Frontiers in Soft Matter最新文献

{"title":"Dynamics of the extended and intermediate range order in model polymer electrolyte poly(ethylene oxide) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide","authors":"P. Falus, A. Faraone, S. Förster, K. Hong, M. Ohl","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1161141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1161141","url":null,"abstract":"The dynamics of lithium ions and polymer chains were investigated at the molecular scale in the model polymer electrolyte Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)/Lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide as a function of temperature. This system is known to present an intermediate range order from the arrangement of neighboring chain segments as well as an extended range order of cylindrically arranged chains. The collective dynamics of the systems at lengthscales matching these structural features was measured using Neutron Spin Echo spectroscopy, gaining insights into their lifetime. Moreover, using isotope substitution techniques the dynamics of the lithium ions with respect to the other atoms was probed. The obtained results are compared with the conductivity and the lithium self-diffusion coefficient measured by NMR to gain experimental insight on the molecular processes triggering lithium transport.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121791379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Liquid foams and emulsions stabilized by bio-based particles","authors":"A. Fameau, E. Guzmán, H. Ritacco, A. Saint‐Jalmes","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1193657","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1193657","url":null,"abstract":"Foams and emulsions are ubiquitous colloidal systems in daily life and technology. From a physico-chemical perspective, these appear as biphasic dispersions formed by the dispersion of a fluid (liquid or gas) as small droplets and bubbles in a continuous liquid medium. The result is the formation of thermodynamically metastable systems that over time tend to separate into their individual components (gas-liquid and liquid-liquid). Amphiphilic molecules are traditionally used to stabilize these systems and try to prevent or delay the destabilization mechanisms. Another type of stabilizer which can be used to stabilize foams and emulsions are partially hydrophobic colloidal particles. These particles are able to adsorb strongly at fluid-fluid (gas–liquid or liquid–liquid) interfaces to sterically hinder coarsening (ripening) and coalescence, as well as to slow down drainage (creaming) by changing the rheological properties of the continuous phase. These foam or emulsion systems are commonly referred as “Pickering” foam/emulsion. The seminal studies in this type of “Pickering-Ramsden” systems were focused on the exploitation of inorganic particles to provide stability to emulsions and foams. However, this type of particles present a limited relevance for practical applications due to toxicity, lack of biocompatibility and biodegradability. In the last decade, there has been a shift toward the development of foams and emulsions stabilized by bio-based particles. The goal of this Research Topic is to show the recent advances in the field of emulsion and foam stabilized by bio-based particles made of proteins (plant proteins and animal proteins). The focus of these articles is on the potential of existing or new protein particle systems as foam or emulsion stabilizers. One of the contributions to these topic is a review article summarizing the recent findings and the open questions remaining about the interfacial properties of protein particles adsorbed at fluid/fluid interfaces, and the links between these interfacial properties and the stability of foams and emulsions (Fameau et al.). There are two research articles focusing on the design and fabrication of protein particles/aggregates. Fameau et al. studied the production and the role of protein aggregates from β-casein on foam stability with temperature by using a multiscale approach. The presence of aggregates increases the foam stability, but they demonstrate OPEN ACCESS","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"92 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115831916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stress quantification in a composite matrix via mechanophores","authors":"J. Gohl, Tristan J. Wiley, Hao Chang, Chi-Chih Chang, C. Davis","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1125163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1125163","url":null,"abstract":"Stress concentrations in polymer matrix composites occur due to non-uniform loadings which develop near the interface between the matrix and reinforcement in a stressed composite. Methods to better understand the evolution of this stress concentration are required for the development of advanced composites. Mechanophores, which are stress responsive molecules, can be embedded into the polymer matrix and used to quantify the local stresses in a loaded composite. In this work, single particle model composites were fabricated by combining functionalized glass particles embedded into a silicone/mechanophore matrix. Confocal microscopy was then used to measure the mechanophore activation in situ during mechanical loading. The fluorescence intensity was correlated to maximum principal stress values obtained from a finite element analysis (FEA) model of the system utilizing an Ogden hyperelastic model to represent the elastomer. By calibrating stress to fluorescence intensity spatially, quantitative stress measurements can be obtained directly from fluorescent images. To validate this technique, calibrated stress values for a two-particle composite system were compared to a FEA model and good agreement was found. Further experiments were performed on silicone matrix composites containing short cylindrical particles oriented with their major axis parallel or perpendicular to the stretching direction. To demonstrate the versatility of the single particle intensity/stress calibration approach, maximum principal stress values were mapped on the fluorescence images of the cylindrical experiments. This technique has potential to quantify stress concentrations quickly and accurately in new composite designs without the use of FEA models or differential image correlation.