Bubbles and drops between circular frames: shape, force and stability analysis.

Interactions between bubbles and drops play an important role in many physical phenomena. Whether we consider the interaction between two bubbles (drops) or between many (foams or emulsions), these interactions are complex and still poorly understood. An interesting case arises when two equal- and constant-volume bubbles (drops) interact with each other while being held by two axisymmetrically positioned frames of circular opening - a configuration which is frequently used in characterisation devices.

Thickness determination of hydroperoxidized lipid bilayers from medium-resolution cryo-TEM images.

As the primary products of lipid oxidation, lipid hydroperoxides constitute an important class of lipids generated by aerobic metabolism. However, despite several years of effort, the structure of the hydroperoxidized bilayer has not yet been observed under electron microscopy. Here we use a 200 kV Cryo-TEM to image small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) made (i) of pure POPC or SOPC, (ii) of their pure hydroperoxidized form, and (iii) of their equimolar mixtures.

Glucono-Delta-Lactone-Induced Alginate Gelation: New Insights into the Effect of the Cross-Linker Carrier Type on the Hydrogel Mechanics.

Physical alginate hydrogels commonly rely on "internal gelation" to introduce the cross-linker, e.g., calcium (Ca(II)) ions.

Rotational and translational drags of a Janus particle close to a wall and a lipid membrane.

Hypothesis: Measuring rotational and translational Brownian motion of single spherical particles reveals dissipations due to the interaction between the particle and the environment.

Experiments: In this article, we show experiments where the in-plane translational and the two rotational drag coefficients of a single spherical Brownian particle can be measured. These particle drags are functions of the particle size and of the particle-wall distance, and of the viscous dissipations at play.

PEG-in-PDMS drops stabilised by soft silicone skins as a model system for elastocapillary emulsions with explicit morphology control.

Hypothesis: The morphology of ordinary macro-emulsions is controlled by their high interfacial energies, i.e., by capillarity, leading to well-known structural features which can be tuned only over a narrow range.

One-Step Generation of Alginate-Based Hydrogel Foams Using CO for Simultaneous Foaming and Gelation.

The reliable generation of hydrogel foams remains a challenge in a wide range of sectors, including food, cosmetic, agricultural, and medical applications. Using the example of calcium alginate foams, we introduce a novel foam generation method that uses CO for the simultaneous foaming and pH reduction of the alginate solution to trigger gelation. We show that gelled foams of different gas fractions can be generated in a simple one-step process.

Active colloids orbiting giant vesicles.

Living or artificial self-propelled colloidal particles show original dynamics when they interact with other objects like passive particles, interfaces or membranes. These active colloids can transport small cargos or can be guided by passive objects, performing simple tasks that could be implemented in more complex systems. Here, we present an experimental investigation at the single particle level of the interaction between isolated active colloids and giant unilamellar lipid vesicles.

Validation of Milner's visco-elastic theory of sintering for the generation of porous polymers with finely tuned morphology.

Sacrificial sphere templating has become a method of choice to generate macro-porous materials with well-defined, interconnected pores. For this purpose, the interstices of a sphere packing are filled with a solidifying matrix, from which the spheres are subsequently removed to obtain interconnected voids. In order to control the size of the interconnections, viscous sintering of the initial sphere template has proven a reliable approach.