http://experimentationlab.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/AFMImages/butt_AFM.pdf

Force measurements with the atomic force microscope: Technique, interpretation and applications

Structure of lipid bilayers

http://static.sif.it/SIF/resources/public/files/va2012/likos_0710.pdf

Effective interactions in soft condensed matter physics

Magnetorheological (MR) materials are a kind of smart materials whose mechanical properties can be altered in a controlled fashion by an external magnetic field. They traditionally include fluids, elastomers and foams. In this review paper we revisit the most outstanding advances on the rheological performance of MR fluids. Special emphasis is paid to the understanding of their yielding, flow and viscoelastic behaviour under shearing flows.

Magnetorheological fluids: a review

Dielectric Relaxation and Solvation Dynamics of Water in Complex Chemical and Biological Systems

A microrheological model of aggregating dispersions is proposed in which the shear stress is estimated as the sum of hydrodynamic and structural parts. The former is attributed to the hydrodynamic cores of fractal aggregates, which behave as a suspension of impermeable spheres. The latter accounts for the forces transmitted by chains of particles linking neighboring aggregates into a transient network. To calculate the structural part the concept of fractal aggregation is incorporated into a transient network theory, to account for the creation and breakup of chains of colloidal particles connecting the aggregates. Rigid and soft chains are distinguished. The former have multiply connected backbones which deform as contorted elastic rods, while the latter have at least one soft junction and deform without elastic resistance until fully loaded. The contribution of the soft chains to the stress tensor is neglected. The calculations treat two different mechanisms for the evolution of rigid chains: a purely m...

Microrheological modeling of weakly aggregated dispersions

We describe experimental studies of the deformation of giant lipid bilayer vesicles in shear flow. The experiments are carried out with a counterrotating Couette apparatus. The deformation depends on the mechanical properties of the lipid bilayer, the vesicle radius, and the viscosity of the surrounding Newtonian liquid. We show that the relevant mechanical parameter is the bending rigidity. A simple model has been developed that describes the deformation of a vesicle. This model takes thermal undulations of the bilayer into account. We have obtained a value for the bending rigidity of dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine bilayers and its value has been compared with literature data and with results from micropipette aspiration experiments. From the measurements we are able to discriminate between unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles.

Deformation of giant lipid bi-layer vesicles in a shear flow

In this paper we report an experimental study on the conditions for droplet breakup in concentrated emulsions under simple shear flow. We present a set of experiments where the ratio between drop and matrix viscosity was varied from 0.1 to 22 and the volume fraction ranged from 0% to 70%. It was observed that the critical shear rate for breakup decreased by more than an order of magnitude for the most concentrated emulsions. Further, drops with viscosity ratio of 22 were seen to rupture in simple shear as soon as the emulsion concentration was raised to 40%. All these effects were conveniently explained by means of a mean field model which assumes simply that breakup of a droplet in a concentrated emulsion is determined by the average emulsion viscosity rather than the continuous phase viscosity.

Droplet breakup in concentrated emulsions

/pdf/deformation-of-giant-lipid-bilayer-vesicles-in-shear-flow-3xvw1l1r0p.pdf

Deformation of giant lipid bilayer vesicles in shear flow

We have investigated the linear viscoelastic behavior of guar gum solutions as a function of frequency, temperature, polymer concentration, and molecular weight. This was done to sort out the importance of different relaxation mechanisms like reptation or the breakup of physical bonds. In the kilohertz regime, Rouse behavior is observed. At lower frequencies, two storage modulus plateau zones were found, indicating two additional relaxations. One is operative between 1 and 100 Hz and gives rise to a very broad relaxation spectrum, even for monodisperse guar. Describing the dependencies of the relaxation time and low-shear viscosity on concentration and molecular weight with power laws resulted in unusually high coefficients. The second relaxation becomes manifest below 0.01 Hz and has not been earlier reported. Here the temperature dependence is very strong whereas all other dependencies are weak. Analyzing the experiments with existing models for transient polymer networks revealed that at best a partial decription of the experimental dependencies can be obtained. It was concluded that at least two different relaxation mechanisms must play a role, classical reptation not being one of these. Best overall predictions were obtained with a model assuming two types of associations. However, also the picture of star polymer-like structures held together via bonds with a long lifetime could give comparable predictions. For a further distinction between these mechanisms, more information about the mesoscopic structure is needed.

J. Mellema

Papers

Microrheological modeling of weakly aggregated dispersions

Deformation of giant lipid bi-layer vesicles in a shear flow

Droplet breakup in concentrated emulsions

Deformation of giant lipid bilayer vesicles in shear flow

Linear Rheology of Guar Gum Solutions