Edinburgh Soft Matter and Statistical Physics Programme Grant Renewal
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The term 'soft matter' describes a group of materials that are assembled from components whose size scale is of order microns or nanometers -- much bigger than a typical molecule or atom. Examples include polymers (very long flexible molecules), colloids (small hard spheres), emulsions (droplets of one fluid in another), foams (gas bubbles in a fluid), detergent molecules (with a water-loving head and a water-hating tail -- these clump together into complex shapes), powders (small dry grains), and many analagous systems of biological origin. Familiar examples are respectively engine oil, paint, mayonnaise, shaving cream, shampoo, and talc; the biological analogues include mucus, slime moulds, saliva, and various components of the living cell.In many cases, the system's behaviour is controlled not by the chemical details of its components, but by their physical interactions, which are generic to each class of material. The softness of these materials, compared to (say) a piece of metal, arises from the fact that these interactions are generically weaker than those between atoms. This makes it easy to bend and shape the materials, and to subject them to extremes of flow (causing disruption to the structure) that cannot easily be achieved with metals or other forms of 'hard' condensed matter. The weakness of the interactions means that there is a lot of random motion (the motion we call heat) even at room temperature; the properties of soft materials are often closer to those found by maximising the entropy (randomness) of the system than to those found by minimizing its energy. Under these conditions, one must use the tools of 'statistical mechanics' to understand how the microscopic interactions, combined with entropy, come to determine the properties of the material.The Edinburgh Soft Matter and Statistical Physics Group has developed experimental and theoretical techniques for understanding how the ingredients of a soft material come to determine its properties -- particularly those properties related to how the material flows (the science of 'rheology'). Our work focusses on making detailed studies of a small number of model systems, each representative of a larger class: by understanding these in depth, we hope to find general principles that might not be obvious by collating more superficial results for a wider range of samples. We wish to continue our integrated programme in experiment and theory, to address new topics in soft condensed matter, increasingly those at the interface with biology. The five main projects are:1. Rheophysics -- to understand the behaviour of colloids and other soft materials under conditions of strong flow. Often, flow can totally alter the internal structure of such materials and we want to understand this.2. Physics of barriers in soft matter and biology -- to understand how soft and biological systems undergo 'rare events' taking them from one apparently stable state of organization to another. These include events that alter the way genes are expressed in a cell, and also the nucleation of one phase of matter within another.3. New soft materials -- building on our recent discoveries, we want to use physics to create new and interesting materials with properties potentially relevant to computer displays, drug delivery, catalysis and other fields.4. Physics of cellular motion -- we want to understand how bacteria (which, if they were dead, would be effectively colloids) behave when swimming, either individually, or collectively (in a swarm). At a smaller scale, within the cell there are various soft matter components which use a constant supply of chemical energy to maintain an 'active' (i.e. living) state. We want to understand these too.5. New statistical mechanics tools -- we want to develop new and better theories and simulation models that will, over the longer term, help us connect the microscopic components in soft materials to their macroscopic properties.
Organisations
Publications
Latka A
(2009)
Particle dynamics in colloidal suspensions above and below the glass-liquid re-entrance transition
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Tavacoli J
(2011)
Particle-stabilized oscillating diver: a self-assembled responsive capsule
in Soft Matter
Wilson LG
(2009)
Passive and active microrheology of hard-sphere colloids.
in The journal of physical chemistry. B
Tuinier R
(2008)
Phase diagram for a mixture of colloids and polymers with equal size
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Marenduzzo D
(2009)
Phase diagrams for DNA denaturation under stretching forces
in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment
Schwarz-Linek J
(2012)
Phase separation and rotor self-assembly in active particle suspensions.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Schwarz-Linek J
(2010)
Polymer-induced phase separation in Escherichia coli suspensions
in Soft Matter
Schwarz-Linek J
(2010)
Polymer-induced phase separation in suspensions of bacteria
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Micheletti C
(2011)
Polymers with spatial or topological constraints: Theoretical and computational results
in Physics Reports
Channon K
(2008)
Possibilities for 'smart' materials exploiting the self-assembly of polypeptides into fibrils.
in Soft matter
Brambilla G
(2009)
Probing the equilibrium dynamics of colloidal hard spheres above the mode-coupling glass transition.
in Physical review letters
Besseling R
(2009)
Quantitative imaging of colloidal flows
in Advances in Colloid and Interface Science
Bogacz L
(2012)
Quantum widening of a causal dynamical triangulations universe
in Physical Review D
Henrich O
(2012)
Rheology of lamellar liquid crystals in two and three dimensions: a simulation study
in Soft Matter
Romano F
(2009)
Role of the range in the fluid-crystal coexistence for a patchy particle model.
in The journal of physical chemistry. B
Nash RW
(2010)
Run-and-tumble particles with hydrodynamics: sedimentation, trapping, and upstream swimming.
in Physical review letters
Voigtmann T
(2012)
Schematic mode coupling theory of glass rheology: single and double step strains
in Soft Matter
Tailleur J
(2009)
Sedimentation, trapping, and rectification of dilute bacteria
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Lintuvuori JS
(2011)
Self-assembly and nonlinear dynamics of dimeric colloidal rotors in cholesterics.
in Physical review letters
Hijnen N
(2010)
Self-organization of particles with planar surface anchoring in a cholesteric liquid crystal.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Besseling R
(2010)
Shear banding and flow-concentration coupling in colloidal glasses.
