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Natural materials often feature a combination of soft and stiff phases, arranged to achieve excellent mechanical properties, such as high strength and toughness. Many natural materials have even independently evolved to have similar…
Understanding the complexity of fragmentation processes is essential for regulating intercellular communication in mechanistic biology and developing novel bottom-up approaches in a large range of multiphase flow processes. In this context,…
As a first step to understanding the role of molecular or chemical polydispersity in self-assembly, we put forward a coarse-grained model that describes the spontaneous formation of quasi-linear polymers in solutions containing two…
Polymer composite materials are widely used for their exceptional mechanical properties, notably their ability to resist large deformations. Here we examine the failure stress and strain of rubbers reinforced by varying amounts of…
We present modeling approaches to explain mechanisms of control of uniformity (narrow distribution) of sizes and shapes in synthesis of nanosize crystals and micron-size colloids. We consider those situations when the nanocrystals are…
Building structures with hierarchical order through the self-assembly of smaller blocks is not only a prerogative of nature, but also a strategy to design artificial materials with tailored functions. We explore in simulation the…
Self-assembly in natural and synthetic molecular systems can create complex aggregates or materials whose properties and functionality rises from their internal structure and molecular arrangement. The key microscopic features that control…
Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have a great application potential in science and technology. Their functionality strongly depends on their size. We present a theory for the size of NPs formed by precipitation of polymers into a bad solvent…
A large body of experimental work on the microstructure and dynamics of simplifiedindustrial nanocomposites made of disordered silica filler in a styrene-butadiene matrixby solid-phase mixing is regrouped and critically discussed in this…
A Self Consistent Field Theory description of equilibrium, but non uniform, configurations adopted by semi flexible liquid crystal molecules is presented. Two cases are considered, isotropic-nematic phase boundaries, and topological defects…
In layered materials, a common mode of deformation involves buckling of the layers under tensile deformation in the direction perpendicular to the layers. The instability mechanism, which operates in elastic materials from geological to…
A nonequilibrium molecular dynamics computer simulation on microsegregated solutions of symmetrical diblock copolymers is reported. As the polymer concentration increases, the system undergoes phase transitions in the following order: body…
Cooperative self-assembly can result in complex nano-networks with new hyperbolic geometry. However, the relation between the hyperbolicity and spectral and dynamical features of these structures remains unclear. Using the model of…
The ordering of particles in the drying process of a colloidal suspension is crucial in determining the properties of the resulting film. For example, microscopic inhomogeneities can lead to the formation of cracks and defects that can…
Self-assembly of sphere-forming solution-state amphiphilic diblock copolymers under spherical nanopore confinement is investigated using a simulated annealing technique. For two types of cases of different pore-surface/copolymer…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the phase behavior of linear multiblock copolymers with two types of monomers, A and B, where the length of the polymer blocks $N_{A}$ and $N_{B}$ ($N_{A}=N_{B}=N$), the number of the blocks…
Creating materials with structure that is independently controllable at a range of scales requires breaking naturally occurring hierarchies. Breaking these hierarchies can be achieved via the decoupling of building block attributes from…
The yet virtually unexplored class of soft colloidal rods with small aspect ratio is investigated and shown to exhibit a very rich phase and dynamic behavior, spanning from liquid to nearly melt state. Instead of nematic order, these short…
Understanding how polymer architecture governs transport through nanopores is essential for nanocomposite fabrication, membrane design, and polymer upcycling. However, the effect of the nanoscale structure of copolymers on chain transport…
The assembly of nanometer-sized building blocks into complex morphologies is not only of fundamental interest but also plays a key role in material science and nanotechnology. We show that the shape of self-assembled superstructures formed…