Soft Matter最新文献

{"title":"Coupling of lipid phase behavior and protein oligomerization in a lattice model of raft membranes.","authors":"Subhadip Basu, Oded Farago","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00026f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sm00026f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Membrane proteins often form dimers and higher-order oligomers whose stability and spatial organization depend sensitively on their lipid environment. To investigate the physical principles underlying this coupling, we employ a lattice Monte Carlo model of ternary lipid mixtures that exhibit liquid-disordered (L_d) and liquid-ordered (L_o) phase coexistence. In this framework, proteins are represented as small membrane inclusions with tunable nearest-neighbor interactions with both lipids and other proteins, allowing us to examine how protein-lipid affinity competes with protein-protein interactions and lipid-lipid demixing. We find that the balance of these interactions controls whether proteins remain dispersed, assemble into small oligomers, or form large stable clusters within L_o domains, and that increasing the protein concentration further promotes coarsening of the ordered phase. To incorporate ligand-regulated activation, we extend the model to a kinetic Monte Carlo scheme in which proteins stochastically switch between inactive and active states with distinct affinities. The inverse switching rate, relative to the time required for a protein to diffuse across the characteristic size of the L_o domains, governs the aggregation behavior. Rapid switching yields only transient small oligomers, slow switching reproduces the static limit with persistent large clusters, and intermediate rates produce broad cluster-size distributions. These results highlight the interplay between lipid phase organization, protein-lipid affinity, and activation dynamics in regulating membrane protein oligomerization, a coupling that is central to signal transduction and membrane organization in living cells.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757847","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":"The effect of weathering environments on microplastic chemical identification with Raman and IR spectroscopy: Part II. polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and nylon 6.","authors":"Samantha Phan, Jonathan J Ramtahal, Christine K Luscombe","doi":"10.1039/d5sm01102g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm01102g","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of spectroscopic techniques to identify microplastics found in the environment is challenging because weathered microplastics undergo chemical changes that make their spectra drastically different from their pristine counterparts. In previous work, we reported the findings from systematic artificial weathering of polyethylene and polypropylene for 0-26 weeks in four different weathering environments (air, DI water, artificial seawater, and Puget Sound seawater), characterized by Raman and IR spectroscopy (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2022.107752). This manuscript provides the final part of the study's findings, which includes the Raman and IR spectroscopy information on the weathering effects on polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and nylon 6 (PA6) with the goal to evaluate how these weathering effects affect the reliability of polymer identification. Our results show that spectral changes are often non-linear, lacking a clear exposure-time trend. While PS exhibited significant oxidation by IR in DI water, these changes were not detectable by Raman spectroscopy, highlighting a risk for researchers who rely on a single technique. Both PS and PA6 showed more degradation peaks in DI water than in seawater, which suggests that chlorine radicals from salt may inhibit the formation of some degradation products. This work underscores the need to use complementary IR and Raman analysis to avoid misinterpretation of environmental microplastics and their aging state.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757940","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":"Following the formation of single-chain nanoparticles generated by interblock crosslinking within diblock copolymers: a Monte Carlo simulation study with adjustable interaction strength between the blocks.","authors":"Anja Voigt, Christian Strauch, Tom Höfken, Mirco Wahab, Wiebke Hadwich, Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Conrad Hübler, Stefanie Schneider, Felix A Plamper","doi":"10.1039/d5sm01153a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm01153a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigated the folding and crosslinking of diblock copolymers with interblock-crosslinkable units in dilute solution. We used a bead-spring model for the polymer and Monte Carlo simulations for the crosslinking. At no and small interblock attractive interaction, the observed zipping between spatially proximate crosslinkers results in single-chain nanoparticles resembling expanded ladder-type polymers. Stronger attractive interactions between the different blocks lead to an enhanced internal confinement resulting in more compact, randomly crosslinked structures. The structural outcome of the \"reactive\" Monte Carlo (MC) simulations was also qualitatively recovered by applying \"reactive\" molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757815","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":"Dynamics of particles suspended in field-enhanced microscale flows.","authors":"Debmalya Halder, Andrew Yee, Minami Yoda, Shaurya Prakash","doi":"10.1039/d5sm01239b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm01239b","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding the dynamics of particles suspended in a flowing liquid is a fundamental fluid mechanics problem. Over the last several decades, significant advances in our theoretical and experimental understanding of these particle-laden flows have been used to manipulate particles in a variety of applications. In particular, recent developments in micro- and nanoscale fabrication and nanotechnology have increased the range of applications, as well as requirements, for manipulating suspended particles with radii less than a few micrometers. We focus here on the surprising and largely unexplained dynamics of neutrally buoyant particles suspended in two common microscale flows, namely Poiseuille and electroosmotic flows, where the particles are subject to both surface forces (<i>e.g.