Brittle and ductile yielding in soft materials.

Many soft materials yield under mechanical loading, but how this transition from solid-like behavior to liquid-like behavior occurs can vary significantly. Understanding the physics of yielding is of great interest for the behavior of biological, environmental, and industrial materials, including those used as inks in additive manufacturing and muds and soils. For some materials, the yielding transition is gradual, while others yield abruptly. We refer to these behaviors as being ductile and brittle. The key rheological signatures of brittle yielding include a stress overshoot in steady-shear-startup tests and a steep increase in the loss modulus during oscillatory amplitude sweeps. In this work, we show how this spectrum of yielding behaviors may be accounted for in a continuum model for yield stress materials by introducing a parameter we call the brittility factor. Physically, an increased brittility decreases the contribution of recoverable deformation to plastic deformation, which impacts the rate at which yielding occurs. The model predictions are successfully compared to results of different rheological protocols from a number of real yield stress fluids with different microstructures, indicating the general applicability of the phenomenon of brittility. Our study shows that the brittility of soft materials plays a critical role in determining the rate of the yielding transition and provides a simple tool for understanding its effects under various loading conditions.

Direct-ink-write cross-linkable bottlebrush block copolymers for on-the-fly control of structural color.

Additive manufacturing capable of controlling and dynamically modulating structures down to the nanoscopic scale remains challenging. By marrying additive manufacturing with self-assembly, we develop a UV (ultra-violet)-assisted direct ink write approach for on-the-fly modulation of structural color by programming the assembly kinetics through photo-cross-linking. We design a photo-cross-linkable bottlebrush block copolymer solution as a printing ink that exhibits vibrant structural color (i.e., photonic properties) due to the nanoscopic lamellar structures formed post extrusion. By dynamically modulating UV-light irradiance during printing, we can program the color of the printed material to access a broad spectrum of visible light with a single ink while also creating color gradients not previously possible. We unveil the mechanism of this approach using a combination of coarse-grained simulations, rheological measurements, and structural characterizations. Central to the assembly mechanism is the matching of the cross-linking timescale with the assembly timescale, which leads to kinetic trapping of the assembly process that evolves structural color from blue to red driven by solvent evaporation. This strategy of integrating cross-linking chemistry and out-of-equilibrium processing opens an avenue for spatiotemporal control of self-assembled nanostructures during additive manufacturing.

Unbiased construction of constitutive relations for soft materials from experiments via rheology-informed neural networks.

The ability to concisely describe the dynamical behavior of soft materials through closed-form constitutive relations holds the key to accelerated and informed design of materials and processes. The conventional approach is to construct constitutive relations through simplifying assumptions and approximating the time- and rate-dependent stress response of a complex fluid to an imposed deformation. While traditional frameworks have been foundational to our current understanding of soft materials, they often face a twofold existential limitation: i) Constructed on ideal and generalized assumptions, precise recovery of material-specific details is usually serendipitous, if possible, and ii) inherent biases that are involved by making those assumptions commonly come at the cost of new physical insight. This work introduces an approach by leveraging recent advances in scientific machine learning methodologies to discover the governing constitutive equation from experimental data for complex fluids. Our rheology-informed neural network framework is found capable of learning the hidden rheology of a complex fluid through a limited number of experiments. This is followed by construction of an unbiased material-specific constitutive relation that accurately describes a wide range of bulk dynamical behavior of the material. While extremely efficient in closed-form model discovery for a real-world complex system, the model also provides insight into the underpinning physics of the material.

A critical study of the nonlinear rheological properties in major classes of foods using the Sequence of Physical Processes (SPP) method and the Fourier Transform Coupled with Chebyshev Decomposition (FTC) method.

