Related papers: Supported Membranes on Chemically Structured and R…
Biological and biomimetic membranes often contain aggregates of embedded or adsorbed macromolecules. In this article, the indirect interactions of cylindrical objects adhering to a planar membrane are considered theoretically. The adhesion…
We present a density functional study of graphene adhesion on a realistic SiO$_2$ surface taking into account van der Waals (vdW) interactions. The SiO$_2$ substrate is modeled at the local scale by using two main types of surface defects,…
Supported Lipid Bilayers (SLBs) are model membranes formed at solid substrate surfaces. This architecture renders the membrane experimentally accessible to surface sensitive techniques used to study their properties, including Atomic Force…
We develop an analytical model of adhesive wear between two unlubricated rough surfaces, forming micro-contacts under normal load. The model is based on an energy balance and a crack initiation criteria. We apply the model to the problem of…
Soft interfaces can mediate interactions between particles bound to them. The force transmitted through the surface geometry on a particle may be expressed as a closed line integral of the surface stress tensor around that particle. This…
We investigate liquid layers adsorbed at spherical and corrugated cylindrical substrates. The effective Hamiltonians for the liquid-gas interfaces fluctuating in the presence of such curved substrates are derived via the mean-field density…
We consider an adhesive contact between a thin soft layer on a rigid substrate and a rigid cylindrical indenter ("line contact") with account of the surface tension of the layer. First, it is shown that the boundary condition for the…
Counterion distributions at charged soft membranes are studied using perturbative analytical and simulation methods in both weak coupling (mean-field or Poisson-Boltzmann) and strong coupling limits. The softer the membrane, the more…
In tissue engineering, 3D scaffolds and chemical treatments are often used for providing a cell-friendly surface for improving cell adhesion and tissue growth. Indeed, the cell adhesion degree can be controlled by physical-chemical changes…
The friction and adhesion between elastic bodies are strongly influenced by the roughness of the surfaces in contact. Here we develop a multiscale molecular dynamics approach to contact mechanics, which can be used also when the surfaces…
We study the fluid-mediated approach of a deformable axisymmetric object towards a rigid substrate, focusing on how its shape influences contact formation. For low approach velocities and large Stokes numbers, we show that sharper profiles…
The interactions of a hydrophilic surface with water can significantly influence the characteristics of the liquid water interface. In this manuscript, we explore this influence by studying the molecular structure of liquid water at a…
The adhesive behaviour of biological attachment structures such as spider web anchorages is usually studied using single or multiple peeling models involving "tapes", i.e. one-dimensional contacts elements. This is an oversimplification for…
We examine the competition between adhesive and bending energies for few-layered graphene samples placed on rigid, microscale-corrugated substrates. Using atomic force microscopy, we show that the graphene undergoes a sharp "snap-through"…
The shape of a liquid-air interface advancing on a heterogeneous surface was studied experimentally, together with the force induced by the pinning of the contact line to surface defects. Different surfaces were considered with circular…
This paper is devoted to studies of the mechanical deformation of the S. aureus cell wall. The bacterium is modelled as a thin elastic membrane containing cytoplasm, which is treated as an incompressible fluid. Deformation occurs via Van…
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 modeling of conformations and dynamics of (bio)polymers is of primary importance for understanding physicochemical properties of soft matter. Although short-range interactions such as covalent and hydrogen bonding control the local…
Tree frogs are able take advantage of an interconnected network of epithelial cells in their toe pads to modulate their adhesion to surfaces under dry, wet, and flooded environments. It has been hypothesized that these interconnected…
We present a single, unified, multi-scale model to study the attachment\detachment dynamics of two deforming, near spherical cells, coated with binding ligands and subject to a slow, homogeneous shear flow in a viscous fluid medium. The…