Related papers: Modification of adhesion between microparticles an…
Diamond and diamond-like carbon (DLC) are used as coating materials for numerous applications, ranging from biomedicine to tribology. Recently, it has been shown that the hydrophilicity of the carbon films can be enhanced by silicon doping,…
We study the friction of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) rubber network sliding, at low velocity, on a substrate on which PDMS chains are end-tethered. We thus clearly evidence the contribution to friction of the pull-out mechanism of…
From soap-covered dishes to freshly cleaned floors, surfactants can make surfaces slippery; yet, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the molecular origin behind this ubiquitous phenomenon using macroscopic…
The measurement of cellular traction forces on soft elastic substrates has become a standard tool for many labs working on mechanobiology. Here we review the basic principles and different variants of this approach. In general, the…
We consider the surface pressure of a colloid-laden liquid interface. As micron-sized particles of suitable wettability can be irreversibly bound to the liquid interface on experimental timescales, we use the canonical ensemble to derive an…
Adsorption of small amphiphilic molecules occurs in various biological and technological processes, sometimes desired, the other times unwanted (e.g., contamination). Surface-active molecules preferentially bind to interfaces and affect…
Kinetic frictional forces resisting droplet motion often appear to be separate to surface wettability and adhesive forces. Here we show that such friction arises from a simple combination of the contact angle hysteresis and adhesive force.…
Current engineering wear models are often based on empirical parameters rather than built upon physical considerations. Here, we look for a physical description of adhesive wear at the microscale, at which the interaction between two…
When adhesive elastomeric materials slide over hard rough surfaces at low velocities, there are two primary dissipative mechanisms that control how friction changes with sliding velocity: viscoelastic dissipation and adhesive dissipation.…
Hydrocarbon films confined between smooth mica surfaces have long provided an experimental playground for model studies of structure and dynamics of confined liquids. However fundamental questions regarding the phase behavior and shear…
We study the average separation between an elastic solid and a hard solid with a nominal flat but randomly rough surface, as a function of the squeezing pressure. We present experimental results for a silicon rubber (PDMS) block with a flat…
Understanding material behavior under high velocity impact is the key to addressing a variety of fundamental questions in areas ranging from asteroid strikes and geological cratering to impact-induced phase transformations, spallation,…
Recently, a simple and elegant "dimple" model was introduced by McMeeking et al. (Adv Eng Mat 12(5), 389-397, 2010) to show a mechanism for a bistable adhesive system involving a surface with a shallow depression. The system shows, at least…
Recent experiments have shown that surface stresses in soft materials can have a significant strain-dependence. Here we explore the implications of this surface elasticity to show how, and when, we expect it to arise. We develop the…
We investigate the impact of nanoparticle roughness on the phase behaviour of suspensions in models of calcium carbonate nanoparticles. We use a Derjaguin approach that incorporates roughness effects and interactions between the…
We consider the response of an adsorbed polymer that is pulled by an AFM within a simple geometric framework. We separately consider the cases of i) fixed polymer-surface contact point, ii) sticky case where the polymer is peeled off from…
Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study frictional slip and its influence on energy dissipation and momentum transfer at atomically smooth solid/water interfaces. By modifying surface chemistry, we investigate the…
Quantifying the response of marine mussel plaque attachment on wet surfaces remains a significant challenge to a mechanistic understanding of plaque adhesion. Here, we developed a customised microscopy system combined with two-dimensional…
Cells and other soft particles are often forced to flow in confined geometries in both laboratory and natural environments, where the elastic deformation induces an additional drag and pressure drop across the particle. In contrast with…
Discrete simulation methods are efficient tools to investigate the complex behaviors of complex fluids made of either dry granular materials or dilute suspensions. By contrast, materials made of soft and/or concentrated units (emulsions,…