The nonlinear rheological behaviors of three different classes of foods (emulsion, suspension, and elastic network) were studied and analyzed using the Rogers Sequence of Physical Processes (SPP) method and the Ewoldt-McKinley method of coupling Fourier Transform with Chebyshev Decomposition (FTC). SPP analysis led to instantaneous rheological parameters G't and G″t at any point in time, providing a more accurate picture of the linear viscoelastic region and crossover points by the 3D amplitude sweep. When G't is plotted against G″t, the resulting graph is a deltoid which offers a detailed and distinctive intracycle behavior of each class of food. Analyzing the revolution of deltoids with increasing strain allows for the determination of a critical strain, beyond which irreversible network breakdown occurs. The strain range between the linear viscoelastic limit and the critical strain found in SPP is comparable to the MAOS region as determined with FTC. Under increasing amplitude, predominantly elastic networks showed a gradual structural rearrangement, while more erratic and abrupt changes were observed in the suspension and emulsion we studied. Under increasing frequency, elastic responses dominate viscous responses in all samples due to the shorter experimental time, allowing less relaxation.

Extracting microscopic insight from transient dielectric measurements during large amplitude oscillatory shear.

Probing the transient microstructure of soft matter far from equilibrium is an ongoing challenge to understanding material processing. In this work, we investigate inverse worm-like micelles undergoing large amplitude oscillatory shear using time-resolved dielectric spectroscopy. By controlling the Weissenburg number, we compare the non-linear microstructure response of branched and unbranched worm-like micelles and isolate distinct elastic effects that manifest near flow reversal. We validate our dielectric measurements with small angle neutron scattering and employ sequence of physical processes to disentangle the elastic and viscous contributions of the stress.

Investigation of the yielding transition in concentrated colloidal systems via rheo-XPCS.

We probe the microstructural yielding dynamics of a concentrated colloidal system by performing creep/recovery tests with simultaneous collection of coherent scattering data via X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS). This combination of rheology and scattering allows for time-resolved observations of the microstructural dynamics as yielding occurs, which can be linked back to the applied rheological deformation to form structure-property relations. Under sufficiently small applied creep stresses, examination of the correlation in the flow direction reveals that the scattering response recorrelates with its predeformed state, indicating nearly complete microstructural recovery, and the dynamics of the system under these conditions slows considerably. Conversely, larger creep stresses increase the speed of the dynamics under both applied creep and recovery. The data show a strong connection between the microstructural dynamics and the acquisition of unrecoverable strain. By comparing this relationship to that predicted from homogeneous, affine shearing, we find that the yielding transition in concentrated colloidal systems is highly heterogeneous on the microstructural level.

Designing Multicomponent Polymer Colloids for Self-Stratifying Films.

Aqueous polymer colloids known as latexes are widely used in coating applications. Multicomponent latexes comprised of two incompatible polymeric species organized into a core-shell particle morphology are a promising system for self-stratifying coatings that spontaneously partition into multiple layers, thereby yielding complex structured coatings requiring only a single application step. Developing new materials for self-stratifying coatings requires a clear understanding of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties governing phase separation and polymeric species transport. In this work, we study phase separation and self-stratification in polymer films based on multicomponent acrylic (shell) and acrylic-silicone (core) latex particles. Our results show that the molecular weight of the shell polymer and heat aging conditions of the film critically determine the underlying transport phenomena, which ultimately controls phase separation in the film. Unentangled shell polymers result in efficient phase separation within hours with heat aging at reasonable temperatures, whereas entangled shell polymers effectively inhibit phase separation even under extensive heat aging conditions over a period of months due to kinetic limitations. Transmission electron microscopy is used to track morphological changes as a function of thermal aging. Interestingly, our results show that the rheological properties of the latex films are highly sensitive to morphology, and linear shear rheology is used to understand morphological changes. Overall, these results highlight the importance of bulk rheology as a simple and effective tool for understanding changes in morphology in multicomponent latex films.

Self-locomotive, antimicrobial microrobot (SLAM) swarm for enhanced biofilm elimination.

Biofilm is a major cause of infections and infrastructure deterioration, largely due to molecular diffusion restrictions that hamper the antimicrobial activity of traditional antibiotics and disinfectants. Here, we present a self-locomotive, antimicrobial microrobot (SLAM) swarm that can penetrate, fracture, and detach biofilm and, in turn, nullify bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The SLAM is assembled by loading a controlled mass of manganese oxide nanosheets on diatoms with the polydopamine binder. In hydrogen peroxide solution, SLAMs produce oxygen bubbles that generate thrust to penetrate the rigid and dense Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm and self-assemble into a swarm that repeatedly surrounds, expands, and bursts oxygen bubbles. The resulting cavities continue to deform and fracture extracellular polymeric substances from microgrooved silicone substrates and wounded skin explants while decreasing the number of viable bacterial cells. Additionally, SLAM allows irrigating water or antibiotics to access the residual biofilm better, thus enhancing the synergistic efficacy in killing up to 99.9% of bacterial cells.