</i>, due to pressure gradients) and body forces (<i>e.g.</i>, due to electric fields). This perspective review summarizes current developments and identifies opportunities for future advances. Particles suspended in flows can demonstrate both individual and collective behaviors that lead to unusual and unexpected physicochemical hydrodynamics. These dynamics are a long-standing subject of interest, and there has been significant research on the fundamentals of particle-fluid interactions and suspension dynamics because of their relevance to nano- and microscale robotics, drug delivery, biosensing, nanomaterials, optical systems, and biotechnology. The review focuses on the dynamics of nanoscale colloidal particles within confined microscale flows, discussing past discoveries and current state-of-art research, and concluding with suggestions for future research directions.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757850","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":"Dynamic water film assisted laser micromachining of micro-array structured surfaces for inducing hydrophobicity: analysis model and experimental study.","authors":"Jinda Yang, Zhongxu Lian, Haonan Jin, Jiaqi Wang, Jinkai Xu, Yanling Tian","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00212a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sm00212a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With the advantages of non-contact processing and high precision, laser micromachining technology has shown great potential for applications in functional surface fabrication. However, thermal damage issues inevitably arise during the machining process. This study takes Ti6Al4V titanium alloy as the research object and compares the processing effects of laser direct processing (LDP) and dynamic water film assisted laser machining (DWFALM). The effects of varying laser processing spacing on surface morphology and wetting properties were investigated. The results indicate that, compared with the conventional LDP technique, DWFALM reduces the extent of the heat-affected zone (HAZ), suppresses molten layer formation, and mitigates microcrack defects. By adjusting the scanning spacing, a superhydrophobic surface with a contact angle (CA) of up to 167.6° and a rolling angle (RA) as low as 2.2° was fabricated. In addition, the CA prediction model established in this study was consistent with the experimental measurements, with an average error below 2%. This research achievement not only provides theoretical guidance for the controllable preparation of superhydrophobic surfaces but also offers new approaches for achieving efficient and low damage surface processing. The micro-array-structured superhydrophobic Ti6Al4V surface fabricated by DWFALM shows potential for applications in anti-fouling, anti-icing, seawater desalination, and related fields.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757766","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":"Soft matrix: probing local mechanical properties in amorphous solids.","authors":"Aparna Sreekumari, Monoj Adhikari, Nandlal Pingua, Vishnu V Krishnan, Shiladitya Sengupta, Pinaki Chaudhuri, Smarajit Karmakar, Vishwas V Vasisht","doi":"10.1039/d5sm01274k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm01274k","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding how amorphous solids yield under shear is central to predicting material failure, yet prescribing reliable local yielding criteria remains a fundamental challenge. Here we introduce the soft matrix method, which creates a minimally constrained and elastically coupled environment that allows localized regions of an amorphous solid to yield naturally. This method overcomes key limitations of earlier approaches and provides a robust platform for probing failure mechanisms in soft disordered materials. Using this framework, we analyze localized yielding by systematically varying the size of the local probe region in our microscopic simulations, and we uncover an intrinsic length scale (<i>ζ</i>) that governs local failure, showing that <i>ζ</i> grows with the age of the system. The age dependence appears not only in the distribution of local yield stresses but also in the pseudogap exponent <i>θ</i>, which quantifies the marginal stability of amorphous solids. These insights offer a pathway toward improved elastoplastic modeling of disordered materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757807","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":"Self-assembly of quasicrystals under cyclic shear.","authors":"Raphaël Maire, Andrea Plati, Frank Smallenburg, Giuseppe Foffi","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00068a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sm00068a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigate the self-assembly of two-dimensional dodecagonal quasicrystals driven by cyclic shear, effectively replacing thermal fluctuations with plastic rearrangements. Using particles interacting <i>via</i> a smoothed square-shoulder potential, we demonstrate that cyclic shearing drives initially random configurations into ordered quasicrystalline states. The resulting non-equilibrium phase diagram qualitatively mirrors that of thermal equilibrium, exhibiting square, quasicrystalline, and hexagonal phases, as well as phase coexistence. Remarkably, the shear-stabilised quasicrystal appears even where the zero-temperature equilibrium ground state favours square-hexagonal coexistence, suggesting that mechanical driving can stabilise quasicrystalline order in a way analogous to entropic effects in thermal systems. The structural quality of the self-assembled state is maximised near the yielding transition, even though the dynamics are slowest there. Yet, the system still quickly forms monodomain quasicrystals without any complex annealing protocols, unlike at equilibrium, where thermal annealing would be required. Finite-size scaling analysis reveals that global orientational order decays slowly with system size, indicative of quasi-long-range order comparable to equilibrium hexatic phases. Overall, our results establish cyclic shear as an efficient pathway for the self-assembly of complex structures.