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Author Archive

Giant graphene oxide flakes for liquid crystals

09 Dec 2011

Liquid crystals formed by giant graphene oxide flakes with an aspect ratio (difference between length of two dimensions) above 10,000 have been observed by scientists in the US. This is the highest aspect ratio so far, they say, and it affects the liquid crystal’s properties.

As the concentration of the flakes increased, they underwent transitions from an isotropic dispersion to a biphasic system and then to a discotic nematic liquid crystal. The gel-like liquid has an unusually defect-free uniform director alignment over hundreds of micrometres.

Read for free until January 10!

Liquid crystals of aqueous, giant graphene oxide flakes
Budhadipta Dan, Natnael Behabtu, Angel Martinez, Julian S. Evans, Dmitry V. Kosynkin, James M. Tour, Matteo Pasquali and Ivan I. Smalyukh
Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 11154-11159
DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06418E

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Soft Matter article featured in Chemistry World: How to make a crab shell see-through

05 Dec 2011

Researchers in Japan have made a crab shell transparent. Then, using knowledge gained from this activity, they created a transparent nanocomposite sheet, incorporating powdered chitin from crab shells. The nanocomposite could have applications in devices that need a high light transmittance, such as flat panel displays.

Scientists have previously used cellulose from plants and chitin to strengthen materials, giving biologically-inspired nanocomposites. If natural nanofibres are dispersed widely enough in a transparent polymer matrix, they can strengthen the polymer and the resulting nanocomposite material will retain its transparency. Work on optically transparent polymers containing cellulose nanofibres shows they have a low axial thermal expansion coefficient, meaning their size does not vary with temperature, making them ideal for use in flexible flat panel displays and solar cells. Interested to know more? Read the full article in Chemistry World here…

Preparing the transparent crab shell: (a) original shell, (b) shell after removal of matrix substances and (c) transparent crab shell after immersion in acrylic resin

The transparent crab: preparation and nanostructural implications for bioinspired optically transparent nanocomposites
M I Shams, M Nogi, L A Berglund and H Yano
Soft Matter, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/c1sm06785k

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Soft Matter issue 24 out now!

30 Nov 2011

The latest issue of Soft Matter is now online. You can read the full issue here:

The outside front cover features an article on Microscopic structure influencing macroscopic splash at high Weber number by Peichun Tsai, Maurice H. W. Hendrix, Remko R. M. Dijkstra, Lingling Shui and Detlef Lohse

Structural forces in soft matter systems: unique flocculation pathways between deformable droplets is the article highlighted on the inside front cover by Rico F. Tabor, Hannah Lockie, Derek Y. C. Chan, Franz Grieser, Isabelle Grillo, Kevin J. Mutch and Raymond R. Dagastine.

Issue 24 contains the following Highlight and Review articles:

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Review: Shear-thinning hydrogels for biomedical applications

28 Nov 2011

Injectable shear-thinning hydrogel systems are reviewed in this recent paper by Jason Burdick and co-workers. Injectable hydrogels are important for tissue engineering and drug delivery, they can be applied through a syringe and undergo a rapid sol-gel transition at the target site. This review highlights the mechanisms for hydrogel formation to obtain shear-thinning behaviour and subsequent self-healing properties of the gels.

Read for free until January 10:

Shear-thinning hydrogels for biomedical applications
Murat Guvendiren, Hoang D. Lu and Jason A. Burdick
Soft Matter, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06513K

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Soft Matter issue 23 out now!

17 Nov 2011

The latest issue of Soft Matter is now online. You can read the full issue here:

The outside front cover features an article on Reversible emulsification controlled by ionic surfactants and responsive nanoparticles by Jos Zwanikken, Katerina Ioannidou, Daniela Kraft and René van Roij.

Bespoke periodic topography in hard polymer films by infrared radiation-assisted evaporative lithography is the article highlighted on the inside front cover by Argyrios Georgiadis, Alexander F. Routh, Martin W. Murray and Joseph L. Keddie.