Digital rheometer twins: Learning the hidden rheology of complex fluids through rheology-informed graph neural networks.

SignificanceScience-based data-driven methods that can describe the rheological behavior of complex fluids can be transformative across many disciplines. Digital rheometer twins, which are developed here, can significantly reduce the cost, time, and energy required to characterize complex fluids and predict their future behavior. This is made possible by combining two different methods of informing neural networks with the rheological underpinnings of a system, resulting in quantitative recovery of a gel's response to different flow protocols. The platform developed here is general enough that it can be extended to areas well beyond complex fluids modeling.

Rheological Characteristics of Ionic Liquids under Nanoconfinement.

While the dynamic properties of ionic liquids (ILs) in nanoconfinement play a crucial role in the performance of IL-based electrochemical and mechanical devices, experimental work mostly falls short at reporting "solid-like" versus "liquid-like" behavior of confined ILs. The present work is the first to conduct frequency-sweep oscillatory-shear rheology on IL nanofilms, reconciling the solid-versus-liquid debate and revealing the importance of shear rate in the behavior. We disentangle and analyze the viscoelasticity of nanoconfined ILs and shed light on their relaxation mechanisms. Furthermore, a master curve describes the scaling of the dynamic behavior of four (non-hydrogen-bonding) ILs under nanoconfinement and reveals the role of the compressibility of the flow units.

Unification of the Rheological Physics of Yield Stress Fluids.

The physics above and below the yield stress is unified by a simple model for viscoplasticity that accounts for the nonlinear rheology of multiple yield stress fluids. The model has a rate-dependent relaxation time, allows for plastic deformation below the yield stress, and indicates that rapid elastic deformation aids yielding. A range of commonly observed rheological behaviors are predicted, including the smooth overshoot in the loss modulus and the recently discovered contributions from recoverable and unrecoverable strains in amplitude sweeps.

Microscopic ergodicity breaking governs the emergence and evolution of elasticity in glass-forming nanoclay suspensions.

We report a study combining x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) with in situ rheology to investigate the microscopic dynamics and mechanical properties of aqueous suspensions of the synthetic hectorite clay Laponite, which is composed of charged, nanometer-scale, disk-shaped particles. The suspensions, with particle concentrations ranging from 3.25 to 3.75 wt %, evolve over time from a fluid to a soft glass that displays aging behavior. The XPCS measurements characterize the localization of the particles during the formation and aging of the soft-glass state. The fraction of localized particles, f_{0}, increases rapidly during the early formation stage and grows more slowly during subsequent aging, while the characteristic localization length r_{loc} steadily decreases. Despite the strongly varying rates of aging at different concentrations, both f_{0} and r_{loc} scale with the elastic shear modulus G^{'} in a manner independent of concentration. During the later aging stage, the scaling between r_{loc} and G^{'} agrees quantitatively with a prediction of naive mode coupling theory. Breakdown of agreement with the theory during the early formation stage indicates the prevalence of dynamic heterogeneity, suggesting the soft solid forms through precursors of dynamically localized clusters.

Elucidating the G″ overshoot in soft materials with a yield transition via a time-resolved experimental strain decomposition.

Materials that exhibit yielding behavior are used in many applications, from spreadable foods and cosmetics to direct write three-dimensional printing inks and filled rubbers. Their key design feature is the ability to transition behaviorally from solid to fluid under sufficient load or deformation. Despite its widespread applications, little is known about the dynamics of yielding in real processes, as the nonequilibrium nature of the transition impedes understanding. We demonstrate an iteratively punctuated rheological protocol that combines strain-controlled oscillatory shear with stress-controlled recovery tests. This technique provides an experimental decomposition of recoverable and unrecoverable strains, allowing for solid-like and fluid-like contributions to a yield stress material's behavior to be separated in a time-resolved manner. Using this protocol, we investigate the overshoot in loss modulus seen in materials that yield. We show that this phenomenon is caused by the transition from primarily solid-like, viscoelastic dissipation in the linear regime to primarily fluid-like, plastic flow at larger amplitudes. We compare and contrast this with a viscoelastic liquid with no yielding behavior, where the contribution to energy dissipation from viscous flow dominates over the entire range of amplitudes tested.