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757784","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":"Molecular dynamics investigation of the impact of methylation on the nematic phase of phenyl benzoate mesogens and dimers.","authors":"Jacob S Votava, Emily C Davidson, Michael A Webb","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00196c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sm00196c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Liquid crystals (LCs) possess anisotropic mechanical and optical properties with applications ranging from soft robotics to display technology. Despite advances in the precise synthesis of liquid crystalline materials, the microscopic origins of substituent effects, which impact functional performance, are not always well understood. Here, we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate how methyl substitution affects the nematic phase behavior of liquid crystal monomers and dimers composed of phenyl benzoate cores flanked by aliphatic tails. Methylation induces a decrease in the nematic-isotropic transition temperature. Using data-driven analysis, we find that for monomers this decrease is associated with an increase in flexibility of core-adjacent aliphatic torsions that influence overall mesogen conformation. For dimers, this manifests as a shift from a continuum of accessible conformations in the isotropic phase to occupying more distinct hairpin and extended states in the nematic phase. The latter exhibits a bend angle consistent with experimental signatures of a modulated nematic phase. Together, these results show how minor changes in chemical structure can impact the conformational ensemble of liquid crystals, trading local conformational entropy for global nematic order, in turn influencing their macroscopic transition temperatures.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757818","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":"Delamination and out-of-plane deformation in drying colloidal suspensions.","authors":"Paul Lilin, Wim M van Rees, Mario Ibrahim, Irmgard Bischofberger","doi":"10.1039/d5sm01099c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm01099c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A drop of a colloidal suspension placed on a substrate forms a solid particle deposit as it dries. As water evaporates, large gradients in pore pressure inside the porous deposit cause shrinkage and stresses. The deposit cracks, then delaminates from the substrate, and bends out of plane, creating a striking three-dimensional structure. Previous models have attributed the out-of-plane deformation to pore pressure gradients through the deposit's thickness, a hypothesis our findings contradict. Through a combination of interference and confocal microscopy, we show that the final curvature strongly depends on the deposit thickness, with thinner deposits curving more. We propose a mechanism where the curvature is driven not by vertical pressure gradients, but by much larger radial pressure gradients across the length of the deposit. The resulting in-plane differential shrinkage creates geometric frustration that is resolved through out-of-plane buckling. We validate this mechanism using non-Euclidean plate simulations, which successfully reproduce the buckling behavior and the observed dependence of curvature on thickness.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757827","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":"Entropic depletion of macromolecular solutes induces symmetry-breaking surface wrinkling in myelin figures.","authors":"Archan P Vyas, Pallavi D Sambre, Leren Wang, Prianka Deshmukh, Atul N Parikh","doi":"10.1039/d6sm00044d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sm00044d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Smectic liquid crystals, including multilamellar stacked lipid bilayers, strongly resist compression along the normal layer but bend readily. When mechanically stressed-such as by dehydration, osmotic stress, physical confinement, or even electric fields-they release elastic compressive energy by buckling into undulatory surface patterns reminiscent of the well-known Helfrich-Hurault instability. Although documented extensively for lamellar liquid crystals, observations of the Helfrich-Hurault instability in cylindrical smectic liquid crystals are scant. Here, we investigate the behavior of myelin figures-cylindrical smectic-A liquid crystals consisting of thousands of concentric amphiphilic bilayer lamellae separated by aqueous channels-when subjected to mechanical compression by the hyperosmotic stress from the osmolyte-laden surrounding bath. We find that the colligative ideal osmotic pressure exerted by small molecular osmolytes alone is insufficient to induce long-lived, surface instabilities. Using real-time optical and confocal fluorescence microscopy, we show that exposure to hypertonic solutions of low-molecular-weight osmolytes (<i>e.g.</i>, sucrose and glycerol) leaves myelin surfaces largely smooth, even at elevated osmotic pressures. By contrast, solutions containing macromolecular osmolytes such as polyethylene glycol and dextran trigger pronounced symmetry-breaking surface instabilities in bundles of juxtaposed myelins. These instabilities manifest as long-wavelength, quasi-sinusoidal corrugations that propagate axially and preferentially localize at inter-myelin interfaces. Quantitative analysis reveals that the wavelength and amplitude of the corrugations depend on osmolyte size, even at nominally identical osmotic pressures, further implicating excluded-volume effects. Fluorescently labeled osmolytes are excluded from corrugated interfacial regions, supporting a depletion-driven mechanism. We propose that macromolecular osmolytes generate colligatively non-ideal osmotic stresses and entropic depletion forces that stabilize interlocking surface undulations by increasing the free volume available to the depletants. These findings identify solute entropy and excluded-volume interactions as key drivers that stabilize Helfrich-Hurault-type undulatory instabilities in cylindrical smectics. They further suggest a general physical mechanism by which macromolecular crowding can induce large-scale structural remodeling in soft, multilamellar systems relevant to both synthetic materials and biological assemblies.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147727771","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}