Issue 23 contains the following Highlight and Review articles:

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Soft Matter article featured in Chemistry World: Shrinky Dink origami powered by heat

14 Nov 2011

US scientists have devised a method of generating 3D structures from flat surfaces by printing patterns onto a polymeric children’s toy and letting an IR heat lamp do the rest.

Polymers that are responsive to an applied stimulus have attracted interest in a variety of areas, and polymers that self-fold have potential applications in packaging, mechanical actuation, sensors and drug delivery.

Shape memory polymers, which return to a pre-programmed form upon a threshold temperature or other stimulus, suffer from limited movement and require complex syntheses, as the parts of the polymer that respond to the synthesis must be chemically different to the panels that move. This new technique, however, uses conventional black printer ink to print a hinge onto a cheap and readily available pre-stressed polystyrene polymer. Interested to know more? Read the full article in Chemistry World here…

Shrinky Dink folding in light

(i) A Shrinky Dink; (ii) unidirectional folding via absorption of light by black ink patterned on one side of the Shrinky Dink; (iii) bidirectional folding due to ink on both sides of the Shrinky Dink. Owing to effective light absorption by the ink, the polymer under the black ink heats up faster than the rest of the polymer

Self-folding of polymer sheets using local light absorption
Y Liu, J K Boyles, J Genzer and M Dickey
Soft Matter, 2011
DOI: 10.1039/c1sm06564e

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Hot Highlight on Fluid-Based Adhesion in Insects

08 Nov 2011

Read for free until Dec 9 >>

Insects use hairy or smooth adhesive pads to stick to almost all known surfaces. Although studied for more than 300 years, the principles of insect adhesion are still not fully understood. This ‘Hot Highlight article’ summarizes recent advances in the understanding of fluid-based insect adhesion and highlights the large number of unresolved questions, regarding the mechanism of fluid secretion, the thickness of the mediating fluid layer, and the influence of surface properties on insect adhesive forces.

Fluid-based adhesion in insects – principles and challenges
Jan-Henning Dirks and Walter Federle
Soft Matter, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06269G

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Hot Article: Nanoparticles induce liquid crystalline polymorphism

07 Nov 2011

Read for free until Dec 5>>

Gold nanoparticles (NPs) grafted with promesogenic ligands show temperature induced liquid crystalline polymorphism with unique phase sequence: from smectic to columnar structure. Most studied liquid crystals made of NPs show only simple mesomorphism but authors in this Hot Article have shown that NPs can also give complex, temperature tuneable structures.

Temperature-controlled liquid crystalline polymorphism of gold nanoparticles
Michal M. Wojcik, Monika Gora, Jozef Mieczkowski, Jerzy Romiszewski, Ewa Gorecka and Damian Pociecha
Soft Matter, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06436C

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Soft Matter issue 22 out now!

02 Nov 2011

The latest issue of Soft Matter is now online. You can read the full issue here:

The outside front cover features an article on Self-assembly of non-linear polymers at the air/water interface: the effect of molecular architecture by Lei Zhao and Zhiqun Lin.

Topological defects of nematic liquid crystals confined in porous networks is the article highlighted on the inside front cover by Francesca Serra, Krishna C. Vishnubhatla, Marco Buscaglia, Roberto Cerbino, Roberto Osellame, Giulio Cerullo and Tommaso Bellini.

Issue 22 contains the following Highlight and Review articles:

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Soft Matter Blog

Author Archive

Giant graphene oxide flakes for liquid crystals

Soft Matter article featured in Chemistry World: How to make a crab shell see-through

Soft Matter issue 24 out now!

Top Ten most-read Soft Matter articles in October

Review: Shear-thinning hydrogels for biomedical applications

Soft Matter issue 23 out now!

Soft Matter article featured in Chemistry World: Shrinky Dink origami powered by heat

Hot Highlight on Fluid-Based Adhesion in Insects

Hot Article: Nanoparticles induce liquid crystalline polymorphism

Soft Matter issue 22 out now!

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