Related papers: Porous membranes built up from hydrophilic poly(io…
The motility-induced phase separation exhibited by active particles with repulsive interactions is well known. We show that the interaction softness of active particles destabilizes the highly ordered dense phase, leading to the formation…
Interactions mediated by the cell membrane between inclusions, such as membrane proteins or antimicrobial peptides, play important roles in their biological activity. They also constitute a fascinating challenge for physicists, since they…
A new technique for the separation of macromolecules is proposed and investigated. A thin mesh with pores comparable to the radius of gyration of a free chain is used to filter chains according to their length. Without a field it has…
Permeation through nanometer pores is important in the design of materials for filtration and separation techniques and because of unusual fundamental behavior arising at the molecular scale. We found that submicron-thick membranes made…
We have fabricated and characterized a novel superhydrophobic system, a mesh-like porous superhydrophobic membrane with solid area fraction $\Phi_s$, which can maintain intimate contact with outside air and water reservoirs simultaneously.…
Controlled micro- to meso-scale porosity is a common materials design goal with possible applications ranging from molecular gas adsorption to particle size selective permeability or solubility. Here, we use inverse methods of statistical…
The main problem in liquid porosimetry, which prevents to see the pore sizes smaller than 2 microns in diameter, is direct gas diffusion flow through a micro-porous membrane. This diffusion causes bubbles formation below the membrane and…
Biological and biomimetic membranes often contain aggregates of embedded or adsorbed macromolecules. In this article, the indirect interactions of cylindrical objects adhering to a planar membrane are considered theoretically. The adhesion…
This work presents a model for characterizing porous, deformable media embedded with magnetorheological fluids (MRFs). These active fluids exhibit tunable mechanical and rheological properties that can be controlled through the application…
Geometrical arguments suggest that pore-mediated nucleation happens in general in a two-step fashion, the first step being nucleation within the pore, the second being nucleation from the filled pore into solution [Page & Sear, Phys. Rev.…
Biological membranes are capacitors that can be charged by applying a field across the membrane. The charges on the capacitor exert a force on the membrane that leads to electrostriction, i.e. a thinning of the membrane. Since the force is…
Capture and conversion of CO2 are of great importance for environment-friendly and sustainable development of human society. Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) combine some unique properties of ILs with that of polymers and are versatile materials…
The results of a numerical investigation of fluidized beds of spherical particles in a narrow vertical cylindrical pipe, with particular attention to the spontaneous settling along the wall, are reported. Starting from a steady fluidized…
When a rigid object approaches a soft material in a viscous fluid, hydrodynamic stresses arise in the lubricated contact region and deform the soft material. The elastic deformation modifies in turn the flow, hence generating a…
Thin cylindrical tethers are common lipid bilayer membrane structures, arising in situations ranging from micromanipulation experiments on artificial vesicles to the dynamic structure of the Golgi apparatus. We study the shape and formation…
The past decade has witnessed the rapid progress in synthesizing nanoporous organic networks or polymer frameworks for various potential applications. Generally speaking, functionalization of porous networks to add extra properties and…
Porous materials are relevant for a broad range of technologies from catalysis and filtration, to tissue engineering and lightweight structures. Controlling the porosity of these materials over multiple length scales often leads to enticing…
A new model for the interaction of an electric pulse with a lipid membrane is proposed. Using this model we show that when a DC electric pulse is applied to an insulating lipid membrane separating fluids with different conductivities, the…
Having smaller energy density than batteries, supercapacitors have exceptional power density and cyclability. Their energy density can be increased using ionic liquids and electrodes with sub-nanometer pores, but this tends to reduce their…
Diverse processes rely on the viscous flow of polymer solutions through porous media. In many cases, the macroscopic flow resistance abruptly increases above a threshold flow rate in a porous medium---but not in bulk solution. The reason…