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New controlled release systems produced by self-assembly of biopolymers and colloidal particles at fluid-fluid interfaces
We introduce a toy model that contains the basic features of microphase separation in polymer gels: a stretched elastic network of Lennard-Jones particles, studied in two dimensions. When temperature is lowered below some value T*, attraction between particles dominates over both thermal motion and elastic forces, and the network separates into dense domains of. laments connected by three-fold vertices, surrounded by low-density domains in which the network is homogeneously stretched. The length of the. laments decreases and the number of domains increases with decreasing temperature. The system exhibits hysteresis characteristic of first-order phase transitions: pre-formed. laments thin upon heating and eventually melt at a temperature T** (> T*). Although details may vary, the above general features are independent of network topology ( square or hexagonal), system size, distribution of spring constants, and perturbations of initial conditions. [hide]
Scientific Board
Andreas Bausch
TU Munich, Germany ►
Peter Fischer
ETH Zurich, Switzerland ►
Anne-Marie Hermansson
SIK, Sweden ►
Martin Kroger
ETH Zurich, Germany/Switzerland ►
Erik van der Linden
Wageningen UR, The Netherlands ►
Niklas Loren
SIK, Sweden ►
Leonard Sagis
Wageningen UR, The Netherlands ►
Erich Windhab
ETH Zurich, Switzerland ►
Klaas-Jan Zuidam
Unilever, The Netherlands ►
Scientific Stuff
Manuela Duxenneuner
ETH Zurich, Switzerland ►
Sophia Fransson
SIK, Sweden ►
Nam-Phuong Humblet-Hua
Wageningen UR, The Netherlands ►
Joeska Husny
ETH Zurich, Australia/Switzerland ►
Orit Peleg
ETH Zurich, Israel/Switzerland ►
Cyrille Vezy
TU Munich, Germany ►
Varvara Mitropoulos
ETH Zurich, Switzerland ►
Associated Scientists
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SY Tee, AR Bausch, PA Janmey,
The mechanical cell
CURRENT BIOLOGY 19 (2009) R745 ►Selected conferences (co-)organized by project members
8th World Congress on Computational Mechanics WCCM8 2008
30 June - 5 July 2007, Venice, Italy ►13 May 2025
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