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Nanoscale molecular transport plays a crucial role in regulating mass diffusion and responsiveness in condensed matter systems. In soft porous crystals, in particular, adsorption of guest molecules induces host framework deformation and…
The results obtained from molecular dynamics simulations of the friction at an interface between polymer melts and weakly attractive crystalline surfaces are reported. We consider a coarse-grained bead-spring model of linear chains with…
Porous membranes are thin solid structures that allow the flow to pass through their tiny openings, called pores. Flow inertia may play a significant role in several filtration flows of natural and engineering interest. Here, we develop a…
Premelting at the ice-polymer interfaces, in which a quasi-liquid layer (QLL) forms below the melting point, is strongly influenced by polymer surface chemistry; however, the molecular-scale mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly…
Nonequilibrium interfacial thermodynamics is formulated in the presence of surface reactions for the study of diffusiophoresis in isothermal systems. As a consequence of microreversibility and Onsager-Casimir reciprocal relations,…
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…
We report a molecular dynamics study of the contact between a rigid solid with a randomly rough surface and an elastic block with a flat surface. We study the contact area and the interfacial separation from small contact (low load) to full…
Biological macromolecules have complex and non-trivial energy landscapes, endowing them a unique conformational adaptability and diversity in function. Hence, understanding the processes of elasticity and dissipation at the nanoscale is…
Concentration gradients play a critical role in embryogenesis, bacterial locomotion, as well as the motility of active particles. Particles develop concentration profiles around them by dissolution, adsorption, or the reactivity of surface…
Many natural and industrial systems involve particle-laden interfaces. Because interfacial particles prevent the coalescence and coarsening of drops, they hold promise for various applications requiring stable emulsions. Despite their…
Amorphous glassy materials of diverse nature -- concentrated emulsions, granular materials, pastes, molecular glasses -- display complex flow properties, intermediate between solid and liquid, which are at the root of their use in many…
We report on the frictional properties of thin ($\approx \mu m$) poly(dimethylacrylamide) hydrogel films within contacts with spherical silica probes. In order to focus on the contribution to friction of interfacial dissipation, a dedicated…
Transport phenomena in complex and dynamic microscopic environments are fundamentally shaped by hydrodynamic interactions. In particular, microparticle transport in porous media is governed by the delicate interplay between…
Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations of fluid flow have highlighted the peculiarities of nanoscale flows compared to classical fluid mechanics; in particular, boundary conditions can deviate from the no-slip behavior at…
Particles diffusing near interfaces face anisotropic resistance to motion due to hydrodynamic interactions. While this has been extensively studied near \textit{hard} interfaces since the works of Lorentz and Brenner, our understanding of…
Understanding what happens inside the rippling and dancing surface of a liquid remains one of the great challenges of fluid dynamics. Using molecular dynamics (MD) we can pick apart the interface structure and understand surface tension. In…
Hydrodynamic interactions in a suspension of spherical particles confined between two parallel planar walls are studied under creeping-flow conditions. The many-particle friction matrix in this system is evaluated using our novel numerical…
Soft surfaces, spanning vastly different environmental and biomedical settings, are frequently colonised by surface-associated bacteria. Yet, how soft surfaces govern bacterial dynamics and their self-organisation into colonies remains…
The motion of three-phase contact lines is one of the most relevant research topics of micro- and nano-fluidics. According to many hydrodynamic and molecular models, the dynamics of contact lines is assumed overdamped and dominated by…
A major challenge in flow through porous media is to better understand the link between microstructure and macroscale flow and transport. For idealised microstructures, the mathematical framework of homogenisation theory can be used for…