Related papers: Coupling between criticality and gelation in "stic…
Wetting phenomena, molecular protrusions of lipid bilayers and membrane stacks under lateral tension provide physical examples for interacting surfaces with tension. Such surfaces are studied theoretically using functional renormalization…
The glass transition is the most enduring grand-challenge problem in contemporary condensed matter physics. Here, we review the contribution of colloid experiments to our understanding of this problem. First, we briefly outline the success…
The evolution of the microstructure due to spinodal decomposition in phase separated mixtures has a strong impact on the final material properties. In the late stage of coarsening, the system is characterized by the growth of a single…
We use large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of a simple glass-forming system to investigate how its liquid-gas phase separation kinetics depends on temperature. A shallow quench leads to a fully demixed liquid-gas system whereas a…
We performed dynamic pressure buckling experiments on defect-seeded spherical shells made of a common silicone elastomer. Unlike in quasi-static experiments, shells buckled at ostensibly subcritical pressures (i.e. below the…
The generic square-gradient density-functional model with triple-parabolic free energy is used to study the stability of a cavity introduced into the stretched liquid. The various properties of the critical cavity, which is the largest…
The sticking of a soft polystyrene colloidal particle to a planar glass plate was studied by a microrheological technique using an optical tweezer to trap the particle and a piezoelectric-stage to position the plate and to sinusoidally…
The interfacial free energy is a central quantity in crystallization from the meta-stable melt. In suspensions of charged colloidal spheres, nucleation and growth kinetics can be accurately measured from optical experiments. In previous…
We investigated the viscoelastic properties of colloid-polymer mixtures at intermediate colloid volume fraction and varying polymer concentrations, thereby tuning the attractive interactions. Within the examined range of polymer…
By using fluid-kinetic simulations of confined and concentrated emulsion droplets, we investigate the nature of space non-homogeneity in soft-glassy dynamics and provide quantitative measurements of the statistical features of plastic…
Determining the onset of rigidity in gels is a fundamental challenge with significant practical implications across different applications. Limited-valence, or patchy-particle systems have proven to be a valuable model to study the…
The liquid-vapor critical behavior of water is strongly influenced by both ionic solutes and confinement. Molecular dynamics simulations of aqueous NaCl solutions using the TIP4P/2005 water model and the Madrid-2019 ion parameters reveal a…
Contacts between particles in dense, sheared suspensions are believed to underpin much of their rheology. Roughness and adhesion are known to constrain the relative motion of particles, and thus globally affect the shear response, but an…
The square-well fluid with hard-sphere diameters is studied within the framework of Thermodynamic Geometry (TG). Coexistence and spinodal curves, as well as the Widom line for ranges $\lambda^{*} = 1.25, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0$ for this fluid are…
Second-order phase transitions are characterized by a divergence of the spatial correlation length of the order parameter fluctuations. For confined systems, this is known to lead to remarkable equilibrium physical phenomena, including…
A recent first-principles approach to the non-linear rheology of dense colloidal suspensions is evaluated and compared to simulation results of sheared systems close to their glass transitions. The predicted scenario of a universal…
We recently introduced a fluid-dynamical model for simulating relativistic nuclear collisions in the presence of a first-order phase transition and made explorative studies of head-on lead-lead collisions. We give here a more detailed…
This dissertation is founded on the central notion that structural correlations in dense fluids, such as dense gases, liquids, and glasses, are directly related to fundamental interatomic forces. This relationship was identified early in…
We present the results of a molecular dynamics simulation study of thermodynamic and structural properties upon supercooling of a low concentration sodium chloride solution in TIP4P water and the comparison with the corresponding bulk…
Dynamical heterogeneities in a colloidal fluid close to gelation are studied by means of computer simulations. A clear distinction between some fast particles and the rest, slow ones, is observed, yielding a picture of the gel composed by…