Related papers: Elastic Properties of Liquid Surfaces Coated with …
We propose an approach to measure surface elastic constants of soft solids. Generally, this requires one to probe interfacial mechanics at around the elastocapillary length scale, which is typically microscopic. Deformations of microscopic…
We study the lubrication of fluid-immersed soft interfaces and show that elastic deformation couples tangential and normal forces and thus generates lift. We consider materials that deform easily, due to either geometry (e.g. a shell) or…
Shapes of colloids matter at liquid interfaces. We explore the interactions between rough-surfaced nanocolloids at the air--water interface through the compaction of monolayers experimentally and numerically. Sufficiently rough systems…
We study the elastic properties of soft solids containing air bubbles. Contrary to standard porous materials, the softness of the matrix allows for a coupling of the matrix elasticity to surface tension forces brought in by the bubbles.…
Soft interfaces can mediate interactions between particles bound to them. The force transmitted through the surface geometry on a particle may be expressed as a closed line integral of the surface stress tensor around that particle. This…
The liquid-liquid phase separation of a binary solvent can be arrested by colloidal particles trapped at the interface [K. Stratford et al., Science 309, 5744 (2005)]. We show experimentally that the colloidal network so formed can remain…
Cholesteric liquid crystals can exhibit spatial patterns in molecular alignment at interfaces that can be exploited for particle assembly. These patterns emerge from the competition between bulk and surface energies, tunable with the system…
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.…
Surface properties of mixtures of charged platelike colloids and salt in contact with a charged planar wall are studied within density functional theory. The particles are modeled by hard cuboids with their edges constrained to be parallel…
Dispersed colloidal particles within a suspension can aggregate and spontaneously self-organize into a robust, percolating structure known as a gel. These network-like structures are prevalent in nature and play a critical role in many…
The wetting of solid surfaces can be manoeuvred by altering the energy balance at the interfacial region. While electric field acts favourably to spread a droplet on a rigid surface, this tendency may be significantly suppressed over soft…
The interface of a soft hydrogel is easily deformed when it is in contact with particles, droplets or cells. Here we compute the intricate shapes of hydrogel menisci due to the indentation of point particles. The analysis is based on a free…
Surface tension at cavity walls can play havoc with the mechanical properties of perforated soft solids when the cavities are filled with a fluid. This study is an investigation of the macroscopic elastic properties of elastomers embedding…
Colloidal particles dispersed in a partially ordered medium, such as a liquid crystal (LC) phase, disturb its alignment and are subject to elastic forces. These forces are long-ranged, anisotropic and tunable through temperature or external…
Lubrication forces depend to a high degree on elasticity, texture, charge, chemistry, and temperature of the interacting surfaces. Therefore, by appropriately designing surface properties, we may tailor lubrication forces to reduce…
By reinforcing the interaction energy of the liquid with respect to the surface using total wetting boundary conditions, the response of liquids to mechanical shear stress is stronger and exhibits at sub-millimeter scale elastic properties.…
When a suspension dries, the suspending fluid evaporates, leaving behind a dry film composed of the suspended particles. During the final stages of drying, the height of the fluid film on the substrate drops below the particle size,…
The dynamics of a thin elastic sheet lubricated by a narrow layer of liquid is relevant to various situations and length scales. In the continuity of our previous work on viscous wakes, we study theoretically the effects of an external…
We explore the influence of particle shape on the behavior of evaporating drops. A first set of experiments discovered that particle shape modifies particle deposition after drying. For sessile drops, spheres are deposited in a ring-like…
Diverse processes -- e.g., environmental pollution, groundwater remediation, oil recovery, filtration, and drug delivery -- involve the transport of colloidal particles in porous media. Using confocal microscopy, we directly visualize this…