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We study the initial stages of homogeneous melting of a hexagonal ice crystal at coexistence and at moderate superheating. Our trajectory-based computer simulation approach provides a comprehensive picture of the events that lead to…
Thermoresponsive microgels are soft colloids that find widespread use as model systems for soft matter physics. Their complex internal architecture, made of a disordered and heterogeneous polymer network, has been so far a major challenge…
Nucleation and growth (N&G) - the emergence of a new phase within an initially homogeneous one - is one of the most important physical phenomena by which gas-liquid, liquid-liquid and solid-liquid phase separation takes place. Accordingly,…
We investigate theoretically globally nonuniform configurations of quantized-flux vortices in clean superconductors trapped by an external force field that induces a nonuniform vortex density profile. Using an extensive series of numerical…
The freezing of concentrated colloidal suspensions is a complex physical process involving a large number of parameters. These parameters provide unique tools to manipulate the architecture of freeze-cast materials at multiple length scales…
Colloidal particles trapped at an interface between two fluids can form a wide range of different structures. Replacing one of the fluid with a liquid crystal increases the complexity of interactions and results in a greater range of…
Microcapsules allow for the controlled containment, transport, and release of cargoes ranging from pharmaceuticals to fragrances. Given the interest from a variety of industries in microcapsules and other core-shell structures, a multitude…
Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) integrated within thermoresponsive polymeric microgels provide a versatile platform for the realization of stimuli-responsive optical materials, where the microgel volume phase transition enables dynamic…
The new paradigm of heterostructures based on two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals has already led to the observation of exciting physical phenomena and creation of novel devices. The possibility of combining layers of different 2D…
Colloidal gels are a prototypical example of a heterogeneous network solid whose complex properties are governed by thermally-activated dynamics. In this Letter we experimentally establish the connection between the intermittent dynamics of…
We demonstrate optical trapping and manipulation of defects and transparent microspheres in nematic liquid crystals (LCs). The three-dimensional director fields and positions of the particles are visualized using the Fluorescence Confocal…
Crystallization represents the prime example of a disorder order transition. In realistic situations, however, container walls and impurities are frequently present and hence crystallization is heterogeneously seeded. Rarely the seeds are…
Colloids that interact via a short-range attraction serve as the primary building blocks for a broad range of self-assembled materials. However, one of the well-known drawbacks to this strategy is that these building blocks rapidly and…
Convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) performed on two-dimensional (2D) materials recently emerged as a powerful tool to study structural and stacking defects, adsorbates, atomic 3D displacements in the layers, and the interlayer…
In the field of freezing colloidal suspensions, it is important to understand the particle-scale behavior of particle packing. Here, we reveal the dynamics of particle packing by identifying the behavior of each single particle in situ. The…
We investigate experimentally and numerically the defect configurations emerging when a cholesteric liquid crystal is confined to a spherical shell. We uncover a rich scenario of defect configurations, some of them non-existent in nematic…
Accurate interaction potentials between microscopic components such as colloidal particles or cells are crucial to understanding a range of processes, including colloidal crystallization, bacterial colony formation, and cancer metastasis.…
By using theoretical analysis and molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the structure of colloidal crystals formed by nonmagnetic microparticles (or magnetic holes) suspended in ferrofluids (called inverse ferrofluids), by taking…
Significant progress has been made to increase access to droplet microfluidics for labs with limited microfluidics expertise or fabrication equipment. In particular, using off-the-shelf systems has been a valuable approach. However, the…
By means of molecular dynamics, we study the structure and the dynamics of a microscopic model for colloidal gels at low volume fractions. The presence of directional interactions leads to the formation of a persistent interconnected…