Soft Matter Blog

Scientist have studied the self-assembly of a binary mixture of polycaprolactone-polyethylene oxide block copolymers in solution. The different polymers form vesicles and spherical micelles in water and self-assembly is triggered by changing the solvent from THF to water. The team led by Peter Schuetz, Unilever, UK, also used Self-Consistent Field Theory based modelling to give further insights into the forces driving self assembly.

The team say that both experiment and theory demonstrate that controlled blending of block copolymers is an effective design parameter for controlling the morphology of the self-assembled structures in block copolymer solutions. This allows a much richer range of nano-morphologies than is possible with single, monomodal block copolymer solutions, they claim.

Peter Schuetz, Martin J. Greenall, Julian Bent, Steve Furzeland, Derek Atkins, Michael F. Butler, Tom C. B. McLeish and D. Martin A. Buzza, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM00938E

The elastic response of active biopolymer networks is determined not only by molecular motors but also by the density and stiffness of crosslinking proteins say US Scientists.

Peng Chen and Vivek B. Shenoy from Brown University, USA, studied the elastic response of actin networks with both compliant and rigid crosslinks by modeling molecular motors as force dipoles.

Fancy knowing more? Read the full article for free here: Peng Chen and Vivek B. Shenoy, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM00908C

A robust micro-porous 3D polymeric film has been constructed using a sacrificial template by Chinese scientists. This simple and cheap method has a variety of promising applications including biosensors, liquid chromatography and micro-reactors the team say.

The team led by Lei Li at Xiamen University and Zhi Ma at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry demonstrated that commercially available triblock polymers can perfectly contour nonplanar substrates with hierarchical micro-structures, despite the sharp corners and shapes. This robust strategy is ascribed to the fluid-like property of the rubber matrix of the polymers. In the sequent vulcanization, the resultant 3D structures are effectively cross-linked and become self-supported with improved thermal stability and solvent resistance.

Why not read the full article for free here:

Lei Li, Yawen Zhong, Jianliang Gong, Jian Li, Caikang Chen, Birong Zeng and Zhi Ma, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM00809E

Nematic order in suspensions of colloidal rods has been induced by a centrifugal field. The research was published in Soft Matter by Deshpremy Mukhija and Michael J. Solomon from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. These results could have implications for optical materials that require assemblies with high quality ordering in a three dimensions.

The team from University of Michigan say that comparison to previous theory and simulation of the isotropic–nematic transition of rod particles indicates that the field strengths required to generate nematic order were larger than would have been predicted under the assumption of local equilibrium in the sediments.

Read the full article for free here: Deshpremy Mukhija and Michael J. Solomon, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM00493F

Nanobubbles: what do we know and how can we understand their surprising stability and morphology?

In this Tutorial Review Vincent Craig discusses the nanobubble puzzle. Nanobubbles are thought to play a role in the rupture of thin films during froth flotation, hydrodynamic slip over surfaces, interaction forces between hydrophobic surfaces and influence the electroplating and electrolysis processes. Craig covers what is known of nanobubbles and discuss the challenges in understanding nanobubble morphology and stability.

Read the full the full article for free here: Vincent Stuart James Craig, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM00558D

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