In these systems, the core is made of cross-linked poly(N isopropylmethacrylamide) and the shell consists of cross linked poly(N-n…
Very recently, the construction of twist actuators from magnetorheological gels and elastomers has been suggested. These materials consist of magnetizable colloidal particles embedded in a soft elastic polymeric environment. The twist…
Thermo-responsive hydrogels are smart materials that rapidly switch between hydrophilic (swollen) and hydrophobic (shrunken) states when heated past a threshold temperature, resulting in order-of-magnitude changes in gel volume. Modelling…
Inspired by the path followed by Matthias Ballauff over the past 20 years, the development of thermosensitive core-shell microgel structures is reviewed. Different chemical approaches, from hard nanoparticle cores to double…
The microscopic structure of several amorphous substances often reveals complex patterns such as medium- or long-range order, spatial heterogeneity, and even local polycrystallinity. To capture all these features, models usually incorporate…
Microgels are complex macromolecules. These colloid-sized polymer networks possess internal degrees of freedom and, depending on the polymer(s) they are made of, can acquire a responsiveness to variations of the environment (temperature,…
We use computer simulations to study the morphology and rheological properties of a bidimensional emulsion resulting from a mixture of a passive isotropic fluid and an active contractile polar gel, in the presence of a surfactant that…
Using numerical simulations, the rheological response of an athermal assembly of soft particles with tunable attractive interactions is studied in the vicinity of jamming. At small attractions, a fragile solid develops and a finite yield…
The structural characterization of microgels at interfaces is fundamental to understand both their 2D phase behavior and their role as stabilizers that enable emulsions to be broken on demand. However, this characterization is usually…
Extensibility is beyond the paradigm of classical soft glassy materials, and more broadly, yield-stress fluids. Recently, model yield-stress fluids with significant extensibility have been designed by adding polymeric phases to classically…
Molecular clouds (MCs) are stellar nurseries, however, formation of stars within MCs depends on the ambient physical conditions. MCs, over a free-fall time are exposed to numerous dynamical phenomena, of which, the interaction with a thin,…