Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1039/d5sm90125a
{"title":"Outstanding Reviewers for <i>Soft Matter</i> in 2024.","authors":"","doi":"10.1039/d5sm90125a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm90125a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of <i>Soft Matter</i>'s reviewers for helping to preserve quality and integrity in chemical science literature. We would also like to highlight the Outstanding Reviewers for <i>Soft Matter</i> in 2024.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144673382","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1039/d5sm00323g
Yun-Han Huang, John M Frostad
{"title":"Establishing physiologically relevant conditions for measuring the interfacial rheology of lung surfactants.","authors":"Yun-Han Huang, John M Frostad","doi":"10.1039/d5sm00323g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00323g","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lung surfactants are essential in the human respiratory system due to their role in lowering surface tension and preventing alveoli from collapsing. The main component that serves this purpose is dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), a type of phospholipid that is insoluble in water. In this work, we modified an interfacial dilational rheometer (IDR) to measure the dilational modulus of DPPC at physiologically relevant temperatures and employed it at frequencies close to those relevant to breathing. Our analysis reveals that in the liquid-expanded phase, the dilational modulus is governed solely by surface pressure and is independent of temperature. This key insight is supported by the close agreement between our interfacial dilational rheometer measurements and data from other techniques. We demonstrate that the method of interface formation, compression <i>versus</i> direct deposition, significantly impacts the measured interfacial rheology of DPPC, underscoring the importance of deformation history in replicating physiologically relevant lung conditions. Additionally, we demonstrate the need for further work to develop improved equations of state describing DPPC behavior in the liquid-expanded phase.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144673380","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1039/d5sm00523j
M Aguilar-González, D Maza, F Pacheco-Vázquez
{"title":"Janssen effect in submerged granular columns.","authors":"M Aguilar-González, D Maza, F Pacheco-Vázquez","doi":"10.1039/d5sm00523j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00523j","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We experimentally study the effect of an interstitial liquid on pressure saturation in a confined granular column, specifically regarding the Janssen effect. First, we analyze the case of dry grains in a cylindrical container as a reference system. Then, the experiments are carried out in the same container filled with water, considering two scenarios: (i) when the grains are denser than water and sediment under gravity, and (ii) when the grains are less dense than water and rise to the surface due to buoyancy. In the first case, we observe a Janssen-like effect that depends on the particle density ratio to the liquid density. Stress saturation is evident when very dense particles are poured; however, this saturation nearly disappears for grains with a density similar to that of water. We describe these experimental observations using a Janssen-like approach that accounts for the hydrostatic stress introduced by the surrounding fluid. In the second scenario, a buoyancy-driven Janssen effect is found when the pressure is measured at the top of the column, and the model successfully accounts for this phenomenon. Importantly, these results demonstrate the significance of grain-to-grain stress transmission, even for granular columns suspended in a fluid.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144673381","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1039/d5sm90126j
Zhiwei Huang, Joseph L Keddie
{"title":"Correction: Free energy modelling of a spherical nanoparticle at an oil/water interface.","authors":"Zhiwei Huang, Joseph L Keddie","doi":"10.1039/d5sm90126j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm90126j","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Correction for 'Free energy modelling of a spherical nanoparticle at an oil/water interface' by Zhiwei Huang <i>et al.</i>, <i>Soft Matter</i>, 2025, <b>21</b>, 5188-5193, https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SM00501A.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144673378","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-18DOI: 10.1039/d5sm00009b
Alexander Janik, Tobias Neckernuss, Kay-E Gottschalk, Othmar Marti
