相关论文: Organized Self-Emulsification toward Structural Co…
We study the spontaneous charging and the crystallization of spherical micron-sized water-droplets dispersed in oil by numerically solving, within a Poisson-Boltzmann theory in the geometry of a spherical cell, for the density profiles of…
We introduce a new experimental approach to study the structural transitions of large numbers of nanoparticle-coated droplets as their volume is reduced. We use an emulsion system where the dispersed phase is slightly soluble in the…
Self-assembly processes allow us to design and create complex nanostructures using molecules as building blocks and surfaces as scaffolds. This autonomous driven construction is possible due to a complex thermodynamic balance of…
Emulsion fuels have the potential to reduce both particulate matter and NOx emissions and can potentially improve the efficiency of combustion engines. However, their limited stability remains a critical barrier to practical use as an…
We study water-in-oil emulsion droplets, running the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, that form a new type of active matter unit. These droplets, stabilised by surfactants dispersed in the oil medium, are capable of internal chemical…
Ordering nanoparticles into a desired super-structure is often crucial for their technological applications. We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the assembly of nanoparticles in a polymer brush randomly grafted to a planar…
We report a study of reversible adsorption of DNA-coated colloids on complementary functionalized oil droplets. We show that it is possible to control the surface coverage of oil droplets by colloidal particles, by exploiting the fact that…
We outline a concept of self-assembled soft matter devices based on micro-fluidics, which use surfactant bilayer membranes as their main building blocks, arrested in geometric structures provided by top-down lithography. Membranes form…
Structural colors are produced by wavelength-dependent scattering of light from nanostructures. While living organisms often exploit phase separation to directly assemble structurally colored materials from macromolecules, synthetic…
Designable media can control properties of nanocomposite materials by spatially organizing nanoparticles. Here we theoretically study particle organization by ultrathin polymer films of grafted chains (``brushes''). Polymer-soluble…
The directed self-assembly of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) using external fields guides the formation of sophisticated hierarchical materials but becomes less effective with decreasing particle size. As an alternative, electron-beam-driven…
Oils and fragrances can be encapsulated by using composite shells of silica nanoparticles, polymer and surfactant (potassium oleate). The template for the creation of the core-shell structure is a particle stabilized (Pickering) emulsion.…
Physical properties of composite materials can be pre-engineered by controlling their structure and composition at the mesoscale. Yet, approaches for achieving this are limited and rarely scalable. We introduce a new breed of self-assembled…
We have developed Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA) flow focusing devices, making use of the excellent solvent compatibility and surface properties of NOA to generate micron scale oil-in-water emulsions with polydispersities as low as 5%.…
Binary mixtures of water with lower alcohols display non-linear phase behaviour upon mixing which are attributed to potential cluster formation at molecular level. Unravelling such elusive structures requires the investigation of…
Several oil-water separation techniques have been proposed to improve the capacity of cleaning water. With the technological possibility of producing materials with antagonist wetting behavior, as for example a substrate that repeal water…
Paint marbling refers to techniques for creating intricate designs in colored paints floating on a liquid surface. If the marbling motions are executed slowly, then this layer of paints can be modeled as a two-dimensional incompressible…
Particles that can be trapped in optical tweezers range from tens of microns down to tens of nanometres in size. Interestingly, this size range includes large macromolecules. We show experimentally, in agreement with theoretical…
Electrochemical etching of semiconductors, apart from many technical applications, provides an interesting experimental setup for self-organized structure formation capable e.g. of regular, diameter-modulated, and branching pores. The…
Pattern formation induced by wrinkling is a very common phenomenon exhibited in soft-matter substrates. In all these systems wrinkles develop in presence of compressively stressed thin films lying on compliant substrates. Here we…