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114478606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interfacial properties of protein particles at fluid/fluid interfaces and relationship with the stability of foams and emulsions","authors":"A. Fameau, E. Guzmán, H. Ritacco, A. Saint‐Jalmes","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1016061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1016061","url":null,"abstract":"It is now well-known that the assembly of particles at fluid/fluid interfaces, and the resulting dynamical properties of such particle-laden interfaces can provide high stabilization of dispersed systems such as emulsions and foams. Here, we focus on the emerging case of “protein particles,” a novel family of bio particles. We provide an updated perspective about their definition, production, bulk and interface properties, highlighting the most recent results of the obtained bioparticle-laden interfaces, and how such protein particles can stabilize liquid dispersions. The ability of protein particles for undergoing a fast adsorption to fluid/fluid interfaces and for forming viscoelastic layers play a key role on the prevention of drainage, coalescence, or coarsening/ripening, which results in the formation of very stable particle-stabilized foams and emulsions. Therefore, protein particles are an excellent bio-based alternative to synthetic surfactants and other conventional stabilizers for ensuring the stabilization of a broad range of dispersed systems, opening new avenues for the design of new products with interest for cosmetic, food and biomedical industries.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124913105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stabilization of water-in-water emulsion upon solvent shifting","authors":"C. Céré, L. Béven, J. Douliez","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1158285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1158285","url":null,"abstract":"We report the stabilization of all-aqueous droplets upon addition of ethanol, which were further transformed into robust capsules. An all-aqueous emulsion consisting of dextran (Dex)-rich droplets in a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-rich continuous phase was used as templates. Addition of ethanol induced gelation of dextran, forming aggregated pellets of poor interest. However, this feature was prevented by initially adding bovine serum albumin (BSA) or positively charged silica particles so that in this case, stable droplets formed upon solvent addition, which no longer coalesced with time. An alternative method consisting of pouring concentrated Dex solution in a mixture of PEG, ethanol and BSA or particles, also afforded stable droplets. These stable droplets were further converted into robust capsules, using carbodiimide chemistry or silylation. We expect this method for preparing capsules to be of interest for various applications in the field of microencapsulation.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126289887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-lamellar lipid liquid crystalline nanoparticles: A smart platform for nanomedicine applications","authors":"Marco Fornasier, S. Murgia","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1109508","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1109508","url":null,"abstract":"The increased interest of the scientific community in lipid nanoparticles has pushed the boundaries of personal medicine and drug delivery. The focus has been set on vesicular nanocarriers, as their structure and functionalities have been well described, but the application of their non-lamellar counterparts, cubosomes and hexosomes, has shown their potency as drug carriers. In addition, the sponge phase dispersion (L3, an intermediate between the lamellar and the bicontinuous cubic) has also been proved effective for the encapsulation of large macromolecules. Their physicochemical characterization has improved in the past decades due to the investigations conducted at high-power synchrotron facilities and the application of surface-sensitive techniques, discovering new connections between physical parameters and biological performance. Several administration routes of cubosomes and hexosomes have been studied, such as intravenous, dermal, transdermal, and oral, to evaluate their cytotoxicity and distribution in biological media. This review aims to summarize the challenges and recent achievements of cubosomes, hexosomes, and sponge nanoparticles as suitable carriers for the administration of bioactives.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123004954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Probing interfaces of pea protein-stabilized emulsions with a fluorescent molecular rotor","authors":"Santiago F Velandia, M. Bittermann, E. Mirzahossein, G. Giubertoni, F. Caporaletti, V. Sadtler, P. Marchal, T. Roques-carmes, M. Meinders, D. Bonn","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1093168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1093168","url":null,"abstract":"Pea protein isolate (Pisum sativum L., PPI) has been much studied in the last decade because of its potential as a bio-based alternative for surfactants to produce innovative and environmentally friendly emulsion products. PPI is ideal due to its favorable nutritional properties, low allergenicity and low environmental impact. Despite its growing popularity, understanding the stabilisation mechanism of emulsions stabilized with PPI remains a key question that requires further investigation. Here, we use fluorescence lifetime microscopy with molecular rotors as local probes for interfacial viscosity of PPI stabilized emulsions. The fluorescence lifetime correlates to the local viscosity at the oil-water interface allowing us to probe the proteins at the interfacial region. We find that the measured interfacial viscosity is strongly pH-dependent, an observation that can be directly related to PPI aggregation and PPI reconformation. By means of molecular rotor measurements we can link the local viscosity of the PPI particles at the interface to the Pickering-like stabilisation mechanism. Finally, this can be compared to the local viscosity of PPI solutions at different pH conditions, showing the importance of the PPI treatment prior to emulsification.