{"title":"Power-law rheology of adherent cells by local optical stretching and implications for mechanical modelling.","authors":"Alexander Janik, Tobias Neckernuss, Kay-E Gottschalk, Othmar Marti","doi":"10.1039/d5sm00009b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00009b","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The lack of quantitative agreement between different techniques and publications has been an open issue in cell rheology for many years. Major differences in experimental design - and thus potential sources of the discrepancy - include the magnitude and lateral length scale of force application. To address these issues, we have developed an optical stretcher capable of extracting viscoelastic parameters from adherent cells while applying very low forces of a few pN and deformations of a few nm in a contact-free manner. This paper outlines the potential and limitations of such a setup. The latter include the necessity of reference measurements with the cells in an index-matched medium. It is to our knowledge the first time that adherent cells have been characterized with an optical stretching setup capable of quantitative mechanical measurements. Furthermore, a meta-analysis is conducted with papers measuring the same cell lines by AFM indentation and evaluating the results with the same power-law model. The apparent stiffness values obtained vary by two orders of magnitude, but turn out to be strongly correlated with contact radius as well as applied mechanical stress. The values from optical stretching obtained at low stress and deformation fit into that picture.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144657912","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-17DOI: 10.1039/d5sm00439j
Qingteng Liu, Yuan Ji, Fangzhi Mou, Jianguo Guan, Long Ren
{"title":"Preparation of liquid metal microrobots with an asymmetric core-shell structure for thermal gradient navigation.","authors":"Qingteng Liu, Yuan Ji, Fangzhi Mou, Jianguo Guan, Long Ren","doi":"10.1039/d5sm00439j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00439j","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soft microrobots capable of sensing and responding to localized physical stimuli offer a fuel-free route to autonomous propulsion, opening new opportunities for targeted therapeutic applications in biomedicine. Herein, we propose a thermo-responsive microrobot featuring an asymmetric core-shell structure composed of an eccentric liquid metal (LM) core and a polyacrylic acid (PAA) shell. The combination of asymmetric structure and the contrasting thermal conductivities of the LM core (high) and PAA shell (low) enables thermophoretic capability, which achieves directional motion under localized thermal gradients without the need for chemical fuels.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144648033","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-17DOI: 10.1039/d5sm00539f
Marcel Gawek, Paulina Szymoniak, Deniz Hülagü, Andreas Hertwig, Andreas Schönhals
{"title":"Molecular mobility of thin films and the adsorbed layer of poly(2-vinylpyridine).","authors":"Marcel Gawek, Paulina Szymoniak, Deniz Hülagü, Andreas Hertwig, Andreas Schönhals","doi":"10.1039/d5sm00539f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00539f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The molecular dynamics of thin films and the adsorbed layer of poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) were investigated using broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Thin films of P2VP were prepared on silicon substrates and characterized to understand the influence of film thickness on the thermal glass transition temperature (<i>T</i><sub>g</sub>) and molecular mobility. The ellipsometric study revealed a decrease in <i>T</i><sub>g</sub> with decreasing film thickness, attributed to the enhanced mobility at the polymer/air interface. The adsorbed layer, prepared <i>via</i> the solvent leaching approach, exhibited a higher <i>T</i><sub>g</sub> compared to the bulk, indicating reduced molecular mobility due to strong polymer substrate interactions. The dielectric measurements were carried out in two different electrode configurations, crossed electrode capacitors (CEC) and nanostructured electrodes (NSE), where the latter allows for a free surface layer at the polymer/air interface. The relaxation rates of the α-relaxation measured in the CEC geometry collapse into one chart independent from the film thickness. For the thin films measured in the NSE arrangement the relaxation rates slow down with decreasing film thickness which was discussed as related to a stronger interaction of the P2VP segments with the native SiO<sub>2</sub> at the surface of the silicon substrate compared to aluminum. It is worth noting that the effect of the enhanced mobility at the polymer/air interface is not observed in the dielectric measurements. BDS measurements in NSE geometry identified an additional relaxation process (α*-relaxation) in thin films, which was more pronounced in the adsorbed layer. This process is hypothesized to be related to molecular fluctuations within the adsorbed layer including the adsorption/desorption dynamics of segments or to a slow Arrhenius process (SAP) related to the equilibration dynamics deep in the glassy state.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144648032","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-17DOI: 10.1039/d4sm01290a
Nicholas J Lauersdorf, Ehssan Nazockdast, Daphne Klotsa
