Themed collection Soft Matter Emerging Investigators

This themed issue of Soft Matter highlights the work of emerging investigators in the field of soft matter. Editor-in-Chief Darrin Pochan introduces the issue.

Reviewing the impacts of interfacial charges on the cohesive energy, permittivity, and singular contact charge for polarizable dielectric particles.

This article recapitulates the state of the art regarding simulations of ionization equilibria of weak polyelectrolyte solutions and gels.

Grafting polymers to nanoparticle surfaces influences properties from the conformation of the polymer chains to the dispersion and assembly of nanoparticles within a polymeric material.

The sustenance of life depends on the high degree of organization that prevails through different levels of living organisms, from subcellular structures such as biomolecular complexes and organelles to tissues and organs.

We review numerical models of neutral microgels, going from the atomistic to the single-particle level.

Dynamic surface antifouling (DSA) using degradable polymers with excellent antifouling performance and mechanical properties is an effective and promising strategy.

We review the adsorption of colloidal particles at fluid interfaces, highlighting the effects of particle shape and chemistry.

Restructuring of force-chains in yielding amorphous solids is analyzed by transition rates that link the microstructure to the macroscopic avalanche-size distributions.

In a recent series of experiments, we have shown that 5CB confined to tori and bent cylindrical capillaries with homeotropic boundary conditions also adopts a twisted escaped radial texture resulting from the curved nature of the confining boundaries. As the torus becomes more curved, the ideal location for the escaped core approaches the inner radius of the torus.

We combine single-molecule conformational tracking with digital Fourier microscopy to couple crowding-induced conformations and trajectories of single molecules with ensemble-averaged transport properties across an unprecedented spatiotemporal range to elucidate the complex dynamics of large DNA crowded by custom-designed networks of actin and microtubules.

We propose a simple image-based analysis approach to accurately estimate the mechanical properties of ring-shaped materials.

We explore using two-polymer coacervation to encapsulate model proteins and present design rules to guide encapsulation of novel targets.

A universal adhesion mechanism allows Chlamydomonas to effectively colonize abiotic surfaces, as evidenced by in vivo adhesion force measurements.

In this study, we report the complex effects of charged lipids on the interaction between amphiphilic Janus nanoparticles and lipid bilayers.

We thoroughly investigate the differences in free energy of adsorption and the structures of the amino acids adsorbed on graphene with force fields.

Delving into the ‘printability’ of soft matter using bespoke rheological protocols on suspensions and gels of 2D colloids.

We study the wrinkle patterns obtained when applying a thin polymeric film on a uniaxially prestretched soft foundation.

We develop a simple, scalable stirring system that can be used for controlled clustering of particles and cells.

A rheological phase diagram of aqueous solutions based on Pluronic L64 was experimentally evaluated and validated via DPD simulations.

Water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion drops, fabricated using capillary microfluidics, enable the formation of vesicles with hybrid lipid/nanoparticle membranes.

The NIR absorbing photosensitizer phthalocyanine zinc (PC(Zn)) was stabilized in aqueous media as water-dispersible nanoparticles with a reduction- and pH-responsive full polysaccharide block copolymer.

Photoexcited conjugated polymers are capable of exchanging energy with open-shell small molecules through a Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) mechanism.

Careful tuning of the experimental parameters involved in preparing colloid supported lipid bilayers enables the self-assembly of flexible structures.

The effects of sintering conditions on laser sintering of polymer particle doublets are unraveled by in situ visualization.

High-throughput simulations reveal a universal onset of particle localization in diverse glass-forming liquids.

We couple time-resolved optical tweezers microrheology with diffusion-controlled microfluidics and mathematical modeling to elucidate the time-dependent mechanics of entangled and crosslinked actin networks during dynamic depolymerization and repolymerization of actin filaments.

A novel shape descriptor identified by machine learning captures diverse droplet shapes and achieves high prediction accuracy of droplet instability.

Alpha-helices and beta-sheets are the two most common secondary motifs in proteins. Beta-helices combine features of both motifs to perform a wide variety of functions. Possessing a larger width to height ratio, beta-helices resist unfolding by rotating to larger angles with respect to the loading direction, resulting in hydrogen bonds being ruptured in shear or out of plane peeling rather than in-plane peeling. This allows beta-helices to achieve greater energy dissipation per residue than alpha-helices.

Moderately thick shells constrained in the radial and transverse directions buckle to a wavenumber set by a single geometric parameter.

Phase transition dynamics of a fluid system are very sensitive to the diffusion tensor.

We observe that soft gels recoil with singular dynamics after adhesive detachment, driven by surface stress and slowed by viscous flow through the gel's porous, elastic network.

Cahn–Hilliard and Flory–Huggins theories are employed to investigate emergence of nested morphologies in phase separated multicomponent systems.

A polarization-dependence of the deformation in light-responsive materials can be induced through optimizing the dye dopant alignment.

We introduce micrometer-sized capsules whose shells occupy as little 2% of their volumes. We demonstrate that these capsules are mechanically stable and have a low permeability even towards small encapsulants during storage.

Phase behavior of GMO/DOTAP/DOPE-PEG with bicontinuous cubic phases of different symmetry present in a wide composition range.

UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy is combined with small-angle neutron scattering to monitor the dynamic self-assembly of an azobenzene photosurfactant from worm-like micelles to fractals during photoisomerization.

The effects of polymer stiffness on nanoparticle dynamics in solution are probed using multi-particle collision dynamics simulations and mode-coupling theory.

Rheology, SAXS, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis, zeta potential measurement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and micro-FTIR and absorbance spectroscopy were used to enlighten the controversial literature about LAPONITE® materials.

Simulations of active nematics show that energy input at the particle scale preferentially dissipates into bend modes, leading to a softening of the apparent bend modulus with increasing activity. Thus, the nature of the energy cascade from the particle to macroscales in active materials can be controlled by particle internal degrees of freedom.