Related papers: Dynamics of equilibrium linked colloidal gels
The physical gelation of colloids produces elastic structures that are commonly used to stabilize complex fluids in multiple industries. However, the ability to control the level of elastic modulus of these materials is limited by the…
We examine nonequilibrium features of collapse behavior in model polymers with competing crystallization and glass transitions using extensive molecular dynamics simulations. By comparing to "colloidal" systems with no covalent bonds but…
The internal dynamics of active gels, both in artificial (in-vitro) model systems and inside the cytoskeleton of living cells, has been extensively studied by experiments of recent years. These dynamics are probed using tracer particles…
A class of chemical reaction networks is described with the property that each positive equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable relative to its stoichiometry class, an invariant subspace on which it lies. The reaction systems treated…
We report theoretical and numerical evaluations of the phase diagram for a model of patchy particles. Specifically we study hard-spheres whose surface is decorated by a small number f of identical sites ("sticky spots'') interacting via a…
We theoretically study mixtures of chemically-interacting particles, which produce or consume a chemical to which they are attracted or repelled, in the most general case of many coexisting species. We find a new class of active phase…
Molecular-motor generated active stresses drive the cytoskeleton away from equilibrium, endowing it with tunable mechanical properties that are essential for diverse functions such as cell division and motility[1-5]. Designing analogous…
We study a coupled dynamics of a network and a particle system. Particles of density $\rho$ diffuse freely along edges, each of which is rewired at a rate given by a decreasing function of particle flux. We find that the coupled dynamics…
Adding dynamic bonds in polymer networks enables reprocessing and recycling; however the full impact of reversible bonds on dynamic network mechanics remains unclear. We build model dynamic networks and observe substantial deviations from…
We investigate some of the properties and extensions of a dynamic innovation network model recently introduced in \citep{koenig07:_effic_stabil_dynam_innov_networ}. In the model, the set of efficient graphs ranges, depending on the cost for…
Just like atoms combine into molecules, colloids can self-organize into predetermined structures according to a set of design principles. Controlling valence -- the number of inter-particle bonds -- is a prerequisite for the assembly of…
Competing interactions stabilize exotic mesoscopic structures, yet the microscopic mechanisms by which they influence non-equilibrium processes leading to disordered states remain largely unexplored, despite their critical role in…
Concentrated colloidal suspensions are a well-tested model system which has a glass transition. Colloids are suspensions of small solid particles in a liquid, and exhibit glassy behavior when the particle concentration is high; the…
We study the ordered equilibrium structures of patchy particles where the patches are located on the surface of the colloid such that they form a regular tetrahedron. Using optimization techniques based on ideas of evolutionary algorithms…
Colloidal gels consist of percolating networks of interconnected arms. Their mechanical properties depend on the individual arms, and on their collective behaviour. We use numerical simulations to pull on a single arm, built from a model…
Polymer gels are comprised of a three-dimensional, cross-linked network that can typically withstand the mechanical deformation associated with both swelling and de-swelling. Thus, gels can be designed with smart behaviors that require both…
We investigate the slow dynamics in gelling systems by means of MonteCarlo simulations on the cubic lattice of a minimal statistical mechanics model. By opportunely varying some model parameter we are able to describe a crossover from the…
We demonstrate that the spatial correlations of microscopic stresses in 2D model colloidal gels obtained in computer simulations can be quantitatively described by the predictions of a theory for emergent elasticity of pre-stressed solids…
We present simulation results addressing the dynamics of a colloidal system with attractive interactions close to gelation. Our interaction also has a soft, long range repulsive barrier which suppresses liquid-gas type phase separation at…
Computer simulations were used to study the gel transition occurring in colloidal systems with short range attractions. A colloid-polymer mixture was modelled and the results were compared with mode coupling theory expectations and with the…