Related papers: A model for gelation with explicit solvent effects…
We use molecular dynamics simulations to study a model of the gelation transition with a dynamic bond forming procedure. After establishing evidence for 3D percolation as the static universality class, we turn our attention to the dynamics…
We study the evolution of percolation with freezing. Specifically, we consider cluster formation via two competing processes: irreversible aggregation and freezing. We find that when the freezing rate exceeds a certain threshold, the…
We investigate the dynamics of alginate gels, an important class of biopolymer-based viscoelastic materials, by combining mechanical tests and non-conventional, time-resolved light scattering methods. Two relaxation modes are observed upon…
In order to study rheological properties of gelling systems in dilute solution, we investigate the viscosity and the normal stresses in the Zimm model for randomly crosslinked monomers. The distribution of cluster topologies and sizes is…
We use computer simulations to study the dynamics of a physical gel at high densities where gelation and the glass transition interfere. We report and provide detailed physical understanding of complex relaxation patterns for time…
We investigate experimentally the collective behavior of a wet granular monolayer under vertical vibrations. The spherical particles are partially wet such that there are short-ranged attractive interactions between adjacent particles. As…
We investigate the linear viscoelasticity of polymer gels produced by the dispersion of gluten proteins in water:ethanol binary mixtures with various ethanol contents, from pure water to 60% v/v ethanol. We show that the complex…
The patterns arising from the differential swelling of gels are investigated experimentally and theoretically as a model for the differential growth of living tissues. Two geometries are considered: a thin strip of soft gel clamped to a…
We study a generic model of self-assembling chains which can branch and form networks with branching points (junctions) of arbitrary functionality. The physical realizations include physical gels, wormlike micells, dipolar fluids and…
A two-site spatial coagulation model is considered. Particles of masses $m$ and $n$ at the same site form a new particle of mass $m+n$ at rate $mn$. Independently, particles jump to the other site at a constant rate. The limit (for…
We present a detailed study of the kinetic cluster growth process during gelation of weakly attractive colloidal particles by means of experiments on critical Casimir attractive colloidal systems, simulations and analytical theory. In the…
Using a unique home-made cell for four-contact impedance spectroscopy of conductive liquid samples, we establish the existence of two low frequency conductivity relaxations in aqueous solutions of gelatin, in both liquid and gel state. A…
In this paper the percolation of monomers on a square lattice is studied as the particles interact with either repulsive or attractive energies. By means of a finite-size scaling analysis, the critical exponents and the scaling collapsing…
Liquid mixtures composed of colloidal particles and much smaller non-adsorbing linear homopolymers can undergo a gelation transition due to polymer-mediated depletion forces. We now show that the addition of linear polymers to suspensions…
Spinodal demixing of systems into two phases having very different viscosities leads to viscoelastic networks, i.e. gels. Here we consider demixing in a colloidal system where one phase is a nematic liquid crystal with a strongly…
One major goal in condensed matter physics is identifying the physical mechanisms that lead to arrested states of matter, especially gels and glasses. The complex nature and microscopic details of each particular system are relevant.…
We consider patchy gold nanoparticles decorated by liquid crystalline ligands. The cases of two, three, four and six symmetrically arranged patches of ligands are discussed, as well as the cases of their equatorial and uniform arrangement.…
Colloidal nanocrystal gels can be assembled using a difunctional "linker" molecule to mediate bonding between nanocrystals. The conditions for gelation and the structure of the gel are controlled macroscopically by the linker concentration…
The dynamical arrest of gels is the consequence of a well defined structural phase transition, leading to the formation of a spanning cluster of bonded particles. The dynamical glass transition, instead, is not accompanied by any clear…
Starting from a Zimm model we study selfdiffusion in a solution of crosslinked monomers. We focus on the effects of the hydrodynamic interaction on the dynamics and the critical behaviour at the sol-gel-point. Hydrodynamic interactions…