Related papers: Smart mechanically tunable surfaces with shape mem…
We demonstrate a novel technique to fabricate mechanically tunable slippery surfaces using one dimensional (anisotropic) elastic wrinkles. Such wrinkles show tunable topography (amplitude) on the application of mechanical strain. Following…
Wettability is the affinity of a liquid for a solid surface. For energetic reasons, macroscopic drops of liquid are nearly spherical away from interfaces with solids, and any local deformations due to molecular-scale surface interactions…
The levitation of a volatile droplet on a highly superheated surface is known as the Leidenfrost effect. Wetting state during transition from full wetting of a surface by a droplet at room temperature to Leidenfrost bouncing, i.e.,…
Recent advances in metamaterials and fabrication techniques have revived interest in mechanical computing. Contrary to techniques relying on static deformations of buckling beams or origami-based lattices, the integration of wave scattering…
Polymer blends consisting of two or more polymers are important for a wide variety of industries and processes, but, the precise mechanism of their thermomechanical behaviour is incompletely understood. In order to understand clearly, it is…
Tunable metasurfaces have demonstrated the potential for dramatically enhanced functionality for applications including sensing, ranging and imaging. Liquid crystals (LCs) have fast switching speeds, low cost, and mature technological…
We study the finite-temperature dynamics of thin elastic sheets in a single-clamped cantilever configuration. This system is known to exhibit a tilt transition at which the preferred mean plane of the sheet shifts from horizontal to a plane…
The wetting of soft polymer substrates brings in multiple complexities as compared to the wetting on rigid substrates. The contact angle of the liquid is no longer governed by Young's law, but is affected by the substrate's bulk and surface…
The application of granular jamming in soft robotics is a recent and promising new technology offer exciting possibilities for creating higher performance robotic devices. Granular jamming is achieved via the application of a vacuum…
We present a thermal activated solvent bonding technique for the formation of embedded microstrucutres in polymer. It is based on the temperature dependent solubility of polymer in a liquid that is not a solvent at room temperature. With…
Sizable glass formers feature numerous unique properties and potential applications, but many questions regarding their glass transition dynamics have not been resolved yet. Here we analyzed structural relaxation times measured as a…
In nature adaptive coloration has been effectively utilized for concealment and signaling. Various biological mechanisms have evolved that can tune the reflectivity for visible and ultraviolet light. These examples inspire many artificial…
The surface pattern formation on a gelation surface is analyzed using an effective surface roughness. The spontaneous surface deformation on DiMethylAcrylAmide (DMAA) gelation surface is controlled by temperature, initiator concentration,…
Metasurfaces advanced the field of optics by reducing the thickness of optical components and merging multiple functionalities into a single layer device. However, this generally comes with a reduction in performance, especially for…
We study numerically the behaviour of a mixture of a passive isotropic fluid and an active polar gel, in the presence of a surfactant favouring emulsification. Focussing on parameters for which the underlying free energy favours the…
Hydrogel adhesion that can be easily modulated in magnitude, space, and time is desirable in many emerging applications ranging from tissue engineering, and soft robotics, to wearable devices. In synthetic materials, these complex adhesion…
At temperatures well below their glass transition, the deformation properties of bulk metallic glasses are characterised by a sharp transition from elasticity to plasticity, a reproducible yield stress, and an approximately linear decrease…
The fabrication of versatile building blocks that are reliably self-assemble into desired ordered and disordered phases is amongst the hottest topics in contemporary material science. To this end, microscopic units of varying complexity,…
We study the wetting behaviour of a symmetrical binary fluid below the demixing temperature at a non-selective attractive wall. Although it demixes in the bulk, a sufficiently thin liquid film remains mixed. On approaching liquid/vapour…
We explore how a frozen background metric affects the mechanical properties of planar membranes with a shear modulus. We focus on a special class of "warped membranes" with a preferred random height profile characterized by random Gaussian…