Related papers: Polyelectrolyte intelligent gels. Design and appli…
We introduce a microscopically realistic model of a physical gel and use computer simulations to study its static and dynamic properties at thermal equilibrium. The phase diagram comprises a sol phase, a coexistence region ending at a…
We present a novel approach to probe elastic properties of polyelectrolyte multilayer microcapsules. The method is based on measurements of the capsule load-deformation curves with the atomic force microscope. The experiment suggests that…
We present a detailed numerical study of multi-component colloidal gels interacting sterically and obtained by arrested phase separation. Under deformation, we found that the interplay between the different intertwined networks is key.…
We develop a new quantitative molecular theory of liquid-phase dipolar polymer gels. We model monomer units of the polymer network as a couple of charged sites separated by a fluctuating distance. For the first time, within the random phase…
The swelling kinetics of charged polymer gels reflect the complex competition among elastic, mixing, and ionic contributions. Here, we used dynamic light scattering to investigate the collective diffusion coefficient of model gels, whose…
Natural and synthetic multi-component gels display emergent properties, which implies that they are more than just the sum of their components. This warrants the investigation of the role played by inter-species interactions in shaping gel…
With the ever-increasing digitization of society, the development of materials with low-power memory storage -similar to synapses- is becoming more relevant. The field of iontronic artificial synapses has gained traction, in particular with…
Letting free polymers diffuse from solution into a crosslinked polymer gel is often a crucial processing step in the synthesis of multiphase polymer-based gels, e.g., core-shell microgels. Here we use coarse-grained molecular dynamics…
Using Poisson-Boltzmann equation and linear response theory, we derive an effective interaction potential due to a fixed charge distribution in a solution containing polyelectrolytes and point salt. We obtain an expression for the effective…
All solid state batteries are claimed to be the next-generation battery system, in view of their safety accompanied by high energy densities. A new advanced, multiscale compatible, and fully three dimensional model for solid electrolytes is…
Soft particles display highly versatile properties with respect to hard colloids, even more so at fluid-fluid interfaces. In particular, microgels, consisting of a cross-linked polymer network, are able to deform and flatten upon adsorption…
We investigate the thermodynamic properties of a polyelectrolyte solution in a presence of {\it multivalent} salts. The polyions are modeled as rigid cylinders with the charge distributed uniformly along the major axis. The solution,…
Many key industrial processes, from electricity production, conversion and storage to electrocatalysis or electrochemistry in general, rely on physical mechanisms occurring at the interface between a metallic electrode and an electrolyte…
We use computer simulations to study the dynamics of a physical gel at high densities where gelation and the glass transition interfere. We report and provide detailed physical understanding of complex relaxation patterns for time…
A balanced investigation into the reliability of wireless smart health devices when it comes to the collection of biometric data under varying network/environmental conditions. Followed by a program implementation to begin introductory…
The elastic properties of granular hydrogels are commonly characterised under wet conditions, yet the influence of capillary interactions remains unclear. In practical applications, hydrogels operate in aqueous environments containing…
Programmable materials are desirable for a variety of functional applications that range from biomedical devices, actuators and soft robots to adaptive surfaces and deployable structures. However, current smart materials are often designed…
A theoretical model of electromigrative, diffusive and convectivetransport polymer-gel composites is presented. Bulk properties are derived from the standard electrokinetic model with an impenetrable charged sphere embedded in an…
Attractive colloidal gels display a solid-to-fluid transition as shear stresses above the yield stress are applied. This shear-induced transition is involved in virtually any application of colloidal gels. It is also crucial for controlling…
We review continuum elastic models for the transmission of both external forces and internal active cellular forces in biopolymer gels, and relate them to recent experiments. Rather than being exhaustive, we focus on continuum elastic…