Related papers: Impact of Rigidity on Molecular Self-Assembly
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…
We investigate the structure and mechanical behavior of assemblies of frictionless, nearly rigid equal-sized beads, in the quasistatic limit, by numerical simulation. Three different loading paths are explored: triaxial compression,…
The depletion interaction mediated by non-adsorbing polymers promotes condensation and assembly of repulsive colloidal particles into diverse higher-order structures and materials. One example, with particularly rich emergent behaviors, is…
Self-assembly processes provide the means to achieve scalable and versatile metamaterials by "bottom-up" fabrication. Despite their enormous potential, especially as a platform for energy materials, self-assembled metamaterials are often…
The structure of polymers at solid interfaces evolves over time, but the corresponding changes in their rheological properties remain poorly understood. Here, using a home-built quartz tuning fork atomic force microscope-based…
Highly customizable interfaces created by van der Waals stacked 2D materials provide an extremely flexible opportunity for engineering and effectively controlling material properties. The atomic-thin nature and strong scalability of…
Two recent experimental (Li, J.~\emphj{et al}, \emph{Proc.\ Natl.\ Acad.\ Sci.\ U.~S.~A.} {\bf 2014}, 111, 1282-1287) and theoretical studies (B\^aldea, I, \emph{Phys.\ Chem.\ Chem.\ Phys.}\ {\bf 2014}, 16, 25942-25949) have addressed the…
Many variants of RNA, DNA, and even proteins can be considered semiflexible polymers, where bending stiffness, as a type of energetic penalty, competes with attractive van der Waals forces in structure formation processes. Here, we…
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit unique properties and potential applications when reduced to one-dimensional (1D) nanoribbons (NRs), owing to quantum confinement and high edge densities. However, effective growth methods for…
A discrete model for the sintering of polydisperse, inhomogeneous arrays of cylinders is presented with empirical contact force-laws, taking into account plastic deformations, cohesion, temperature dependence (melting), and long-time…
The surprising recent discoveries of quasicrystals and their approximants in soft matter systems poses the intriguing possibility that these structures can be realized in a broad range of nano- and micro-scale assemblies. It has been…
Building structures with hierarchical order through the self-assembly of smaller blocks is not only a prerogative of nature, but also a strategy to design artificial materials with tailored functions. We explore in simulation the…
The drying of colloidal suspensions leads to complex deposition patterns, accompanied by instabilities such as cracking and delamination. In this study, we experimentally investigate the coupled influence of particle surface charge and…
Self-assembly of colloidal particles is poised to become a powerful composite material fabrication technique, but remains challenged by a limited control over the ensuing structures. We develop a new breed of nematic colloids that are…
Dislocation nucleation is essential to our understanding of plastic deformation, ductility and mechanical strength of crystalline materials. Molecular dynamics simulation has played an important role in uncovering the fundamental mechanisms…
The modelling of heterogeneous and architected materials poses a significant challenge, demanding advanced homogenisation techniques. However, the complexity of this task can be considerably simplified through the application of micropolar…
The mechanical properties of biological materials are spatially heterogeneous. Typical tissues are made up of a spanning fibrous extracellular matrix in which various inclusions, such as living cells, are embedded. While the influence of…
Semiflexible polymers are ubiquitous in natural and artificial systems, where their intermediate rigidity gives rise to rich structural and dynamical behavior. Confinement plays a central role in these behaviors, as spatial restrictions can…
The investigation of collective behaviour in dense assemblies of self-propelled active particles has been motivated by a wide range of biological phenomena. Of particular interest are dynamical transitions of cellular and sub-cellular…
The tilings of lozenges in 2 dimensions and of rhomboedra in 3 dimensions are studied when they are constrained by fixed boundary conditions. We establish a link between those conditions and free or periodic boundary ones: the entropy is…