Dynamic capillary assembly of colloids at interfaces with 10,000g accelerations.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30190523.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-06049-9 and PMC identifier 6127265.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
High-rate deformation of soft matter is an emerging area central to our understanding of far-from-equilibrium phenomena during shock, fracture, and phase change. Monolayers of colloidal particles are a convenient two-dimensional model system to visualise emergent behaviours in soft matter, but previous studies have been limited to slow deformations. Here we probe and visualise the evolution of a monolayer of colloids confined at a bubble surface during high-rate deformation driven by ultrasound. We observe the emergence of a transient network of strings, and use discrete particle simulations to show that it is caused by a delicate interplay of dynamic capillarity and hydrodynamic interactions between particles oscillating at high frequency. Remarkably for a colloidal system, we find evidence of inertial effects, caused by accelerations approaching 10,000g. These results also suggest that extreme deformation of soft matter offers new opportunities for pattern formation and dynamic self-assembly.