in Physical review letters
Fielding S
(2009)
Shear banding, aging and noise dynamics in soft glassy materials
in Soft Matter
Cates ME
(2008)
Shearing active gels close to the isotropic-nematic transition.
in Physical review letters
Saracco GP
(2011)
Shearing self-propelled suspensions: arrest of coarsening and suppression of giant density fluctuations.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Fielding SM
(2012)
Simple model for the deformation-induced relaxation of glassy polymers.
in Physical review letters
Micheletti C
(2008)
Simulations of knotting in confined circular DNA.
in Biophysical journal
Nash RW
(2008)
Singular forces and pointlike colloids in lattice Boltzmann hydrodynamics.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Ballesta P
(2008)
Slip and flow of hard-sphere colloidal glasses.
in Physical review letters
Wilson LG
(2011)
Small-world rheology: an introduction to probe-based active microrheology.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Popkov V
(2008)
Spontaneous symmetry breaking in a bridge model fed by junctions
in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
Tailleur J
(2008)
Statistical mechanics of interacting run-and-tumble bacteria.
in Physical review letters
Visco P
(2009)
Statistical physics of a model binary genetic switch with linear feedback.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Henrich O
(2011)
Structure of blue phase III of cholesteric liquid crystals.
in Physical review letters
Laurati M
(2009)
Structure, dynamics, and rheology of colloid-polymer mixtures: from liquids to gels.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Tiribocchi A
(2010)
Switching and defect dynamics in multistable liquid crystal devices
in Applied Physics Letters
Visco P
(2010)
Switching and growth for microbial populations in catastrophic responsive environments.
in Biophysical journal
Tiribocchi A
(2011)
Switching dynamics in cholesteric blue phases
in Soft Matter
Zhang Z
(2011)
Synthesis and directed self-assembly of patterned anisometric polymeric particles.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Henle M
(2008)
The effect of curvature and topology on membrane hydrodynamics
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Ackland G
(2011)
The MOLDY short-range molecular dynamics package
in Computer Physics Communications
Barrett-Freeman C
(2010)
The role of noise and advection in absorbing state phase transitions
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Gross M
(2010)
Thermal fluctuations in the lattice Boltzmann method for nonideal fluids.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Sollich P
(2012)
Thermodynamic interpretation of soft glassy rheology models.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Henrich O
(2010)
Thermodynamics of blue phases in electric fields.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Reissig L
(2010)
Three-dimensional structure and growth of myelins.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Marenduzzo D
(2009)
Topological and entropic repulsion in biopolymers
in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment
Tan P
(2012)
Understanding the low-frequency quasilocalized modes in disordered colloidal systems.
in Physical review letters
Isa L
(2009)
Velocity oscillations in microfluidic flows of concentrated colloidal suspensions.
in Physical review letters
Pham K
(2008)
Yielding behavior of repulsion- and attraction-dominated colloidal glasses
in Journal of Rheology
Description | I will not attempt to summarize the findings which were reported in 142 separate scientific papers. Highlights included a new theory of pattern formation in bacterial colonies; a new understanding of how dense colloidal suspensions get jammed when flowing down pipes; a new understanding of the self-assembly of protein fragments (relevant to prion disease); and a new understanding of the plastic flow of glasses. |
Exploitation Route | The research outcomes of this grant are being exploited by our new partner organization, Edinburgh Complex Fluids Partnership, who actively seek industrial partners with whom to exploit the research. They have a client list of around 25 companies and live collaborations with about ten of these. |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Description | The research has allowed us to set up a new in-house tech-transfer organization called Edinburgh Complex Fluids Partnership (ECFP). This new organization with two full-time staff has active contacts with about 25 companies ranging from multinationals to SMEs and is pursuing direct collaborative research with about ten of these. For example, the work on dense colloids has led to collaborative projects with Johnson Matthey, Syngenta and Mars Chocolate. |
First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Healthcare |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | BBSRC Grouped |
Amount | £262,463 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/I006133/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2011 |
End | 12/2013 |
Description | BBSRC Grouped |
Amount | £262,463 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/I006133/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2011 |
End | 12/2013 |
Description | EPSRC |
Amount | £491,766 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I034661/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2012 |
End | 04/2015 |
Description | EPSRC |
Amount | £174,452 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I030298/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2011 |
End | 09/2013 |
Description | EPSRC |
Amount | £5,039,693 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/J007404/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2011 |
End | 05/2017 |
Description | European Commission (EC) |
Amount | £186,800 (GBP) |
Funding ID | PIIF-GA-2010_276190 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 03/2011 |
End | 03/2013 |
Description | Mars UK Ltd |
Amount | £417,510 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Poon |
Organisation | Mars Incorporated UK |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2012 |
End | 08/2015 |
Description | Royal Society of Edinburgh, The |
Amount | £224,415 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Thijssen BP Trust Personal Research Fellowship |
Organisation | Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2010 |
End | 08/2014 |
Description | Royal Society of London |
Amount | £97,248 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 4899 |
Organisation | The Royal Society |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2011 |
End | 05/2013 |
Description | Syngenta |
Amount | £91,665 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Industrial CASE voucher 11440214 |
Organisation | Syngenta International AG |
Sector | Private |
Country | Switzerland |
Start | 09/2011 |
End | 03/2015 |
Description | Syngenta |
Amount | £91,665 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Industrial CASE voucher 11440214 |
Organisation | Syngenta International AG |
Sector | Private |
Country | Switzerland |
Start | 09/2011 |
End | 03/2015 |