Author Archive

Wound dressing helps healing cells to do their job

A wound dressing that guides cells close to the wound has been designed by scientists in Switzerland.

The dressing is made from polydimethylsiloxane and is etched with grooves, which enhance cell polarisatrion, migration speed and directionality.

The dressing makes wound healing faster and may prevent scar tissue forming. The dressing is also non-adhesive and controls cells in a ‘top down’ approach. Unlike current dressing, this one can be removed when the tissue is healed.

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Topography-mediated apical guidance in epidermal wound healing
Anastasios Marmaras,  Tobias Lendenmann,  Gianluca Civenni,  Davide Franco,  Dimos Poulikakos,  Vartan Kurtcuoglu and Aldo Ferrari
Soft Matter, 2012, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM00030J

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Oscillatory settling in wormlike-micelle solutions

The authors of this Hot paper model a steel ball falling freely through a solution of entangled wormlike-micelles. In non-Newtonian fluids such as this, objects are known to settle unsteadily. They report for the first time that spheres larger than a critical size undergo unsteady motion and show sustained, repeated bursts of oscillations superposed on a constant baseline velocity.

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Oscillatory settling in wormlike-micelle solutions: bursts and a long time scale
Nitin Kumar,  Sayantan Majumdar,  Aditya Sood,  Rama Govindarajan,  Sriram Ramaswamy and A. K. Sood
Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 4310-4313, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM25077B

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Surface wrinkling in soft materials

Soft materials are very susceptible to surface instabilities, which can lead to wrinkiling, folding and creasing. These deformations and morphological instabilities are usually in response to environmental stimuli, and this stimulus-responsiveness makes them promising candidates for applications as intelligent materials. This hot review documents recent progress into the investigtation of surface wrinkling of soft materials, such as gels and biological tissues. 

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Mechanics of morphological instabilities and surface wrinkling in soft materials: a review
Bo Li ,  Yan-Ping Cao,  Xi-Qiao Feng and Huajian Gao
Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 5728-5745, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM00011C

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Impacting the mechanical properties of elastomers re-inforced with fillers

Using solid fillers in an elastomeric matrix is a well-known method for improving the mechanical properties of elastomers. In this hot paper a silica-filled model elastomer was used to study the interparticle connections between the filler particles. It was found that the distance between the particles is a crucial parameter in the mechanics of materials, and was compared to the  range of polymer dynamics modification within the system.

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Solid particles in an elastomer matrix: impact of colloid dispersion and polymer mobility modification on the mechanical properties
Aurélie Papon,  Hélène Montes,  François Lequeux,  Julian Oberdisse,  Kay Saalwächter and Laurent Guy
Soft Matter, 2012,8, 4090-4096, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM06885K

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Disclinations and the morphology of deformable fluid interfaces

This Hot Paper describes the use of a Monte Carlo model to explore the spectrum of vesicle shapes engendered by an in-plane nematic field. The study of these complex morphologies can lead to further understanding of cellular organelles, such as the endoplasmic reticulum the Golgi and the mitochondria. In addition, the disclination dynamics on deformable surfaces can also be studied.

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Role of disclinations in determining the morphology of deformable fluid interfaces
N. Ramakrishnan ,  John H. Ipsen and P. B. Sunil Kumar
Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 3058-3061, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM07384F

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The anatomy of a crease, from folding to ironing

Ironing is an every-day occurrence, but little is known about the mechanism by which the iron unfolds the wrinkles in fabric. Obviously high temperatures, and pressures are important, but what about humidity, and the use of damp cloth? Researchers in this Hot Paper report experiments on the folding and unfolding of a single crease. Both bulk and weaved materials were studied.

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The anatomy of a crease, from folding to ironing
Adrien Benusiglio ,  Vincent Mansard ,  Anne-Laure Biance and Lydéric Bocquet
Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 3342-3347, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM07151G

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UK Colloids 2011 Web-Theme

In July 4th to 6th 2011, the joint RSC Colloid and Interface Science Group / SCI Colloid and Surface Science Group organized the first multi-day conference “UK Colloids 2011” on the topic of colloid science held in the UK for many years.

Papers in this web-theme, published in Soft Matter and RSC Advances were presented at the meeting. The collection includes regular articles, highlights and reviews. The material spans the entire range of colloid science and the diverse background of the delegates.

To view the web-theme, click here!

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New approach for predicting self-assembly

Predicting how particles will self-assemble has huge benefits for the fabrication of functional materials, across many applications. Self-assembly allows the simultaneous organisation of many building blocks, in addition to removing the need for complicated synthetic steps. Researchers Eric Jankowski and Sharon Glotzer have developed a new conceptual approach to predict which particles will be good candidates for self-assembly, focussing on model systems of patchy colloids and CdTe/CdS tetrahedra.

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Screening and designing patchy particles for optimized self-assembly propensity through assembly pathway engineering
Eric Jankowski and Sharon C. Glotzer
Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 2852-2859, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM07101K

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Hot Review: Hyaluronic Acid in hydrogels for biomedical applications

This Hot Review looks at the natural and versatile polymer hyaluronic acid (HA). Hyaluronic acid is a component of the extracellular matrix and is employed in many biological processes. Because of the bio-compatibility of HA, it is an important building block in biomaterials. This article looks at recent efforts in using HA in drug releasing hydrogels, which are promising materials for tissue repair and regeneration.

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Hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels: from a natural polysaccharide to complex networks

Xian Xu ,  Amit K. Jha ,  Daniel A. Harrington ,  Mary C. Farach-Carson and Xinqiao Jia

Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 3280-3294, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM06463D

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Graphene oxide improves block copolymer structure determination

A technique to resolve structures of self-assembled block copolymers using graphene oxide has been developed by UK and US scientists.

Resolving the structures of these polymers is important for the advancement of drug and gene delivery systems, nanoreactors, in separation science and in nanoelectronics, but they are difficult to resolve because of their size.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used for this but the polymers need to be chemically fixed and stained to get an image contrast. This adds complexity to the sample preparation and image interpretation and doesn’t allow complementary imaging and analysis techniques to be applied.

Now, the team have used graphene oxide as a support for TEM. No staining is needed and the specimens remain stable under the electron beam for a long time, allowing sample analysis by a range of electron microscopy techniques. Graphene oxide supports are also used for further characterisation of the same assemblies by scanning electron and atomic force microscopy.

Graphene has been used with TEM before, but it is expensive and very few species adsorb to the homogeneous surface. In comparison, heavily oxidised graphene – graphene oxide – is readily available in large quantities, it is water dispersible, robust and almost electron transparent.

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A simple approach to characterizing block copolymer assemblies: graphene oxide supports for high contrast multi-technique imaging
Joseph P. Patterson ,  Ana M. Sanchez ,  Nikos Petzetakis ,  Thomas P. Smart ,  Thomas H. Epps, III ,  Ian Portman ,  Neil R. Wilson and Rachel K. O’Reilly
Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 3322-3328, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM07040E

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