Related papers: Cross-linking inhomogeneity in nano-composite hydr…
Complex networks have been widely used in science and technology because of their ability to represent several systems. One of these systems is found in Biochemistry, in which the synthesis of new nanoparticles is a hot topic. However, the…
We use a coarse-grained molecular model to study the self-assembly process of complexes of cationic and neutral lipids with DNA molecules ("lipoplexes") - a promising nonviral carrier of DNA for gene therapy. We identify the resulting…
The question of if silica nanoparticles can enhance the ionic conductivity of a polymer electrolyte above its crystallization temperature has remained unclear for the two decades following the first experiments on these systems. We use…
Topological defects are a ubiquitous phenomenon in diverse physical systems. In nematic liquid crystals (LCs), they are dynamic, physicochemically distinct, sensitive to stimuli, and are thereby promising for a range of applications.…
The fundamental understanding of water confined in porous coordination polymers (PCPs) is significantly important not only for their applications such as gas storage and separation, but also for exploring the confinement effects in the…
We have studied the plasmonic properties of aperiodic arrays of identical nanoparticles (NPs) formed by two opposite and equal graded-chains (a chain where interactions change gradually). We found that these arrays concentrate the external…
We present a versatile setup for investigating the nanofluidic behavior of nanoparticles as a function of the gap distance between two confining surfaces. The setup is designed as an open system which operates with small amounts of…
Layers obtained by drying a colloidal dispersion of silica spheres are found to be a good benchmark to test the elastic behaviour of porous media, in the challenging case of high porosities and nano-sized microstructures. Classically used…
The ordering of nanoparticles into predetermined configurations is of importance to the design of advanced technologies. In this work, we moderate the surface anchoring against the bulk elasticity of liquid crystals to dynamically shape…
The design of hydrogels that combine mechanical robustness with dynamic reconfigurability remains a fundamental challenge, as increasing crosslink dissociation rates compromise network integrity. This limitation is addressed through the…
Using video-microscopy imaging we demonstrate the existence of a short-ranged equilibrium attraction between heavy silica colloids diffusing on soft surfaces of cross-linked polymer gels. The inter-colloid potential can be tuned by changing…
Patchy colloidal platelets with convex, non-spherical shapes have been realized with different materials at length scales ranging from nanometers to microns. While the assembly of these hard shapes tends to maximize edge-to-edge contacts,…
Colloidal particles suspended in liquid crystals can exhibit various effective anisotropic interactions that can be tuned and utilized in self-assembly processes. We simulate a two-dimensional system of hard disks suspended in a solution of…
The impact of nanomaterials on lung fluids or on the plasma membrane of living cells has prompted researchers to examine the interactions between nanoparticles and lipid vesicles. Recent studies have shown that nanoparticle-lipid…
Plastic deformation of heterogeneous solid structures is often characterized by random intermittent local plastic events. On the mesoscale this feature can be represented by a spatially fluctuating local yield threshold. Here we study the…
We present a selection of x-ray and neutron diffraction patterns of spherical (He, Ar), dumbbell- (N2, CO), and chain-like molecules (n-C9H20, n-C19H40) solidified in nanopores of silica glass (mean pore diameter 7nm). These patterns allow…
The existence of nanoscale ductility during the fracture of silicate glasses remains controversial. Here, based on molecular dynamics simulations coupled with topological constraint theory, we show that nano-ductility arises from the…
When polyelectrolyte-neutral block copolymers are mixed in aqueous solutions with oppositely charged species, stable complexes are found to form spontaneously. The mechanism is based on electrostatics, and on the compensation between the…
It is well-known that the architecture of macromolecules plays an important role in the hydrodynamics and viscosity of its semi-diluted solutions. However, the systematic study of the rheology of macromolecules with complex topology, such…
The assembly of colloids in nematic liquid crystals via topological defects has been extensively studied for spherical particles, and investigations of other colloid shapes have revealed a wide array of new assembly behaviors. We show,…