Related papers: Modelling microgels with controlled structure acro…
Generalized-ensemble simulations enable the study of complex adsorption scenarios of a coarse-grained model polymer near an attractive nanostring, representing an ultrathin nanowire. We perform canonical and microcanonical statistical…
Soft pair potentials predict a reentrant liquid phase for high concentrations, a behavior not observed experimentally. Here, very soft microgels confined at an oil-water interface are used as a model system of particles interacting via a…
We studied by means of computer simulations the low temperature properties of two-dimensional parahydrogen clusters comprising between 7 and 30 molecules. Computed energetics is in quantitative agreement with that reported in the only…
We present computer simulations of a realistic model of microgels. Unlike the regular network frameworks usually assumed in the simulation literature, we model and simulate a realistic and efficient synthesis route, mimicking cross-linking…
We discuss general thermodynamic properties of molecular structure formation processes like protein folding by means of simplified, coarse-grained models. The conformational transitions accompanying these processes exhibit similarities to…
We provide experimental and numerical evidence of a new class of soft nanocolloids: star-like microgels with thermoresponsive character. This is achieved by using the standard precipitation polymerization synthesis of…
We explore the glassy dynamics of soft colloids using microgels and charged particles interacting by steric and screened Coulomb interactions, respectively. In the supercooled regime, the structural relaxation time $\tau_\alpha$ of both…
We use dedicated microfluidic devices to expose soft hydrogel particles to a rapid change in the externally applied osmotic pressure and observe a non-monotonic response: After an initial rapid compression the particle slowly reswells to…
We present an experimental micro-model of drying porous media, based on microfluidic cells made of arrays of pillars on a regular grid, and complement these experiments with a matching two-dimensional pore-network model of drying. Disorder,…
In situ interfacial rheology and numerical simulations are used to investigate microgel monolayers in a wide range of packing fractions, $\zeta_{2D}$. The heterogeneous particle compressibility determines two flow regimes characterized by…
Stimulus-induced volumetric phase transition in gels may be potentially exploited for various bio-engineering and mechanical engineering applications. Since the discovery of the phenomenon in the 1970s, extensive experimental research has…
We consider the dynamics of micro-sized, asymmetrically-coated thermoresponsive hydrogel ribbons (microgels) under periodic heating and cooling in the confined space between two planar surfaces. As the result of the temperature changes, the…
The formation of colloidal gels is strongly dependent on the volume fraction of the system and the strength of the interactions between the colloids. Here we explore very dilute solutions by the means of numerical simulations, and show…
Engineering simple, artificial models of living cells allows synthetic biologists to study cellular functions under well-controlled conditions. Reconstituting multicellular behaviors with synthetic cell-mimics is still a challenge because…
We discuss a class of models for particulate gels in which the particle contacts are described by an effective interaction combining a two-body attraction and a three-body angular repulsion. Using molecular dynamics, we show how varying the…
Temperature-sensitive hydrogels based on polymers such as poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) undergo a volume phase transition in response to changes in temperature. During this transition, distinct changes in both thermal and mechanical…
We present an implementation in a linear-scaling density-functional theory code of an electronic enthalpy method, which has been found to be natural and efficient for the ab initio calculation of finite systems under hydrostatic pressure.…
Fibre-reinforced hydrogels are promising materials for biomedical applications due to their strength, toughness, and tunability. However, it remains unclear how to design fibre-reinforced hydrogels for use in specific applications due to…
We study equilibrium shapes and shape transformations of a confined semiflexible chain inside a soft lipid tubule using simulations and continuum theories. The deformed tubular shapes and chain conformations depend on the relative magnitude…
We consider a functional surface comprising thermoresponsive polymer chains, the material that has found numerous technological and biomedical applications. However, to achieve the required time and length scales for computer modelling of…