Color, structure, and rheology of a diblock bottlebrush copolymer solution.

A structure-property-process relation is established for a diblock bottlebrush copolymer solution, through a combination of rheo-neutron scattering, imaging, and rheological measurements. Polylactic acid-b-polystyrene diblock bottlebrush copolymers were dispersed in toluene with a concentration of 175 mg ml-1, where they self-assembled into a lamellar phase. All measurements were carried out at 5 °C. The solution color, as observed in reflection, is shown to be a function of the shear rate. Under equilibrium and near-equilibrium conditions, the solution has a green color. At low shear rates the solution remains green, while at intermediate rates the solution is cyan. At the highest rates applied the solution is indigo. The lamellar spacing is shown to be a decreasing function of shear rate, partially accounting for the color change. The lamellae are oriented 'face-on' with the wall under quiescence and low shear rates, while a switch to 'edge-on' is observed at the highest shear rates, where the reflected color disappears. The intramolecular distance between bottlebrush polymers does not change with shear rate, although at high shear rates, the bottlebrush polymers are preferentially aligned in the vorticity direction within the lamellae. We therefore form a consistent relation between structure and function, spanning a wide range of length scales and shear rates.

Movement Competency Training Delivery: At School or Online? A Pilot Study of High-School Athletes.

Movement competency (MC) development of high-school athletes can prepare them for the requirements of physical preparation training and the demands of sport. The aim of this study was to explore the physical effects of and athlete compliance to coach-led versus self-directed training approaches in this population. Thirty-nine high-school athletes (19 male, 14.5 ± 0.3 years old; 20 female, 14.6 ± 0.3 years) were allocated into two groups for a physical preparation program to improve MC. Groups were prescribed either (i) one face-to-face and one online (F2F, n = 18), or (ii) two online (OL, n = 21) sessions per week for 16-weeks. Before and after the intervention, the Athlete Introductory Movement Screen (AIMS) was used to assess MC alongside common physical capacity measures (triple-hop, star-excursion balance, medicine ball throw, 40m sprint and countermovement jump). Dropout left 22 participants with pre-post physical scores. Compliance with online training was low and F2F session attendance moderate. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to assess participant perceptions following the intervention. Assessing individual responses, the F2F group had a higher proportion of positive responders to AIMS scores, yet capacity measures were inconclusive across groups. Face-to-face coaching when acquiring MCs as part of physical preparation, may provide greater positive perceptions towards training compared to self-directed online prescriptions, and thereby greater compliance.

Catalytic microgelators for decoupled control of gelation rate and rigidity of the biological gels.

Fibrin gels have been extensively used for three-dimensional cell culture, bleeding control, and molecular and cell therapies because the fibrous networks facilitate biomolecular and cell transport. However, a small window for gelation makes it difficult to handle the gels for desired preparation and transport. Several methods developed to control gelation rates often alter the microstructure, thereby affecting the mechanical response. We hypothesized that a particle designed to discharge thrombin cargos in response to an external stimulus, such as H2O2, would provide control of the gelation rate over a broad range while strengthening the gel. We examined this hypothesis by assembling poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) particles loaded with thrombin and MnO2 nanosheets that decompose H2O2 to O2 gas. The resulting particles named as catalytic microgelator were mixed with fibrinogen solution or blood containing 0.2mM H2O2. Due to the increased internal pressure, these particles released a 3-fold larger mass of thrombin than PLGA particles loaded only with thrombin. As a consequence, catalytic microgelators increased the gelation time by one order of magnitude and the elastic modulus by a factor of two compared with the fibrin gel formed by directly mixing fibrinogen and thrombin in solution. These catalytic microgelators also served to clot blood, unlike PLGA particles loaded with thrombin. The resulting blood clot was also more rigid than the blood clot formed by thrombin solution. The results of this study would serve as a new paradigm in controlling gelation kinetics of pre-gel solution and mechanical properties of the post-gel matrix.

