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
Henrich O
(2012)
Rheology of lamellar liquid crystals in two and three dimensions: a simulation study
in Soft Matter
Henrich O
(2010)
Domain growth in cholesteric blue phases: Hybrid lattice Boltzmann simulations
in Computers & Mathematics with Applications
Henrich O
(2010)
Thermodynamics of blue phases in electric fields.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Herzig EM
(2007)
Bicontinuous emulsions stabilized solely by colloidal particles.
in Nature materials
Herzig EM
(2009)
Dynamics of a colloid-stabilized cream.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
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
Isa L
(2009)
Velocity oscillations in microfluidic flows of concentrated colloidal suspensions.
in Physical review letters
Isa L
(2010)
High Solid Dispersions
Jackson AN
(2007)
Lattice-switch Monte Carlo simulation for binary hard-sphere crystals.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Janai E
(2012)
Non-crystalline colloidal clusters in two dimensions: size distributions and shapes
in Soft Matter
Jenkins M
(2011)
Finding bridges in packings of colloidal spheres
in Soft Matter
Jenkins MC
(2011)
Does gravity cause load-bearing bridges in colloidal and granular systems?
in Physical review letters
Kim E
(2008)
Arrest of fluid demixing by nanoparticles: a computer simulation study.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Kim E
(2009)
Hydrodynamic interactions in colloidal ferrofluids: a lattice Boltzmann study.
in The journal of physical chemistry. B
Kim E
(2010)
Bijels containing magnetic particles: a simulation study.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Kim EG
(2012)
Field-induced breakup of emulsion droplets stabilized by colloidal particles.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Kiselev VY
(2011)
Lateral dynamics of proteins with polybasic domain on anionic membranes: a dynamic Monte-Carlo study.
in Biophysical journal
Koumakis N
(2008)
Effects of shear induced crystallization on the rheology and ageing of hard sphere glasses
in Soft Matter
Latka A
(2009)
Particle dynamics in colloidal suspensions above and below the glass-liquid re-entrance transition
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Laurati M
(2009)
Structure, dynamics, and rheology of colloid-polymer mixtures: from liquids to gels.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Lintuvuori J
(2010)
Colloids in liquid crystals: a lattice Boltzmann study
in Journal of Materials Chemistry
Lintuvuori JS
(2011)
Self-assembly and nonlinear dynamics of dimeric colloidal rotors in cholesterics.
in Physical review letters
Lintuvuori JS
(2010)
Colloids in cholesterics: size-dependent defects and non-stokesian microrheology.
in Physical review letters
Lu PJ
(2008)
Gelation of particles with short-range attraction.
in Nature
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 |