Soft Matter最新文献

{"title":"A torrent intercepts the ionic flow in a polyelectrolyte solution II.","authors":"Rentaro Kanamori, Shuya Watanabe, Mohamed Hussien, Yoshifumi Yamagata, Keisuke Miyamoto, Mika Kawai, Tetsu Mitsumata","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00276e","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00276e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Further investigation was carried out into the mechanism underlying the changes in electric resistance in an aqueous solution of poly(sodium acrylate) induced by a vigorous flow, as we had previously observed. The change in resistance increased with concentration and showed a broad peak at a NaPAA concentration of approximately 2 × 10^-3 wt%, which was close to the entanglement concentration (1.2 × 10^-3 wt%). The change in resistance of the NaPAA solution increased with increasing frequency and tended to reach a plateau above approximately 3 × 10³ Hz. The absolute value of the change in resistance due to the flow could be quantitatively explained by the decrease in the polymer concentration.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"6111-6119"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148885704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ionically conductive hydrogels with high mechanical strength for wearable sensors.","authors":"Kai Wang, Mingjie Li, Yi Kong, Yang Cheng, Anxin Li","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00599c","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00599c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conductive hydrogels have great potential as sensing materials for wearable flexible electronics; however, their practical applications are often limited by low mechanical strength, poor adhesion, and low self-healing efficiency. To meet the requirements of flexible wearable sensors, in this study we introduced zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate (Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂) into the network structure of polyacrylic acid (PAA) and prepared a polyacrylic acid/zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate (PAA/Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂) conductive hydrogel <i>via</i> free radical polymerization. The addition of Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂ not only improves the ionic conductivity but also enhances the crosslinking density through metal coordination. The PAA/Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂(6 wt%) conductive hydrogel exhibits excellent mechanical properties, with a tensile strength of 1.628 MPa, an elongation at break of 670%, and a high electrical conductivity of 1.212 S m^-1. Furthermore, this hydrogel exhibits good moisture retention, anti-swelling, self-healing, and adhesive properties. Importantly, the wearable sensor based on the PAA/Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂(6 wt%) hydrogel exhibits a wide detection range, fast response time, negligible hysteresis, and high sensitivity (GF = 4.56 at 400-600% strain), enabling accurate capture of large-scale human motions as well as movements such as mouth opening and swallowing. This study demonstrates a multifunctional, high-performance conductive hydrogel, showing promise for applications in wearable health monitoring.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"6059-6076"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Histidine-substituted β-sheet peptide networks with tunable viscoelasticity and pH-modulated transport.","authors":"Wenbo Jia, Xinyue Yang, Libo Yuan, Li Ma, Yuan Fang, Kui Lu, Dongxin Zhao","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00736h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00736h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Peptide-based supramolecular assemblies provide experimentally accessible model systems for probing structure-property relationships in soft molecular materials. Here, three short β-sheet-forming peptides with graded histidine substitution were designed as minimal supramolecular networks to systematically examine how sequence-level variation regulates supramolecular organization, viscoelastic response, and pH-modulated molecular transport in aqueous environments. All peptides spontaneously assembled into β-sheet-rich nanofibrous networks, as confirmed by spectroscopic and microscopic characterization, and exhibited stable viscoelastic behavior with pronounced reversible self-recovery. Using doxorubicin as a representative small-molecule probe, the assemblies displayed distinct pH-dependent transport regimes, and kinetic analysis based on the Korsmeyer-Peppas model revealed sequence- and pH-dependent differences in release behavior. Rather than focusing on detailed molecular-level mechanisms, this work emphasizes experimentally accessible correlations between supramolecular network structure, mechanical response, and transport behavior. These results highlight histidine-substituted β-sheet peptide assemblies as adaptable soft-matter model systems for investigating pH-regulated transport phenomena in supramolecular networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"6023-6031"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148862636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Motion characteristics of self-propelled particles in the wake flow past tandem circular cylinders.","authors":"Kaizhe Hu, Yining Yang, Jianbao Xu, Zhenyu Ouyang","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00549g","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00549g","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to study the effects of the swimming Reynolds number Re_s, fluid Reynolds number Re, self-propulsion strength <i>β</i>, and cylinder spacing Δ<i>l</i> on the obstacle-bypassing, wall-attached migration, and near-wall equilibrium behaviors of a squirmer in the Poiseuille flow inserted with a fixed tandem dual-cylinder obstacle array. The results show that the squirmer mainly exhibits four motion modes, <i>i.e.