TY - JOUR
T1 - Hydrogel menisci
T2 - Shape, interaction, and instability
AU - Pandey, Anupam
AU - Nawijn, Charlotte L.
AU - Snoeijer, Jacco H.
N1 - Funding Information:
and L. van Wijngaarden for discussions. AP and JHS acknowledge financial support from ERC (the European Research Council) Consolidator Grant No. 616918.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © EPLA, 2018.
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - The interface of a soft hydrogel is easily deformed when it is in contact with particles, droplets or cells. Here we compute the intricate shapes of hydrogel menisci due to the indentation of point particles. The analysis is based on a free energy formulation, by which we also assess the interaction laws between neighbouring particles on hydrogel interfaces, similar to the "Cheerios effect". It is shown how the meniscus formed around the particles results from a competition between surface tension, elasticity and hydrostatic pressure inside the gel. We provide a detailed overview of the various scaling laws, which are governed by a characteristic shear modulus G∗ √ = γpg that is based on surface tension γ and gravity pg. Stiffer materials exhibit a solid-like response while softer materials are more liquid-like. The importance of G∗ is further illustrated by examining the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of soft hydrogels.
AB - The interface of a soft hydrogel is easily deformed when it is in contact with particles, droplets or cells. Here we compute the intricate shapes of hydrogel menisci due to the indentation of point particles. The analysis is based on a free energy formulation, by which we also assess the interaction laws between neighbouring particles on hydrogel interfaces, similar to the "Cheerios effect". It is shown how the meniscus formed around the particles results from a competition between surface tension, elasticity and hydrostatic pressure inside the gel. We provide a detailed overview of the various scaling laws, which are governed by a characteristic shear modulus G∗ √ = γpg that is based on surface tension γ and gravity pg. Stiffer materials exhibit a solid-like response while softer materials are more liquid-like. The importance of G∗ is further illustrated by examining the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of soft hydrogels.
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U2 - 10.1209/0295-5075/122/36006
DO - 10.1209/0295-5075/122/36006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85049783072
SN - 0295-5075
VL - 122
JO - EPL
JF - EPL
IS - 3
M1 - 36006
ER -