Unveiling Temporal Nonlinear Structure-Rheology Relationships under Dynamic Shearing.

Understanding how microscopic rearrangements manifest in macroscopic flow responses is one of the central goals of nonlinear rheological studies. Using the sequence-of-physical-processes framework, we present a natural 3D structure-rheology space that temporally correlates the structural and nonlinear viscoelastic parameters. Exploiting the rheo-small-angle neutron scattering (rheo-SANS) techniques, we demonstrate the use of the framework with a model system of polymer-like micelles (PLMs), where we unveil a sequence of microscopic events that micelles experience under dynamic shearing across a range of frequencies. The least-aligned state of the PLMs is observed to migrate from the total strain extreme toward zero strain with increasing frequency. Our proposed 3D space is generic, and can be equally applied to other soft materials under any sort of deformation, such as startup shear or uniaxial extension. This work therefore provides a natural approach for researchers to study complex out-of-equilibrium structure-rheology relationships of soft materials.

Structure-Property Relationships via Recovery Rheology in Viscoelastic Materials.

The recoverable strain is shown to correlate to the temporal evolution of microstructure via time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering and dynamic shear rheology. Investigating two distinct polymeric materials of wormlike micelles and fibrin network, we demonstrate that, in addition to the nonlinear structure-property relationships, the shear and normal stress evolution is dictated by the recoverable strain. A distinct sequence of physical processes under large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) is identified that clearly contains information regarding both the steady-state flow curve and the linear-regime frequency sweep, contrary to most interpretations that LAOS responses are either distinct from or somehow intermediate between the two cases. This work provides a physically motivated and straightforward path to further explore the structure-property relationships of viscoelastic materials under dynamic flow conditions.

Rheological Analysis of the Gelation Kinetics of an Enzyme Cross-linked PEG Hydrogel.

The diverse requirements of hydrogels for tissue engineering motivate the development of cross-linking reactions to fabricate hydrogel networks with specific features, particularly those amenable to the activity of biological materials (e.g., cells, proteins) that do not require exposure to UV light. We describe gelation kinetics for a library of thiolated poly(ethylene glycol) sulfhydryl hydrogels undergoing enzymatic cross-linking via horseradish peroxidase, a catalyst-driven reaction activated by hydrogen peroxide. We report the use of small-amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) to quantify gelation kinetics as a function of reaction conditions (hydrogen peroxide and polymer concentrations). We employ a novel approach to monitor the change of viscoelastic properties of hydrogels over the course of gelation (Δ tgel) via the time derivative of the storage modulus (d G'/d t). This approach, fundamentally distinct from traditional methods for defining a gel point, quantifies the time interval over which gelation events occur. We report that gelation depends on peroxide and polymer concentrations as well as system temperature, where the effects of hydrogen peroxide tend to saturate over a critical concentration. Further, this cross-linking reaction can be reversed using l-cysteine for rapid cell isolation, and the rate of hydrogel dissolution can be monitored using SAOS.

Studying Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear Response of Soft Materials.

We investigate the sequence of physical processes exhibited during large amplitude oscillatory shearing (LAOS) of polyethylene oxide (PEO) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and xanthan gum in water - two concentrated polymer solutions used as viscosifiers in foods, enhanced oil recovery, and soil remediation. Understanding the nonlinear rheological behavior of soft materials is important in the design and controlled manufacturing of many consumer products. It is shown how the response to LAOS of these polymer solutions can be interpreted in terms of a clear transition from linear viscoelasticity to viscoplastic deformation and back again during a period. The LAOS results are analyzed via the fully quantitative Sequence of Physical Processes (SPP) technique, using free MATLAB-based software. A detailed protocol of performing a LAOS measurement with a commercial rheometer, analyzing nonlinear stress responses with the freeware, and interpreting physical processes under LAOS is presented. It is further shown that, within the SPP framework, a LAOS response contains information regarding the linear viscoelasticity, the transient flow curves, and the critical strain responsible for the onset of nonlinearity.