Soft Matter Blog

Tadashi Sugawara and co-workers at The University of Tokyo, Japan, demonstrated the replication of DNA in giant vesicles using real-time PCR. The team found that the population of PCR-proceeded giant vesicles depends on vesicle size, which could have implications for the natural selection and evolution of early cells around hydrothermal vents. The team say that their findings represent a significant step forward in the attempt to construct a giant vesicles-based protocell system.

Interested to know more? Read the full article for free until 26th April.

Koh-ichiroh Shohda, Mieko Tamura, Yoshiyuki Kageyama, Kentaro Suzuki, Akira Suyama and Tadashi Sugawara, Soft Matter, 2011, Advance Article DOI:10.1039/C0SM01463J

Varying the contact angle of drops on fibres has allowed scientists to discover the stability limits of different drop morphologies. Numerical calculations minimizing the total surface energy confirm the morphology diagram and provide a detailed picture of the energy landscape explaining both the similarities and differences between the barrel-to-clamshell and the reverse transition.

Read this article for free until 20th April.

Hüseyin Burak Eral, Jolet de Ruiter, Riëlle de Ruiter, Jung Min Oh, Ciro Semprebon, Martin Brinkmann and Frieder Mugele, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM01403F (Advance Article)

A polymeric template that induces self-organization without the need of any kind of surface chemistry could form a universal template for photonic applications claim a team of Italian scientists.

Read this article for free until 20th April.

Luciano De Sio, Sameh Ferjani, Giuseppe Strangi, Cesare Umeton and Roberto Bartolino, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1SM05045A (Advance Article)

Polyoxometalate cluster-contained hybrid gelator and hybrid organogel: a new concept of softenization of polyoxometalate clusters. A team from Germany and China designed gelators to form hybrid organogels made of self-assembled hybrid nano-ribbons. The gelator is made of polyoxometalate cluster-contained hybrid molecules with two dendritic poly(urethane amide) wings. The team claim that these results could lead to new POM-containing functional materials. Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C1SM05032J Advance Article.

Discovering multicore micelles: insights into the self-assembly of linear ABC terpolymers in midblock-selective solvents. Linear ABC terpolymers with solvophobic–solvophilic–solvophobic block sequences are capable of self-assembling into multicore micelles. The team from East China University of Science and Technology used self-consistent field calculations to show that multicore micelles, such as the double-stranded superhelix, could be formed form the solution-state self-assembly of linear ABC terpolymers. These results expand the knowledge of the hierarchical assembly of copolymers and provide useful information for mimicking complex biological systems the team claim. Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM01079K Advance Article

Templated self-assembly of patchy particles. Scientists at the University of Oxford have used computer simulations to explore templated self-assembly of complex target structures made from patchy particles. This  assembly pathway allows dodecahedral shells to form readily, whereas these structures didn’t form in the absence of the template. The team suggest that DNA-mediated interactions could provide a potential route to achieve the required specificity in the patch-patch interactions for synthetic systems. Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM01377C Advance Article

These articles are free to access until the 30th March (registration required) 

Preparation of polymer single chain nanoparticles using intramolecular photodimerization of coumarin. An easy method for preparing polymer single chain nanoparticles has been developed by scientists at Université de Sherbrooke, Canada. The method uses the photodimerization of coumarin groups located on the same chain to obtain the intrachain cross-linking required for chain collapse in solution. This approach be used as a nanoreactor for the synthesis of AuNPs and provides a way to optically control the kinetics of AuNP formation. (Soft Matter, 2011, Advance Article DOI:10.1039/C0SM01383H)

Three-dimensional patterning of porous materials using vapor phase polymerization. Scientists at University of Southern California, USA, have demonstrated that solventless initiated chemical vapor deposition can be used for three-dimensional patterning of porous substrates. They demonstrated the utility of their patterning process by fabricating three-dimensional hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions into the chromatography paper for use as paper-based microfluidic devices. The patterning process represents an environmentally friendly method to pattern three-dimensional materials since no organic solvents are used during the polymerization process or patterning step the team claim. (Soft Matter, 2011, Advance Article DOI:10.1039/C0SM01214A)

Deformation induced pattern transformation in a soft granular crystal. A novel pattern transformation when regular arrays of macroscopic particles are subjected to uniaxial compression has been discovered by a team of scientists based in USA, UK, and The Netherlands. The team used a combined experimental and numerical study to uncover the transformation. They say the 2D granular crystals studied in the current study combined with pattern transformation could find interesting applications in tunable phononic devices and that the same mechanism could offer colour tuning by mechanical loading and other novel applications in photonic crystals. (Soft Matter, 2011, Advance Article DOI:10.1039/C0SM01408G)

Nanofluidic networks created and controlled by light. Nanofluidic networks have been fabricated in an oil-in-water emulsion by a team from the UK. In this hot paper, the authors demonstrate the principles required to create networks of micron-sized reactors connected by conduits less than 100 nm in diameter and to transfer reagents between them, entirely with lasers. These networks form a platform for chemistry on the attolitre scale and could open a path to controlled chemical reactions between single molecules the team claim. (Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM01183E Advance Article)

Cluster theory of Janus particles. A cluster theory for the vapor of Janus fluid has been constructed by a team from Italy and South Africa. The team say that main idea behind the present approach is to consider the vapor phase as formed by clusters, containing an increasing number of particles, that are weakly interacting among each other so that simple fluid models—such as ideal gas or hard spheres—can be used to mimick their physical properties. (Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM00995D Advance Article)

Read both articles for free until 18th March.

Self-assembly of cellulose nanofibrils by genetically engineered fusion proteins. The team led by Markus Ben Linder describe how genetic engineering is used to design proteins that have “smart” functionalities that allow directed self-assembly of cellulose nanofibrils for the control of nanostructures in soft materials.

Suvi Varjonen, Päivi Laaksonen, Arja Paananen, Hanna Valo, Hendrik Hähl, Timo Laaksonen and Markus Ben Linder, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM01114B  (Advance Article)

Nucleation of colloidal crystals on configurable seed structures. This hot paper shows the topology of the initial hard sphere nucleus determines the morphology of the crystal. The team led by A. van Blaaderen claim that the reported results explain the complex crystal morphologies observed in experiments on hard spheres.

M. Hermes, E. C. M. Vermolen, M. E. Leunissen, D. L. J. Vossen, P. D. J. van Oostrum, M. Dijkstra and A. van Blaaderen, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM01219J (Advance Article) 

Molecular dynamics and biaxiality of nematic polymers and elastomers. In this paper the authors study the origins of phase biaxiality in nematic polymers and elastomers to gain insight into the relation of molecular dynamics and biaxiality.  The team report that broad biaxial nematic phases were found for liquid crystalline polymers in all conventional attachment geometries.

Felicitas Brömmel, Werner Stille, Heino Finkelmann and Anke Hoffmann, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM01116A (Advance Article)

Read all of the papers for free until the 11^th March.