Rheology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The quantitative connection between the molecular topology and molecular dynamics is a long-standing, fundamental challenge in polymer science. Here the authors present a model-driven predictive scheme for the uniaxial extensional viscosity and strain hardening of branched polymer melts, specifically for the pom-pom architecture.

    • Max G. Schußmann
    • , Manfred Wilhelm
    •  & Valerian Hirschberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Soft composite solids are building blocks for many functional and biological materials, yet it remains challenging to predict their mechanical properties. Zhao et al. propose a criticality framework to connect the mechanics to the critical behaviour near the shear-jamming transition of the dispersed inclusions.

    • Yiqiu Zhao
    • , Haitao Hu
    •  & Qin Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polymers typically exhibit rheology with multiple relaxation times to fully capture stress relaxation processes to terminal flow. Here, the authors use inverse vulcanization to synthesize polymers that exhibit a single relaxation time due to dynamic covalent disulfide bond reorganization that dominate the rheological properties of these materials.

    • Derek J. Bischoff
    • , Taeheon Lee
    •  & Michael E. Mackay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials with tunable modulus, viscosity, and complex viscoelastic spectra are crucial in various applications but it remains challenging to design polymer networks with predicted hierarchical relaxation processes. Here, the authors synthesize networks with both pendant and telechelic architectures using mixed orthogonal dynamic bonds to understand how the network connectivity and bond exchange mechanisms govern the overall relaxation spectrum.

    • Sirui Ge
    • , Yu-Hsuan Tsao
    •  & Christopher M. Evans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stimuli-responsive emulsions are useful for long-term storage combined with controlled release, but the fundamental mechanism behind this release is not established. Here, the authors report a study into the effect of individual microgel morphology on the destabilisation of responsive emulsions.

    • Marcel Rey
    • , Jannis Kolker
    •  & Paul S. Clegg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The slightest deformation in the colloidal gels made by smooth particles causes them to transition from a solid to a liquid state. The authors develop a surface grafting technique using click-like chemistry to functionalize particles and show that the rough particle gel is much tougher.

    • Florence J. Müller
    • , Lucio Isa
    •  & Jan Vermant

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Old Masters used paints containing mixtures of oils and proteins, but we lack an understanding on how and why proteins were used. Here, the authors use egg yolk in combination with two pigments to evaluate how different repartition of proteinaceous binder can be used to control the flow behaviour as well as drying kinetics and chemistry of oil paints.

    • Ophélie Ranquet
    • , Celia Duce
    •  & Norbert Willenbacher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rheology studies on vitrimers have mostly focused on their linear viscoelasticity under small deformations. Here, the authors develop a full rheological understanding of vitrimer response that spans between small deformation and large-deformation regime, and across 22 decades of effective frequency, providing clear and concise analytical expressions to assist the experimental data analysis and propose a method to deduce material parameters using Master Curves.

    • Fanlong Meng
    • , Mohand O. Saed
    •  & Eugene M. Terentjev

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Typical buildings are static structures, unable to adjust to dynamic temperature and daylight fluctuations. Here, authors present an adaptive alternative, using shape-tuneable pigment injections to control solar ingress and reduce estimated building energy use by 30%.

    • Raphael Kay
    • , Charlie Katrycz
    •  & Benjamin D. Hatton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stimuli responsive materials are interesting for applications in different technological fields, but realizing controllable surface friction-control based on the change of the modulus of a material is less investigated. Here the authors demonstrate a lubrication regulating strategy and prototype based on thermally triggered changes of the modulus of a hydrogel.

    • Yunlei Zhang
    • , Weiyi Zhao
    •  & Feng Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How structurally complex interfaces mediate bubble bursting might significantly impact environmental and industrial processes. Here, authors investigate the bubble-bursting jets dynamics of oil-covered aqueous surface and show how these can also disperse insoluble organic contaminants.

    • Bingqiang Ji
    • , Zhengyu Yang
    •  & Jie Feng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the origin of transient spatio-temporal response of colloidal gels is an essential aspect for their application. Nabizadeh and Jamali demonstrate the coupling between the lifetime of colloidal bonds and the rheology from computer simulations on steadily sheared model gels.

    • Mohammad Nabizadeh
    •  & Safa Jamali

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Composites which are made up of a single polymer, and yet allow modulation of the mechanical properties of the matrix without stress concentration, are challenging to fabricate. Here, the authors design a selfreinforced homocomposite alginate hydrogel with enhanced mechanical properties incorporating soft dendritic alginate colloids in the matrix and demonstrate its application in extrusion printing.

    • Austin H. Williams
    • , Sangchul Roh
    •  & Orlin D. Velev

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding shear thickening in colloidal suspensions is of great practical importance. Hsu et al. create responsive polymer-coated silica particles whose rheology can be tuned in situ, following modifications of their tribology, which is separately characterized at the single-colloid level.

    • Chiao-Peng Hsu
    • , Joydeb Mandal
    •  & Lucio Isa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tactoids are liquid crystal droplets with nearly vanishing interfacial tension. Almohammadi et al. show using a microfluidic focusing device how to manipulate them gently enough to facilitate the study of amyloid liquid crystal phase transitions subject to non-equilibirum forcing and shape changes.

    • Hamed Almohammadi
    • , Massimo Bagnani
    •  & Raffaele Mezzenga

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glass materials are solid, like crystals, but lack long-range order, whilst the origin of their solidity remains elusive. Tong et al. show that the emergent solidity of glasses is induced by self-organization of percolation of force-bearing network appeared at the non-equilibrium glass transition upon cooling.

