Soft Matter Blog

Ion electrodiffusion governs silk electrogelation

The formation of biocompatible medical adhesives based on silk hydrogels can be controlled by electric fields.  The elongation of the silk fibres is dependent on factors such as the value of the applied DC current, pH and silk fibroin concentration.  In this hot paper, Kaplan and co-workers describe a model which describes the transition of silk fibroin solution to a gel sate whereby the silk elongation can be mediated by a local change of the pH. The model was confirmed experimentally suggesting it could be used to calculate the amount of current needed for desired gel state growth under various conditions.

(Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 6897-6905 )

Interfacial viscoelasticity controls buckling, wrinkling and arrest in emulsion drops undergoing mass transfer

Oil droplets in emulsions are widely used for foods, consumer products and pharmaceutical applications. The mass transfer and ripening processes in emulsions with complex, non-Newtonian interfaces is little studied. In this hot paper, Erni and co-workers present a detailed study of the effect of interfacial rheological properties on compositional ripening in emulsions. The results are expected to have applications in the design and engineering of delivery systems in pharmaceuticals, phytochemicals, and flavour or fragrance compounds.

(Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 6958-6967)

Don’t forget to keep up-to-date with all the latest research you can sign-up for the Soft Matter RSS feed or Table of contents alert.

To keep up with the journal news you can Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.

Double network hydrogels are tough synthetic gels consisting of two-interpenetrating networks. The recoverability of double network hydrogels from loading and unloading is improved in this hot paper by synthesising hydrogels using an ionically cross-linked network and a covalently cross-linked network. The authors prepare hydrogels consisting of ionically cross-linked Gellan gum (a naturally occurring anionic polysaccharide) and covalently cross-linked poly(acrylamide). The new hydrogel shows improved mechanical properties and can almost completely recover from subsequent loading-unloading cycles with respect to the second compressive cycle.

(Soft Matter, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2SM26745D, Advanced Article). Read for free until October 12^th.

Don’t forget to keep up-to-date with all the latest research you can sign-up for the Soft Matter RSS feed or Table of contents alert.

To keep up with the journal news you can Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.