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131866628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trapping virus-loaded aerosols using granular material composed of protein nanofibrils and iron oxyhydroxides nanoparticles","authors":"A. Armanious, Heyun Wang, P. Alpert, C. Medaglia, Mohammad Peydayesh, Arnaud Charles-Antoine Zwygart, Christian Gübeli, S. Handschin, S. Bolisetty, M. Ammann, C. Tapparel, F. Stellacci, R. Mezzenga","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1143958","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1143958","url":null,"abstract":"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that developing effective therapeutics against viruses might be outpaced by emerging variants, waning immunity, vaccine skepticism/hesitancy, lack of resources, and the time needed to develop virus-specific therapeutics, emphasizing the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions as the first line of defense against virus outbreaks and pandemics. However, fighting the spread of airborne viruses has proven extremely challenging, much more if this needs to be achieved on a global scale and in an environmentally-friendly manner. Here, we introduce an aerosol filter media made of granular material based on whey protein nanofibrils and iron oxyhydroxides nanoparticles. The material is environmentally-friendly, biodegradable, and composed mainly of a dairy industry byproduct. It features filtration efficiencies between 95.91% and 99.99% for both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the influenza A virus strain H1N1, enterovirus 71, bacteriophage Φ6, and bacteriophage MS2. While the filtration efficiencies were relatively high, they came at the cost of high pressure drop (≈0.03 bar). We believe that the methods and results presented here will contribute to advancing our understanding of granular-based aerosol filters, hopefully helping the design of highly-efficient granular media with low-pressure drops.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125433951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pattern formation, structure and functionalities of wrinkled liquid crystal surfaces: A soft matter biomimicry platform","authors":"Ziheng Wang, P. Servio, Alejandro D. Rey","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1123324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1123324","url":null,"abstract":"This review presents an integrated theoretical and computational characterization and analysis of surface pattern formation in chiral and achiral liquid crystal self-assembly and the mechanical/optical/tribological/tissue engineering surface functionalities that emerge from various wrinkling processes. Strategies to target surface patterns include linear, non-linear, multidirectional and multiscale wrinkling phenomena. The focus of the review is to show the unique surface structure-functionalities that emerge from anisotropic liquid crystal soft matter, eliminating or reducing the need of aggressive solvents, extreme pressure/temperature conditions, erosion and other surface morphing approaches. The surface pattern formation theoretical-modelling- computational results are then connected and validated with actual biological surfaces that are considered solid liquid crystal analogues, such as exocuticles of insects, fish scales, and flowers. A unique feature of the in silico surface pattern formation platform used throughout this review is the generalized liquid crystal shape equation that includes surface anchoring elasticity, membrane elasticity, and stress loads from liquid crystals orientation gradients. Clear characterization of surface shapes, curvatures, roughness, that are behind surface functionalities are introduced and applied to strengthen validation of predictions with actual nature’s surfaces. Wrinkling scaling laws, and the dependence of material properties on morphing mechanisms are elucidated. The predictions capture very well the two-scale wrinkling patterns in tulips, wrinkling gradients that display water sensor capabilities, egg carton shapes in rose petals and their potential for cell alignment, and the ability to create surface roughness with targeted kurtosis and skewness to control and optimize friction and tribological functionalities. The results are summarized in terms of surface geometry (open or closed) mechanisms and phenomena (anchoring, membrane elasticity), material properties (anchoring coefficients, membrane bending modulus, Frank elasticity), wrinkling scales and scaling laws (amplitude, wave-lengths, skewness, kurtosis) and functionalities (optical iridescence, friction, wettability, structural color, curvature-driven cell alignment and differentiation). Taken together, the range of surface geometries and surface functionalities captured by the liquid crystal biomimetic in silico platform provides a foundation for future experimental green manufacturing pathways based on anisotropic soft matter.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121044693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deep learning techniques for the localization and classification of liquid crystal phase transitions","authors":"I. Dierking, J. Dominguez, James Harbon, Joshua Heaton","doi":"10.3389/frsfm.2023.1114551","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2023.1114551","url":null,"abstract":"Deep Learning techniques such as supervised learning with convolutional neural networks and inception models were applied to phase transitions of liquid crystals to identify transition temperatures and the respective phases involved. In this context achiral as well as chiral systems were studied involving the isotropic liquid, the nematic phase of solely orientational order, fluid smectic phases with one-dimensional positional order and hexatic phases with local two-dimensional positional, so-called bond-orientational order. Discontinuous phase transition of 1st order as well as continuous 2nd order transitions were investigated. It is demonstrated that simpler transitions, namely Iso-N, Iso-N*, and N-SmA can accurately be identified for all unseen test movies studied. For more subtle transitions, such as SmA*-SmC*, SmC*-SmI*, and SmI*-SmF*, proof-of-principle evidence is provided, demonstrating the capability of deep learning techniques to identify even those transitions, despite some incorrectly characterized test movies. Overall, we demonstrate that with the provision of a substantial and varied dataset of textures there is no principal reason why one could not develop generalizable deep learning techniques to automate the identification of liquid crystal phase sequences of novel compounds.","PeriodicalId":409762,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Soft Matter","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117086014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}