No Arabic abstract
Ultrasoft colloidal particle fluctuates due to its flexibility. Such fluctuation is essential for colloidal structure and dynamics, but is challenging to quantify experimentally. We use dendrimers as a model system to study the fluctuation of ultrasoft colloids. By considering the dynamic polydispersity in the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) model, and introducing the fluctuation of invasive water into the contrast in SANS, we reveal the fluctuating amplitudes of the size and shape of the dendrimer of generation 6 at finite concentrations. The size fluctuation is suppressed while the shape fluctuation increases as the weight fraction of dendrimers passes 11%. With neutron spin echo data, we suggest that such crossover originates from the competition between the inter- and intra-particle dynamics. Further investigation on lower-generation samples shows a contrary result, which suggests a structural basis for these dynamic phenomena.
We propose a transform theory for calculating a density profile of small colloids around a large colloid from a force curve between the two-large colloids. In the colloid solution, there are many small colloids and two or several large colloids. The force curve between the two-large colloids can be measured by laser tweezers. In this letter, the transform theory is derived in detail, where a superposition approximation of the radial distributions of the density profiles and rigid-body approximation are introduced. In our opinion, if the experimental condition is satisfied, the transform theory can be used not only for the laser tweezers, but also for surface force apparatus and colloid probe atomic force microscopy. Furthermore, the transform theory is to calculate a density profile of micelles around a large spherical surface.
The electronic and optical properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present a strong dependence on their size and geometry. We tackle this issue by analyzing the spectral features of two prototypical classes of PAHs, belonging to D6h and D2h symmetry point groups and related to coronene as multifunctional seed. While the size variation induces an overall red shift of the spectra and a redistribution of the oscillator strength between the main peaks, a lower molecular symmetry is responsible for the appearance of new optical features. Along with broken molecular orbital degeneracies, optical peaks split and dark states are activated in the low-energy part of the spectrum. Supported by a systematic analysis of the composition and the character of the optical transitions, our results contribute in shedding light to the mechanisms responsible for spectral modifications in the visible and near UV absorption bands of medium-size PAHs.
One of the most widely used methods for determination of the bending elasticity modulus of model lipid membranes is the analysis of the shape fluctuations of nearly spherical lipid vesicles. The theoretical basis of this analysis is given by Milner and Safran. In their theory the stretching effects are not considered. In the present study we generalized their approach including the stretching effects deduced after an application of statistical mechanics of vesicles.
We suggest a transform theory for calculating a density distribution of small colloids around a large colloid from a force curve between the two-large colloids. The main idea (calculation process) is that the force curve between the two-large colloids is converted into the pressure on the surface element of the large colloid. This conversion is different from the celebrated Derjaguin approximation. A numerical matrix calculation is performed in the conversion to calculate it more precisely. Subsequently, the pressure on the surface element is transformed into the density distribution of the small colloids around the large colloid by using a transform theory for surface force apparatus proposed by Amano. In this letter, the process of the transformation is explained and a prototype result of the transformation is shown.
We have performed light-scattering measurements in dilute and semidilute polymer solutions of polystyrene in toluene when subjected to stationary temperature gradients. Five solutions with concentrations below and one solution with a concentration above the overlap concentration were investigated. The experiments confirm the presence of long-range nonequilibrium concentration fluctuations which are proportional to $( abla T)^2/k^4$, where $ abla T$ is the applied temperature gradient and $k$ is the wave number of the fluctuations. In addition, we demonstrate that the strength of the nonequilibrium concentration fluctuations, observed in the dilute and semidilute solution regime, agrees with theoretical values calculated from fluctuating hydrodynamics. Further theoretical and experimental work will be needed to understand nonequilibrium fluctuations in polymer solutions at higher concentrations.