</i>, downstream bypass, upper wall migration, downward bypass, and lower wall equilibrium. When the Re_s or |<i>β</i>| is small, the squirmer mainly undergoes downstream bypass, indicating that the background flow field and wake structure play dominant roles. As the self-propulsion is strengthened, the puller changes to downward bypass and further forms a lower wall equilibrium. For the pusher, gap-mediated obstacle escape occurs first, followed by upper wall migration under stronger self-propulsion conditions. Increasing Δ<i>l</i> changes the wake structure in the gap region, thereby regulating the local obstacle-bypassing trajectory, wall contact turning point, and equilibrium position of the particle. Re further regulates the characteristic trajectory parameters and can induce transitions between swimming modes. This study provides a useful reference for the trajectory control of self-propelled particles in confined microchannels.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"6133-6155"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148904582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frictional response of wall-brush systems composed of breakable polymer chains.","authors":"Wenjun Li, Dadong Yan, Shuanhu Qi","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00607h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00607h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the structural evolution and frictional behaviors of breaking polymer brushes subjected to shear imposed by a moving wall with systematic comparisons to non-breaking systems. Our results show that the structural and dynamical properties of breakable brushes are strongly coupled with the shear velocity. At low wall velocities, bond cleavage is rare, and the two systems exhibit nearly identical structural and frictional responses. With increasing wall velocity, brush chains become progressively stretched and oriented along the shear direction, leading to bond rupture. Bonds with the highest degree of shear-induced orientation are more susceptible to breaking, while the location of maximum orientation shifts with wall velocity, <i>i.e.</i>, the polydispersity of free and brush chains are altered by the velocity. When the wall velocity exceeds a critical value, a large number of free chains accumulate near the moving wall and form a mobile interfacial lubricating layer, resulting in a pronounced self-lubrication effect. In this high-velocity regime, the friction coefficient decreases by approximately one order of magnitude relative to the corresponding non-breaking system. Moreover, this critical velocity decreases with increasing chain length. Further analysis reveals that, compared with the contact number, which is conventionally used to estimate the strength of friction, chain orientation maintains a robust linear relation with the friction coefficient over a much broader shear range, therefore serves as a more reliable descriptor for the interfacial frictional response. This study elucidates the molecular mechanism of bond-breaking-induced self-lubrication in polymer brushes and provides physical insights for the design of polymer-brush interfaces with tunable frictional properties.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"6048-6058"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148862621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coalescence of suspended and sessile isotropic and radial nematic liquid crystal drops.","authors":"Charlotte G Slaughter, Yihao Chen, Sophie Ettinger, Ali Mozaffari, Rui Zhang, Peter J Collings, A G Yodh","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00454g","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00454g","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigate the coalescence of suspended and sessile liquid crystal (LC) drops with homeotropic anchoring in both isotropic and nematic phases. Previous theoretical studies have suggested that coalescence of two radial nematic liquid crystal (NLC) drops could be prevented by an energy barrier due to formation of a topological defect (ring defect) between the two drops. We employ polarized optical microscopy (POM) to observe droplet merging in different configurations and confirm the predicted defect dynamics and director field evolution. The experimental work did not find significant differences in the coalescence of isotropic <i>versus</i> nematic drops. However, we observe a large difference in the merging rates of sessile <i>versus</i> suspended drops. Nearby sessile drops (nematic and isotropic) merge rapidly upon contact. POM, surface tension measurements, simulation, and simple analysis help explain why LC phase is unimportant for merging and suggest that compression forces between drops are significant factor for merging of the sessile drops; these forces facilitate coalescence by enhancing fluid drainage from the intervening thin film, by increasing contact area, and potentially <i>via</i> surfactant expulsion. Numerical simulations corroborate some of the features we observe and suggest that elastic energy costs due to defect formation are less important than surface energy gains during coalescence.