Related papers: Confetti Ordering by Polymer Brushes
We discuss theoretically, using density-functional theory, the phase stability of nematic and smectic ordering in a suspension of platelets of the same thickness but with a high polydispersity in diameter, and study the influence of…
Using extensive molecular dynamics simulation of a coarse-grained model, we demonstrate the possibility of sustained unidirectional motion (durotaxis) of droplets without external energy supply when placed on a polymer brush substrate with…
We present experimental evidence that a minute amount of polymer additives can significantly enhance heat transport in the bulk region of turbulent thermal convection. The effects of polymer additives are found to be the…
We investigate the effects of extrinsic curvature on the turbulent behavior of a 2D active nematic confined to the surface of a cylinder. The surface of a cylinder has no intrinsic curvatrue and only extrinsic curvature. A nematic field…
Via computer simulations, we demonstrate how a densely grafted layer of polymers, a {\it brush}, could be turned into an efficient switch through chemical modification of some of its end-monomers. In this way, a surface coating with…
We have studied the response of surface properties and swelling behaviors of annealed poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (P2VP) brushes covalently tethered to solid planar surfaces to divalent salts in aqueous solutions at varied pH values. Results…
We investigate the morphology of diblock copolymers in the vicinity of flat, chemically patterned surfaces. Using a Ginzburg-Landau free energy, spatial variations of the order parameter are given in terms of a general two-dimensional…
We consider the mesoscopic model for the liquid crystalline brush that might serve as a photoswitchable aligning surface for preorientation of low molecular weight liquid crystals in a bulk. The brush is built by grafting the polymer chains…
In systems such as block copolymer mesophases or physical gels formed by associating copolymers, the dynamical properties are often controlled by the extraction/association of a sticking group. We propose a description of the…
Molecular dynamics simulations of a short-chain polymer melt between two brush-covered surfaces under shear have been performed. The end-grafted polymers which constitute the brush have the same chemical properties as the free chains in the…
Despite decades of research, the question of whether solutions and melts of highly entangled polymers exhibit shear banding as their steady state response to a steadily imposed shear flow remains controversial. From a theoretical viewpoint,…
In two dimensions, quenched disorder always rounds transitions involving the breaking of spatial symmetries so, in practice, it can often be difficult to infer what form the symmetry breaking would take in the ``ideal,'' zero disorder…
Monodisperse suspensions of Brownian colloidal spheres crystallize at high densities, and ordering under shear has been observed at densities below the crystallization threshold. We perform large-scale simulations of a model suspension…
Packing frustration for confined fluids, i.e., the incompatibility between the preferred packing of the fluid particles and the packing constraints imposed by the confining surfaces, is studied for a dense hard-sphere fluid confined between…
We show how including attraction in interparticle interactions reverses the effect of fluctuations in ordering of a prototypical artificial frustrated system. Buckled colloidal monolayers exhibit the same ground state as the Ising…
Polymer solutions exhibit anomalous flow thickening -- marked by an abrupt increase in the macroscopic flow resistance -- above a threshold flow rate in a porous medium, but not in bulk solution. This phenomenon has evaded a mechanistic…
Internal phoretic flows due to the interactions of solid boundaries with local chemical gradients may be created using chemical patterning. Alternatively, we demonstrate here that internal flows might also be induced by geometric…
The influence of surface constraints on the self-assembly of liquid droplets is investigated. A semi-quantitative explanation for large scale pattern formation consisting of small scale closely arranged droplets inside the large scale…
We study the effects of droplet ordering in initial optical transmittance through polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films prepared in the presence of an electrical field. The experimental data are interpreted by using a theoretical…
We study the effect of diluted flexible polymers on a disordered capillary wave state. The waves are generated at an interface of a dyed water sugar solution and a low viscous silicon oil. This allows for a quantitative measurement of the…