Related papers: Modelling of surfactant-driven front instabilities…

We consider the spreading dynamics of some insoluble surface-active species along an aqueous interface. The model includes both diffusion, Marangoni convection and first-order reaction kinetics. An exact solution of the nonlinear transport…

Bacteria build multicellular communities termed biofilms, which are often encased in a self-secreted extracellular matrix that gives the community mechanical strength and protection against harsh chemicals. How bacteria assemble distinct…

Thin liquid films are ubiquitous across many natural and engineering systems, including films which are laden with surface active molecules, i.e. surfactants. The presence of surfactants may have a destabilising effect on the film owing to…

We study the spreading of a bacterial colony undergoing turbulent like collective motion. We present two minimalistic models to investigate the interplay between population growth and coherent structures arising from turbulence. Using…

Bacterial communities such as biofilms are widely recognised as being important for survival and persistence of bacteria in harsh environments. Mechanistic models of biofilm growth indicate that the way in which the surface is seeded can…

In the growth of bacterial colonies, a great variety of complex patterns are observed in experiments, depending on external conditions and the bacterial species. Typically, existing models employ systems of reaction-diffusion equations or…

Spreading on the free surface of a complex fluid is ubiquitous in nature and industry, owing to the wide existence of complex fluids. Here we report on a fingering instability that develops during Marangoni spreading on a deep layer of…

We study the dynamics of surfactants spreading on gels, paying particular attention to the pattern formation accompanying the flow. The latter results from gel-cracking, promoted by Marangoni stresses, and resemble starbursts.

During colony growth, complex interactions regulate the bacterial orientation, leading to the formation of large-scale ordered structures, including topological defects and microdomains. These structures may benefit bacterial strains,…

We model the advective Marangoni spreading of insoluble surfactant at the free surface of a viscous fluid that is confined within a two-dimensional rectangular cavity. Interfacial deflections are assumed small, with contact lines pinned to…

Guided by computation, we theoretically calculate the steady flow driven by Marangoni stress due to surfactant introduced on a fluid interface at a constant rate. Two separate extreme cases, where the surfactant dynamics is dominated by the…

We introduce and analyze a model for osmotically spreading biofilm colonies at solid-air interfaces that includes wetting phenomena, i.e. surface forces. The model combines a hydrodynamic description for biologically passive liquid…

We study colonies of non-motile, rod-shaped bacteria growing on solid substrates. In our model, bacteria interact purely mechanically, by pushing each other away as they grow, and consume a diffusing nutrient. We show that mechanical…

Surfactants that are deposited at aqueous liquid films have the ability to generate surface tension gradients at the air-water interface, and thereby induce Marangoni flow. Combined with the production and depletion of surfactants at…

Biofilms inhabit a range of environments, such as dental plaques or soil micropores, often characterized by intricate, non-even surfaces. However, the impact of surface irregularities on the population dynamics of biofilms remains elusive…

Bacterial colonies growing on surfaces are shaped by mechanical stresses transmitted through the community, governed by the balance between cell growth and steric and cell-substrate interactions. Using overdamped dynamics simulations of…

The ability of bacteria to colonize and grow on different surfaces is an essential process for biofilm development and depends on complex biomechanical interactions between the biofilm and the underlying substrate. Changes in the physical…

How motile bacteria move near a surface is a problem of fundamental biophysical interest and is key to the emergence of several phenomena of biological, ecological and medical relevance, including biofilm formation. Solid boundaries can…

Bacteria invade surfaces by forming dense colonies encased in a polymer matrix. Successful settlement of founder bacteria, early microcolony development and later macroscopic spreading of these biofilms on surfaces rely on complex physical…

Bacterial biofilms are usually assumed to originate from individual cells deposited on a surface. However, many biofilm-forming bacteria tend to aggregate in the planktonic phase so that it is possible that many natural and infectious…