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"5979-5990"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148667715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Earwax as pest control.","authors":"David S Ancalle, Dongjing He, Zachary D Wagner, Joseph Nehme-Haily, Rachel Clark, Thomas W Jeyakumar, Luke Maran, Charles L Finn, Ethan Morlu, Rafeen Rahaman, Ryan Yao, Yolande Berta, Alexis C Noel, Yuhang Hu, David L Hu","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00737f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sm00737f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Terrestrial mammals are constantly beset by insects, and the ear is a vulnerable point of entry. Unlike other body orifices that produce fluids such as mucus or tears, the ear appears defenseless. How does it stop invaders? We hypothesize that earwax acts as a slick barrier that prevents insects from crawling into the ear. In this combined experimental and theoretical study, we show that earwax is both slick and adhesive. Ants have difficulty climbing earwax-coated surfaces and cleaning earwax from their bodies. These phenomena are due to the hydrophilic, porous, and viscoelastic properties of earwax, which we study using microscopy, rheology, experiments with ants, and fabrication of arti earwax. We also demonstrate that earwax's aging renders it brittle, facilitating self-removal over a 10-week time scale. This study may be of use to designers of eco-friendly barriers for insects.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149014874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Droplet breakup against an isolated obstacle.","authors":"David J Meer, Shivnag Sista, Mark D Shattuck, Corey S O'Hern, Eric R Weeks","doi":"10.1039/d6sm90133f","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm90133f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Correction for 'Droplet breakup against an isolated obstacle' by David J. Meer <i>et al.</i>, <i>Soft Matter</i>, 2026, <b>22</b>, 2809-2822, https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm01266j.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"5968"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stress-boundary-memory feedback drives vortical-polar transitions in softly confined active matter.","authors":"Haosheng Wen, P B Sunil Kumar, Mohamed Laradji","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00266h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00266h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We computationally investigate how environmental sensitivity of active matter interacts with soft confinement to shape collective dynamics. In our model, the active constituents are represented as self-propelled particles (SPPs), implemented as nematic, disjoint ring polymers whose direction of motion can reverse without tumbling, with a directional persistence controlled by the driving force, <i>F</i>_D, and a persistence time scale, <i>τ</i>_m. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of these reversal-capable SPPs confined within a deformable two-dimensional enclosure reveal that the collective dynamics arise from a three-way feedback between active stresses, boundary elasticity, and particle-level memory. With increasing <i>F</i>_D, this stress-boundary-memory feedback generates a sequence of collective dynamical regimes. At low <i>F</i>_D, SPP motion is dominated by thermal fluctuations and activity plays a negligible role. At intermediate <i>F</i>_D, coherent vortical motion emerges with intermittent, noise-driven reversals. The frequency of reversals is modulated by boundary elasticity and <i>τ</i>_m, and their occurrence coincides with transient coherent polar motion. With further increase in <i>F</i>_D, reversals are suppressed, yielding sustained unidirectional vortical motion in which the enclosure exhibits diffusive propulsion with a diffusivity that varies non-monotonically with <i>F</i>_D. At sufficiently high <i>F</i>_D, the system transitions to a polar state characterized by strong nematic ordering of the SPPs, symmetry breaking of the enclosure shape, and persistent polar collective motion. In this regime, the SPPs accumulate at the leading edge of the enclosure, deforming it into an anisotropic shape and driving sustained ballistic propulsion of the enclosure with a slowly drifting direction. These results demonstrate how environmental sensitivity and soft confinement jointly regulate emergent collective states of confined active matter and identify boundary elasticity as a control parameter governing the balance between vortical and ballistic dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"5796-5809"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148358405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microstructure, microscopic dynamics, and rheology of jammed soft particles with attractive interactions.","authors":"Harry Kojo Yankah, Rakan Alrashdan, Michel Cloître, Fardin Khabaz","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00600k","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6sm00600k","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We use 3D particle dynamics simulations to investigate the microstructure, particle-scale dynamics, and macroscopic rheology of jammed suspensions of soft and deformable particles. This multiscale study is carried out in the framework of a micromechanical model that considers that particles move and rearrange under the combined action of Hertzian repulsive forces, short-range attractive forces, and elastohydrodynamic lubrication forces. Attractive interactions strongly modify the microstructure prevailing in purely repulsive situations: the pair distribution functions exhibit two alternating anisotropic repulsion- and attraction-induced shells, the overall compression increases, and contacts are fewer but larger. They induce a specific flow instability characterized by spatiotemporal fluctuations. After averaging, the shear stress as well as the first and second normal stress differences of attractive suspensions can be mapped onto the behavior of repulsive suspensions, when stresses and shear rate are nondimensionalized by the dynamic yield stress and the duration of the rearrangements, respectively. These results reveal a subtle interplay between hydrodynamic and attractive forces. Attractive forces are dominant at low shear rates and close to the jamming transition, whereas hydrodynamic forces control the rheology at high shear rates and far from jamming.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":"5876-5889"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148811374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}