We apply optical manipulation to prepare lipid bilayers between pairs of water droplets immersed in an oil matrix. These droplet pairs have a well-defined geometry allowing the use of droplet shape analysis to perform quantitative studies of the dynamics during bilayer formation and to determine time-dependent values for the droplet volumes, bilayer radius, bilayer contact angle, and droplet center-line approach velocity. During bilayer formation, the contact angle rises steadily to an equilibrium value determined by the bilayer adhesion energy. When there is a salt concentration imbalance between droplets, there is a measurable change in the droplet volume. We present an analytical expression for this volume change and use this expression to calculate the bilayer permeability to water.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/la3005739 | DOI Listing |
Food Chem
January 2025
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, United States. Electronic address:
This study evaluated the properties of lentil protein, pea protein, quinoa protein, and soy protein as natural nanoparticle stabilizers and their interactions with pectin and chitin nanofiber in preparing high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPEs). The globular plant proteins interact with polysaccharides through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, transforming the structure into complex morphologies, including fibrous and elliptical shapes. These complex nanoparticles exhibited enhanced thermal decomposition stability, and the HIPPEs constructed by them demonstrated significantly improved apparent viscosity and elastic modulus, with a yield stress of 931.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall
January 2025
Department of Materials Physics and New Energy Device School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China.
Smart grippers serving as soft robotics have garnered extensive attentions owing to their great potentials in medical, biomedical, and industrial fields. Though a diversity of grippers that account for manipulating the small objects (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLangmuir
January 2025
Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Knowledge City, Sector 81, SAS Nagar, Mohali, Punjab 140306, India.
Enzyme-instructed signal generation at liquid-liquid interfaces presents a novel strategy for controlling and detecting biochemical processes on macroscopic scales. Here, we explore the self-assembly and jamming of pillar[5]arene (P[5]A) derivatives at the oil-water interface via a copper-mediated "click" reaction, providing a versatile platform for generating observable signals. The formation of a pillar[5]arenes network at the droplet interface reduces interfacial tension, allowing droplets to adopt various nonequilibrium shapes based on the interfacial jamming process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Colonies of the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus go through a morphological transition from a thin colony of cells to three-dimensional droplet-like fruiting bodies as a strategy to survive starvation. The biological pathways that control the decision to form a fruiting body have been studied extensively. However, the mechanical events that trigger the creation of multiple cell layers and give rise to droplet formation remain poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater
February 2025
Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey.
Microfluidics-based droplets have emerged as a powerful technology for biomedical research, offering precise control over droplet size and structure, optimal mixing of solutions, and prevention of cross-contamination. It is a major branch of microfluidic technology with applications in diagnostic testing, imaging, separation, and gene amplification. This review discusses the different aspects of microfluidic devices, droplet generation techniques, droplet types, and the production of micro/nano particles, along with their advantages and limitations.
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