软凝聚态物质
The structural characterization is an essential task in the study of porous materials. To achieve reliable results, it requires to evaluate images with hundreds of pores. Current methods require large time amounts and are subjected to human…
Self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules is an important phenomenon attracting a broad range of research. In this work, we study the self-assembly of KTOF4 sphere-rod amphiphilic molecules in mixed water-dioxane solvents. The molecules are of…
Collective behaviors such as swarming, chemical signaling, and clustering are fundamental to biological microorganisms, enabling hierarchical colony formation, coordinated motion, and enhanced nutrient accessibility crucial for their…
We investigate the mechanics of two asymmetric ribbons bound at one end and pulled apart at the other ends. We characterize the elastic junction near the bonding and conceptualize it as a bending boundary layer. While the size of this…
Stress-strain relations for random packings of entangling chains under triaxial compression can exhibit strain stiffening and sustain stresses several orders-of-magnitude beyond typical granular materials. X-ray tomography reveals the…
We derive an equation capable of treating both the electrostatic and non-electrostatic interactions in the charged liquids. The equation derived is a complex version of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation, in which the non-electrostatic…
Active liquid crystals exert nonequilibrium stresses on their surroundings through constant consumption of energy, giving rise to dynamical steady states not present in equilibrium. The paradigmatic example of an active liquid crystal is a…
Using a multi-phase field model, we examine how particle deformability, which is a proxy for cell stiffness, affects motility induced phase separation (MIPS). We show that purely repulsive deformable, i.e., squishy, cells phase separate…
We study a solution of long polyanions (PA) with shorter polycations (PC) and focus on the role of Coulomb interaction. A good example is solutions of DNA and PC which are widely studied for gene therapy. In the solution, each PA attracts…
In an inspiring recent study, Xu et al. [Nat. Phys. 19, 46 (2023)] observed for a living active biofilm under circular confinement two emergent dynamic modes of collective motion in the film. One corresponds to global rotational motion of…
In many physical systems, degrees of freedom are coupled \emph{via} hydrodynamic forces, even in the absence of Hamiltonian interactions. A particularly important and widespread example concerns the transport of microscopic particles in…
The recently discovered ferroelectric nematic liquid-crystal material DIO exhibits an antiferroelectric (AF) phase, characterized by a sinusoidally modulated structure between the paraelectric (P) and ferroelectric (F) nematic phases.…
Membrane tension is an acknowledged regulator of a wide array of cell functions; however, whether it acts locally or globally in different contexts remains debated. Recent experiments that locally perturb tension and measure the response…
We present a modular DNA origami design approach to address the challenges of assembling geometrically complex nanoscale structures, including those with nonuniform Gaussian curvature. This approach features a core structure that completely…
A dynamic light scattering study of director-layer fluctuations in the antiferroelectric smectic-ZA phase of the ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal DIO is reported. The dynamics are consistent with the distinctive feature of the ZA phase…
The spontaneous organization of particles at the boundary between two fluids is a common occurrence. Scientists have extensively investigated various internal and external factors to manipulate and guide these self-assembly processes. This…
A simple three-dimensional model of a fluid whose constituent particles interact via a short range attractive and long range repulsive potential is used to model the aggregation into large spherical-like clusters made up of hundreds of…
Solids are rigid, which means that when left undisturbed, their structures are nearly static. It follows that these structures depend on history -- but it is surprising that they hold readable memories of past events. Here we review the…
Interactions among biologically active agents is facilitated by their self-generated chemical and hydrodynamic fields. In order to elucidate the pair-wise interactions between such micro-organisms, we employ active droplets as a model…
Growth drives cellular dynamics in dense aggregates including bacterial colonies, developing tissues, and tumors. We investigate the underlying physical principles emerging from the interplay of growth, steric repulsion, and motility in a…