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In this review, we discuss the use of time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) technology for analyzing the viscous glue (is called aggregate glue droplets) of spider orb webs and examine the results obtained. Element…
Spiders' webs and gossamer threads are often paraded as paradigms for lightweight structures and outstanding polymers. Probably the most intriguing of all spider silks is the araneid capture thread, covered with tiny glycoprotein glue…
Fascinating in art and science, the ability to float is also captivating and relevant in practical applications, such as Penning and ion traps that are fundamental to quantum computing. In this work, we first reproduce the classic water…
An essential element in the web-trap architecture, the capture silk spun by ecribellate orb spiders consists of glue droplets sitting astride a silk filament. Mechanically this thread presents a mixed solid-liquid behavior unknown to date.…
Proteins dissolved in a drop induce and enhance the pinning of the drop contact line. This effect dramatically increases volume of drops that are vertically pinned on a flat siliconized substrate. The drop pinning behavior exhibits two…
Although common in nature, the self-assembly of small molecules at sold-liquid interfaces is difficult to control in artificial systems. The high mobility of dissolved small molecules limits their residence at the interface, typically…
Living systems are built of multiscale-composites: materials formed of components with different properties that are assembled in complex micro- and nano-structures. Such biological multiscale-composites often show outstanding physical…
We present a fluid dynamics video showing the adhesion of a drop to a superhydrophobic surface. We use environmental scanning electron microscopy to observe depinning events at the microscale. As the drop moves along the surface, the…
Macroscopic properties of suspensions, such as those composed of globular particles (e.g., colloidal or macromolecular), can be tuned by controlling the equilibrium aggregation of the particles. We examine how aggregation -- and, hence,…
Employing a long-wave mesoscopic hydrodynamic model for the film height evolution we study ensembles of pinned and sliding drops of a volatile liquid that continuously condense onto a chemically heterogeneous inclined substrate. Our…
The pyriform silk of the attachment disc of a spider was studied using infrared-visible vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. The spider can attach dragline and radial lines to many kinds of substrates in nature…
An extremely broad and important class of phenomena in nature involves the settling and aggregation of matter under gravitation in fluid systems. Some examples include: sedimenting marine snow particles in lakes and oceans (central to…
We present a multi-scale model to study the attachment of spherical particles with a rigid core, coated with binding ligands and in equilibrium with the surrounding, quiescent fluid medium. This class of fluid-immersed adhesion is…
The aggregation of protein-stabilised emulsions leads to the formation of emulsion gels. These soft solids are classically envisioned as droplet-filled matrices. Here however, it is assumed that protein-coated sub-micron droplets contribute…
Plants and insects use slender conical structures to transport and collect small droplets, which are propelled along the conical structures due to capillary action. These droplets can deposit a fluid film during their motion, but despite…
Scientific progress within the last few decades has revealed the functional morphology of an insect's sticky footpads -- a soft, sponge-like pad that secretes a thin liquid film. However, the physico-chemical mechanisms underlying their…
In this article, we study the spreading of droplets of density-matched granular suspensions on the surface of a solid. Bidispersity of the particle size distribution enriches the conclusions drawn from monodisperse experiments by…
Granular packings display a wealth of mechanical features which are of widespread significance. One of these features is creep: the slow deformation under applied stress. Creep is common for many other amorphous materials such as many…
Active fluid droplets are a class of soft materials exhibiting autonomous motion sustained by an energy supply. Such systems have been shown to capture motility regimes typical of biological cells and are ideal candidates as building-block…
Particle beams are important tools for probing atomic and molecular interactions. Here we demonstrate that particle beams also offer a unique opportunity to investigate interactions in macroscopic systems, such as granular media. Motivated…