Related papers: Swelling Dynamics of a Disk-Shaped Gel
A transition from solid-like to liquid-like behavior occurs when colloidal gels are subjected to a prolonged exposure to a steady shear. This phenomenon, which is characterized by a yielding point, is found to be strongly dependent on the…
Polar regions are covered by sea ice, which can be seen as a thin solid elastic sheet with heterogeneous mechanical properties. The dynamics of deformation of a floating solid sheet are primarly governed by gravity, water density, and the…
Taking the cue from experiments on actin growth on spherical beads, we formulate and solve a model problem describing the accretion of an incompressible elastic solid on a rigid sphere due to attachment of diffusing free particles. One of…
We propose a theory based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics to describe the mechanical behavior of an active polymer gel created by the inclusion of molecular motors in its solvent. When activated, these motors attach to the chains of the…
The structural arrest of a polymeric suspension might be driven by an increase of the cross--linker concentration, that drives the gel transition, as well as by an increase of the polymer density, that induces a glass transition. These…
Colloidal gels are widely applied in industry due to their rheological character -- no flow takes place below the yield stress. Such property enables gels to maintain uniform distribution in practical formulations; otherwise, solid…
We study a two-component model for gelation consisting of $f$-functional monomers (the gel) and inert particles (the solvent). After equilibration as a simple liquid, the gel particles are gradually crosslinked to each other until the…
In this work, we systematically investigate for the first time the nature of stress correlations in soft colloidal gel materials which support tensile and compressive forces as well as finite rolling torque, as a function of system…
When a hydrophilic and deformable porous material is immersed in a bath, it may absorb the solvent and expand by several times its volume, thus forming a highly soft and porous hydrogel. A stress applied on the soft hydrogel surface deforms…
We report on the fluidization dynamics of an attractive gel composed of non-Brownian particles made of fused silica colloids. Extensive rheology coupled to ultrasonic velocimetry allows us to characterize the global stress response together…
This study employs molecular dynamics simulations to investigate droplet dynamics when a stationary droplet on a solid surface is struck by another droplet of similar size from above. The focus is on the jumping behavior of the merged…
We study the time evolution of a sessile liquid droplet, which is initially put onto a solid surface in a non-equilibrium configuration and then evolves towards its equilibrium shape. We adapt here the standard approach to the dynamics of…
Disk accretion onto a magnetized star occurs in a variety of astrophysical contexts, from young stars to X-ray pulsars. The magnetohydrodynamic interaction between the stellar field and the accreting matter can have a strong effect on the…
We experimentally investigate the dynamics of a sphere rolling up a granular slope. During the rolling-up motion, the sphere experiences slipping and penetration (groove formation) on the surface of the granular layer. The former relates to…
Polyelectrolyte gels are a very attractive class of actuation materials with remarkable electronic and mechanical properties with a great similarity to biological contractile tissues. They consist of a polymer network with ionizable groups…
We use large-scale computer simulations to explore the non-equilibrium aging dynamics in a microscopic model for colloidal gels. We find that gelation resulting from a kinetically-arrested phase separation is accompanied by `anomalous'…
Ionic microgel particles in a good solvent swell to an equilibrium size determined by a balance of electrostatic and elastic forces. When crowded, ionic microgels deswell owing to a redistribution of microions inside and outside the…
From pasta to biological tissues to contact lenses, gel and gel-like materials inherently soften as they swell with water. In dry, low-relative-humidity environments, these materials stiffen as they de-swell with water. Here, we use…
Using molecular dynamics computer simulations we investigate the aging dynamics of a gel. We start from a fractal structure generated by the DLCA-DEF algorithm, onto which we then impose an interaction potential consisting of a short-range…
We study the structure and the dynamics in the formation of irreversible gels by means of molecular dynamics simulation of a model system where the gelation transition is due to the random percolation of permanent bonds between neighboring…