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
Ackland G
(2011)
The MOLDY short-range molecular dynamics package
in Computer Physics Communications
Alexander G
(2008)
Cubic blue phases in electric fields
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Ballesta P
(2008)
Slip and flow of hard-sphere colloidal glasses.
in Physical review letters
Barrett-Freeman C
(2008)
Nonequilibrium phase transition in the sedimentation of reproducing particles.
in Physical review letters
Barrett-Freeman C
(2010)
The role of noise and advection in absorbing state phase transitions
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Besseling R
(2010)
Shear banding and flow-concentration coupling in colloidal glasses.
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
Brader JM
(2009)
Glass rheology: From mode-coupling theory to a dynamical yield criterion.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Brader JM
(2008)
First-principles constitutive equation for suspension rheology.
in Physical review letters
Brambilla G
(2009)
Probing the equilibrium dynamics of colloidal hard spheres above the mode-coupling glass transition.
in Physical review letters
Cates M
(2008)
Bijels: a new class of soft materials
in Soft Matter
Cates M
(2011)
Active soft matter
in Soft Matter
Cates M
(2010)
Mode-Coupling Theory for the Rheology of Colloidal Glasses: Recent Progress
in Progress of Theoretical Physics Supplement
Cates M
(2009)
Lattice Boltzmann simulations of liquid crystalline fluids: active gels and blue phases
in Soft Matter
Cates ME
(2008)
Shearing active gels close to the isotropic-nematic transition.
in Physical review letters
Cates ME
(2010)
Arrested phase separation in reproducing bacteria creates a generic route to pattern formation.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Cates ME
(2012)
Diffusive transport without detailed balance in motile bacteria: does microbiology need statistical physics?
in Reports on progress in physics. Physical Society (Great Britain)
Channon K
(2008)
Possibilities for 'smart' materials exploiting the self-assembly of polypeptides into fibrils.
in Soft matter
Channon KJ
(2009)
Efficient energy transfer within self-assembling peptide fibers: a route to light-harvesting nanomaterials.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Channon KJ
(2008)
Modification of fluorophore photophysics through peptide-driven self-assembly.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Chattopadhyay A
(2010)
Income and poverty in a developing economy
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Clegg PS
(2008)
Fluid-bicontinuous gels stabilized by interfacial colloids: low and high molecular weight fluids.
in Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal
Cohen AP
(2011)
Fluid suspensions of colloidal ellipsoids: direct structural measurements.
in Physical review letters
Conrad J
(2010)
Arrested fluid-fluid phase separation in depletion systems: Implications of the characteristic length on gel formation and rheology
in Journal of Rheology
Costa A
(2010)
Discontinuous transition in a boundary driven contact process
in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment
Croze OA
(2011)
Migration of chemotactic bacteria in soft agar: role of gel concentration.
in Biophysical journal
Delmas T
(2011)
How to prepare and stabilize very small nanoemulsions.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Eiser E
(2009)
Molecular cooking: physical transformations in Chinese 'century' eggs
in Soft Matter
El Masri D
(2009)
Dynamic light scattering measurements in the activated regime of dense colloidal hard spheres
in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment
Elgeti J
(2011)
Defect hydrodynamics in 2D polar active fluids
in Soft Matter
Evans M
(2009)
Matrix Representation of the Stationary Measure for the Multispecies TASEP
in Journal of Statistical Physics
Evans M
(2008)
Condensation and extreme value statistics
in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment
Evans M
(2011)
Diffusion with optimal resetting
in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
Fielding S
(2009)
Shear banding, aging and noise dynamics in soft glassy materials
in Soft Matter
Fielding SM
(2012)
Simple model for the deformation-induced relaxation of glassy polymers.
in Physical review letters
Fielding SM
(2011)
Nonlinear dynamics and rheology of active fluids: simulations in two dimensions.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Foffano G
(2012)
Bulk rheology and microrheology of active fluids
Foffano G
(2012)
Bulk rheology and microrheology of active fluids.
in The European physical journal. E, Soft matter
Fuchs M
(2009)
A mode coupling theory for Brownian particles in homogeneous steady shear flow
in Journal of Rheology
Gordon V
(2008)
Adhesion promotes phase separation in mixed-lipid membranes
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Gross M
(2011)
Modelling thermal fluctuations in non-ideal fluids with the lattice Boltzmann method.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Gross M
(2011)
Langevin theory of fluctuations in the discrete Boltzmann equation
in Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment
Gross M
(2010)
Thermal fluctuations in the lattice Boltzmann method for nonideal fluids.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Harvey SR
(2011)
Ion mobility mass spectrometry for peptide analysis.
in Methods (San Diego, Calif.)
Henle M
(2008)
The effect of curvature and topology on membrane hydrodynamics
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Henrich O
(2010)
Ordering dynamics of blue phases entails kinetic stabilization of amorphous networks.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Henrich O
(2010)
Thermodynamics of blue phases in electric fields.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Henrich O
(2010)
Domain growth in cholesteric blue phases: Hybrid lattice Boltzmann simulations
in Computers & Mathematics with Applications
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 | £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 | EPSRC |
Amount | £491,766 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I034661/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2012 |
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 | 09/2011 |
End | 09/2013 |
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 | 08/2012 |
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 | 08/2010 |
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 | 04/2011 |
End | 05/2013 |
Description | Syngenta |
Amount | £91,665 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Industrial CASE voucher 11440214 |
Organisation | Syngenta International AG |
Sector | Private |
Country | Switzerland |
Start | 08/2011 |
End | 03/2015 |
Description | Syngenta |
Amount | £91,665 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Industrial CASE voucher 11440214 |
Organisation | Syngenta International AG |
Sector | Private |
Country | Switzerland |
Start | 08/2011 |
End | 03/2015 |