Related papers: Interface-induced hysteretic volume phase transiti…
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…
For studying the structure of microgel particles at the air/water interface, specular and off-specular X-ray reflectivity (OSR/XRR) allows in situ measurements without any labelling techniques. Herein we investigate the vertical and lateral…
Microgels are soft colloidal particles that, when dispersed in a solvent, swell and deswell in response to changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature, concentration, and $p$H. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we model bulk…
Numerical heat and mass transfer analysis of a configuration where a cool liquid hydrocarbon is suddenly introduced to a hotter gas at supercritical pressure shows that a well-defined phase equilibrium can be established before substantial…
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…
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based microgels are soft colloids undergoing a Volume Phase Transition (VPT) close to ambient temperature. Although widely employed for fundamental research and application purposes, the modifications of the…
We report extensive simulation studies of phase behaviour in single component systems of particles interacting via a core-softened interparticle potential. Two recently proposed examples of such potentials are considered; one in which the…
The peculiar linear temperature-dependent swelling of core-shell microgels has been conjectured to be linked to the core-shell architecture combining materials of different transition temperatures. Here the structure of pNIPMAM-core and…
We employ small-angle X-ray and dynamic light scattering to investigate the microscopic structure and dynamics of dense suspensions of ultra-low crosslinked (ULC) poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels. By probing the supercooled…
We investigate dynamical heterogeneities in the collective relaxation of a concentrated microgel system, for which the packing fraction can be conveniently varied by changing the temperature. The packing fraction dependent mechanical…
Hypothesis: While the mechanical disruption of microscopic structures in complex fluids by large shear flows has been studied extensively, the effects of applied strains on the dielectric properties of macromolecular aggregates has received…
We discovered a hysteresis in a microwave-driven low-pressure argon plasma during gas pressure change across the transition region between $\alpha$ and $\gamma$ discharge modes. The hysteresis is manifested in that the critical pressure of…
Microgels are soft colloids that, in virtue of their polymeric nature, can react to external stimuli such as temperature or pH by changing their size. The resulting swelling/deswelling transition can be exploited in fundamental research as…
We present results from extensive molecular dynamics simulations of collapse transitions of hydrophobic polymers in explicit water focused on understanding effects of lengthscale of the hydrophobic surface and of attractive interactions on…
We study the interaction of two parallel rigid cylinders on the surface of a thin elastic film supported on a pool of liquid. The excess energy of the surface due to the curvature of the stretched film induces attraction of the cylinders…
We investigate contact angle hysteresis on chemically patterned and superhydrophobic surfaces, as the drop volume is quasi-statically increased and decreased. We consider both two, and three, dimensions using analytical and numerical…
We present a non-linear elastic model of a coherent transition with discontinuous volume change in an isotropic solid. The model reproduces the anomalous thermodynamics typical of coherent equilibrium including intrinsic hysteresis (for a…
Stimuli-responsive lyogels are considered to be smart materials due to their capability of undergoing significant macroscopic changes in response to external triggers. Due to their versatile and unique properties, smart lyogels exhibit…
As the interface between human and machine becomes blurred, hydrogel incorporated electronics and devices have emerged to be a new class of flexible/stretchable electronic and ionic devices due to their extraordinary properties, such as…
Polyamide 6,6 (PA66) is a key engineering polymer, whose unique mechanical properties arise from strong interchain hydrogen bonding. However, its hygroscopic nature makes it highly sensitive to water uptake, which markedly alters its…