{"title":"Binary mixtures of active Brownian particles with distinct nonzero activities.","authors":"Nicholas J Lauersdorf, Ehssan Nazockdast, Daphne Klotsa","doi":"10.1039/d4sm01290a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sm01290a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We computationally study suspensions of slow and fast active Brownian particles that have undergone motility induced phase separation and are in the steady state. Such mixtures, of varying non-zero activity, remain largely unexplored even though they are relevant in a plethora of systems and applications ranging from cellular biophysics to drone swarms. Our mixtures are modulated by their activity ratios (Pe<sup>R</sup>), which we find to encode information by giving rise to three regimes, each of which display their unique emergent behaviors. Specifically, we found non-monotonic behavior of macroscopic properties, <i>e.g.</i> density and pressure, as a function of activity ratio, microphase separation of fast and slow particle domains, increased fluctuations on the interface and severe avalanche events compared to monodisperse active systems. Our approach of simultaneously varying the two activities of the particle species allowed us to discover these behaviors and explain the microscopic physical mechanisms that drive them.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144648031","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}
Soft MatterPub Date : 2025-07-16DOI: 10.1039/d5sm00297d
Maninderjeet Singh, Nicholas F Mendez, Michele Valsecchi, Guruswamy Kumaraswamy, Sanat K Kumar
{"title":"Materials science underpinnings of micro and nanoplastics.","authors":"Maninderjeet Singh, Nicholas F Mendez, Michele Valsecchi, Guruswamy Kumaraswamy, Sanat K Kumar","doi":"10.1039/d5sm00297d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00297d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is considerable interest in microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPL) due to their ubiquity and their potential for serious health consequences. A framework that allows us to consider all relevant aspects of MNPL requires us to enunciate (a) their formation mechanisms, their sizes, shapes, and chemical functionalities (upstream properties); and (b) their health and environmental consequences (downstream properties). In this perspective, we discuss the materials science underpinnings of MNPL formation, and the current open questions that need immediate attention from the research community. Specifically, we highlight the lack of understanding of how angstrom-level environmentally triggered bond-breaking events lead to the formation of ∼10 nm-1 mm-sized fragments. Are there universal theoretical ideas that unify MNPL formation in disparate situations? What is the role of external stressors, polymer morphology, and molecular weight? Answering these questions requires us to develop a suite of novel metrologies - from accurate, accelerated aging tests that mimic natural MNPL creation processes but speed up these rare events into the normal laboratory time scales; to the extension of standard physicochemical characterization tools which are hard to apply in the context of MNPL formation due to small sample masses.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144641294","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":"Poly(acrylic acid)-catalyzed supramolecular self-assembly enables free-standing low-molecular-weight hydrogels.","authors":"Samahir Sheikh Idris, Hucheng Wang, Yuliang Gao, Peiwen Cai, Yiming Wang, Kangkang Zhi, Shicheng Zhao","doi":"10.1039/d5sm00468c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00468c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Supramolecular hydrogels self-assembled by low-molecular-weight gelators through non-covalent interactions present potent application potential in fields ranging from biomedicine to energy. However, the underwhelming mechanical properties dramatically limit real-life applications. In this contribution, we report our access to free-standing supramolecular hydrogels by triggered self-assembly of gelators using polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a catalyst. This is achieved using a hydrazone formation-induced self-assembly system, where the formation and self-assembly of hydrazone-based gelators can be dramatically accelerated under the catalysis of acid. The addition of PAA dramatically accelerates the hydrogelation process, resulting in hydrogels exhibiting well-defined networks and high stiffness. Under optimal conditions, the stiffness can even reach 37.5 kPa compared to only 2.9 kPa for the pure hydrogel. Furthermore, we find that the resultant hydrogels can stand freely and can be remolded in various shapes. Our study presents a simple approach towards strong supramolecular hydrogels that can retain their shape and size while maintaining the functionalities and stability, accelerating the applications of supramolecular hydrogels in the field of, for instance, biosensors, tissue engineering, and drug delivery.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144641295","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}