Related papers: Counterion-Induced Swelling of Ionic Microgels
Long, shallow microchannels embedded in thick soft materials are widely used in microfluidic devices for lab-on-a-chip applications. However, the bulging effect caused by fluid--structure interactions between the internal viscous flow and…
The structure and interactions in electrolytes at high concentration have implications from energy storage to biomolecular interactions. However many experimental observations are yet to be explained in these mixtures, which are far beyond…
Thermoresponsive microgels are one of the most investigated class of soft colloids, thanks to their ability to undergo a Volume Phase Transition (VPT) close to ambient temperature. However, this fundamental phenomenon still lacks a detailed…
We use molecular dynamics simulations to probe hydration, ion spacing, and cation-anion interaction in two sulfonated polysulfones with different ion distributions along the polymer backbone. At room temperature, these polymers remain in a…
A highly-charged spherical colloid in a salt-free environment exerts such a powerful attraction on its counterions that a certain fraction condenses onto the surface of a particle. The degree of condensation depends on the curvature of the…
Thermo-responsive hydrogels are a promising material for creating controllable actuators for use in micro-scale devices, since they expand and contract significantly (absorbing or expelling fluid) in response to relatively small temperature…
Salt transport in bulk electrolytes is limited by diffusion and convection, but in microstructures with charged surfaces (e.g. microfluidic devices, porous media, soils, or biological tissues) surface conduction and electro-osmotic flow…
This paper describes an experimental study of filtration of a colloidal suspension using microfluidic devices. A suspension of micrometer-scale colloids flows through parallel slit-shaped pores at fixed pressure drop. Clogs and cakes are…
Macromolecules, when immersed in a polar solvent like water, become charged by a fixed surface charge density which is compensated by ``counter-ions'' moving out of the surface. Such classical particle systems exhibit poor screening…
Counterion distribution around an isolated flexible polyelectrolyte in the presence of a divalent salt is evaluated using the adsorption model [M. Muthukumar, J. Chem. Phys. {\bf 120}, 9343 (2004)] that considers Bjerrum length, salt…
The role of electrostatics on the interfacial properties of polyelectrolyte microgels has been discussed controversially in the literature. It is not yet clear if, or how, Coulomb interactions affect their behavior under interfacial…
The interaction between charged objects in an electrolyte solution is a fundamental question in soft matter physics. It is well-known that the electrostatic contribution to the interaction energy decays exponentially with object separation.…
Microgels are soft colloidal particles constituted by cross-linked polymer networks with a high potential for applications. In particular, after adsorption at a fluid interface, interfacial tension provides two-dimensional (2D) confinement…
Monolayers of soft colloidal particles confined at fluid interfaces have been attracting increasing interest for fundamental studies and applications alike. However, establishing the relation between their internal architecture, which is…
Two-dimensional microparticle crystals can be formed in the sheath of a gas discharge plasma. Ions from the bulk plasma are accelerated in the sheath electric field, flowing past the grains to create a positive ion wake downstream from the…
We analyze the isotropic compaction of assemblies composed of soft pentagons interacting through classical Coulomb friction via numerical simulations. The effect of the initial particle shape is discussed by comparing packings of pentagons…
We analyze the influence of finite ion size effects in the response of a salt-free concentrated suspension of spherical particles to an oscillating electric field. Salt-free suspensions are just composed of charged colloidal particles and…
Microgels are often discussed as well-suited model system for soft colloids. In contrast to rigid spheres, the microgel volume and, coupled to this, the volume fraction in dispersion can be manipulated by external stimuli. This behavior is…
Deformable colloids and macromolecules adsorb at interfaces, as they decrease the interfacial energy between the two media. The deformability, or softness, of these particles plays a pivotal role in the properties of the interface. In this…
The response of a suspension under a variety of static or alternating external fields strongly depends on the equilibrium electric double layer that surrounds the colloidal particles in the suspension. The theoretical models for salt-free…