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Depending on the volume fraction and interparticle interactions, colloidal suspensions can form different phases, ranging from fluids, crystals, and glasses to gels. For soft microgels that are made from thermoresponsive polymers, the…
We study active agents embedded in bulk or in confinement explicitly considering hydrodynamics and simulating the swimmers via an implementation inspired by the squirmer model. We develop a Dissipative Particle Dynamics scheme for the…
Linear sweep and cyclic voltammetry techniques are important tools for electrochemists and have a variety of applications in engineering. Voltammetry has classically been treated with the Randles-Sevcik equation, which assumes an…
This work investigates the effects of tangent polar activity on the conformational and dynamic properties of entangled polymer melts through Langevin molecular dynamics simulations. We examine systems composed of all self-propelled,…
Polymeric particles are strong candidates for designing artificial materials capable of emulating the complex twisting-based functionality observed in biological systems. In this letter, we provide the first detailed investigation of the…
Understanding the complex self-assembly of biomacromolecules is a major outstanding question. Microtubules are one example of a biopolymer that possesses characteristics quite distinct from standard synthetic polymers that are derived from…
The rheological behaviour of a polymer was investigated by performing numerical simulations in complex flow and comparing them to experiments. For our simulations, we employed a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics scheme, utilizing an integral…
Microgels are colloidal-scale particles individually made of crosslinked polymer networks that can swell and deswell in response to external stimuli, such as changes to temperature or pH. Despite a large amount of experimental activities on…
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…
Plasmonic biosensing chips were prepared by fabricating wavelength-scaled dielectric-metal interfacial gratings on polymer film covered bimetal layers. Lysozyme biomolecules (LYZ) and gold nanoparticle bioconjugates (AuNP-LYZ) with 1:5 mass…
Locally (re)structuring colloidal gels $\unicode{x2013}$ micron-sized particles forming a connected network with arrested dynamics $\unicode{x2013}$ enables precise tuning of the micromechanical and -rheological properties of the system. A…
The generation of microdroplets via segmentation in microfluidic devices is of interest in many applications, from biochemical to pharmaceutical. This technique permits indeed much higher control on the droplet size, uniformity and…
The patterns arising from the differential swelling of gels are investigated experimentally and theoretically as a model for the differential growth of living tissues. Two geometries are considered: a thin strip of soft gel clamped to a…
Hydrogels are widespread soft materials, which can serve a wide range of applications. The control over the viscoelastic properties of the gel is of paramount importance. Ongoing environmental issues have raised the consumer's concern…
We study the sedimentation of colloidal gels by using a combination of light scattering, polarimetry and video imaging. The asymptotic concentration profiles $\varphi(z,t\rightarrow \infty)$ exhibit remarkable scaling properties: profiles…
We use active microrheology to determine the frequency dependent moduli of a linear viscoelastic fluid in terms of the polymer time constant ($\lambda$), and the polymer ($\mu_p$) and solvent viscosity ($\mu_s$), respectively. We measure…
The eukaryotic cell's cytoskeleton is a prototypical example of an active material: objects embedded within it are driven by molecular motors acting on the cytoskeleton, leading to anomalous diffusive behavior. Experiments tracking the…
The addition of enough non-adsorbing polymer to an otherwise stable colloidal suspension gives rise to a variety of phase behavior and kinetic arrest due to the depletion attraction induced between the colloids by the polymers. We report a…
When sheared, most elastic solids such as metals, rubbers and polymer hydrogels dilate in the direction perpendicular to the shear plane. This well-known behaviour known as the Poynting effect is characterized by a positive normal stress.…
Curable hydrogels have tunable properties that make them well-suited for applications in drug delivery, cell therapies, and 3D bioprinting. Advances in microfluidic droplet generation enable rapid fabrication of polymer-filled droplets.…