    • Hua Tong
    • , Shiladitya Sengupta
    •  & Hajime Tanaka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    With the rise in polymer consumption, energy efficient techniques for polymer processing become more important. Using poly(ethylene oxide) aqueous solutions, the authors show that flow can causes a change of polymer solubility resulting in polymer crystallisation at ambient conditions.

    • Gary J. Dunderdale
    • , Sarah J. Davidson
    •  & Oleksandr O. Mykhaylyk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Granular materials are abundant in nature, but we haven’t fully understood their rheological properties as complex interactions between particles are involved. Here, Vo et al. show that granular flows can be described by a generalized dimensionless number based on stress additivity.

    • Thanh Trung Vo
    • , Saeid Nezamabadi
    •  & Farhang Radjai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The glass transition temperature (Tg) is a key property that dictates the applicability of conjugated polymers. Here the authors use one adjustable parameter to build a relationship between the Tg and the molecular structure of semiflexible polymers that differ in aromatic backbone and alkyl side chain chemistry.

    • Renxuan Xie
    • , Albree R. Weisen
    •  & Enrique D. Gomez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing bio-inspired computational features in soft systems without centralized processing remains challenging. Here, the authors propose a passive display based on thermochromic elastomers by leveraging Joule heating of embedded liquid metal wires by changing geometry in response to deformation.

    • Yang Jin
    • , Yiliang Lin
    •  & Michael D. Dickey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Colloidal gels are typically composed of solid particles dispersed in a liquid, which show some peculiar mechanic properties but their origins remain largely unsolved. Here, Whitaker et al. show that the elasticity formed via arrested phase separation arises from the packing of glassy clusters in gels.

    • Kathryn A. Whitaker
    • , Zsigmond Varga
    •  & Eric M. Furst

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cornstarch and water is a mixture that solidifies under impact. The authors find that ordinary sand behaves in a similar way when coated with a thin layer of viscoelastic polymer, suggesting a potential route for designing materials which respond dramatically to fast deformations.

    • David Z. Chen
    • , Hu Zheng
    •  & Robert P. Behringer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Liquid metal-filled elastic composites for strain sensing devices exhibit reduced conductivity under strain, which limits their usefulness. Here, the authors report a positive piezoconductive effect in liquid metal-filled magnetorheological elastomers and illustrate proof-of concept applications.

    • Guolin Yun
    • , Shi-Yang Tang
    •  & Weihua Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hourglasses measure time because the discharge rate of dry sand is constant. Here Koivistoet al. show that when such a system contains water there is a surge in discharge because the fluid drains faster than the grains, which might help us understand the transport of grains in silos.

    • Juha Koivisto
    •  & Douglas J. Durian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glial scars are thought to provide a biochemical and mechanical barrier to neuronal regeneration post-injury, but the mechanical properties of the scars have not been studied in detail. Here the authors perform atomic force microscopy measurements of glial scars from the injured rat cortex and spinal cord, and find that brain tissue softens in response to the injury.

    • Emad Moeendarbary
    • , Isabell P. Weber
    •  & Kristian Franze

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The fabrication of emulsion droplets stabilized by solid particles adsorbed on the interface is restricted to delicate interfacial conditions. Here, Kimet al. show a general approach to prepare them using the depletion interaction, modified by soluble polymers, between particles and emulsions.

    • KyuHan Kim
    • , Subeen Kim
    •  & Siyoung Q. Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Few synthetic hydrogels are known to display strain-stiffening behaviour. Here, Jaspers et al.show how concentration, polymer length and temperature can be used to modify the mechanical properties of synthetic gels to access mechanically highly sensitive and responsive materials.

    • Maarten Jaspers
    • , Matthew Dennison
    •  & Paul H. J. Kouwer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Operating devices that can navigate biomedical fluids and tissues is one of the ultimate goals of microrobotics. Whilst the current designs are restricted to non-reciprocal actuations, Qiu et al. report swimming via simple reciprocal motion by exploiting the non-Newtonian rheology of viscous fluids.

    • Tian Qiu
    • , Tung-Chun Lee
    •  & Peer Fischer

  • Article |

    Colloidal suspensions are known to exhibit interesting phase transitions. Here, the authors report a glass–glass transition with an associated waiting time in a colloidal clay (Laponite) under ambient conditions.

    • Roberta Angelini
    • , Emanuela Zaccarelli
    •  & Barbara Ruzicka

  • Article |

    The viscosity of polymerised silicate melts is known to decrease up to a pressure of 3–5 GPa. Here, the authors demonstrate that this abnormal behaviour corresponds to the tetrahedral packing limit, below which the structure is compressed via tightening of the inter-tetrahedral bond angle.

    • Yanbin Wang
    • , Tatsuya Sakamaki
    •  & Stephen R. Sutton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The self-assembly of colloidal structures at liquid interfaces finds immediate application in industry, such as food and drug encapsulations. Dommersnes et al. develop a technique to manipulate the distribution of colloidal particles adsorbed on drop surfaces under an applied electric field.

    • Paul Dommersnes
    • , Zbigniew Rozynek
    •  & Jon Otto Fossum

  • Article |

    Hydrogels have a variety of applications including tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery. Here, liquid-crystal hydrogels are developed which transform into a fluid solution upon cooling; cells can be encapsulated in the gel at room temperature, then released at physiological temperatures.

    • Zhegang Huang
    • , Hyojin Lee
    •  & Myongsoo Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional fluid interfaces are ubiquitous, but studying their surface dynamic properties is difficult because of coupling between the film and bulk fluid. Choiet al.combine active microrheology with fluorescence microscopy to image fluid interfaces under applied stress.

    • S.Q. Choi
    • , S. Steltenkamp
    •  & T.M. Squires

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