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We have developed a new technique to measure viscoelasticity in soft materials such as polymer solutions, by monitoring thermal fluctuations of embedded probe particles using laser interferometry in a microscope. Interferometry allows us to obtain power spectra of fluctuating beads from 0.1 Hz to 20 kHz, and with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. Using linear response theory, we determined the frequency-dependent loss and storage shear moduli up to frequencies on the order of a kHz. Our technique measures local values of the viscoelastic response, without actively straining the system, and is especially suited to soft biopolymer networks. We studied semiflexible F-actin solutions and, as a control, flexible polyacrylamide (PAAm) gels, the latter close to their gelation threshold. With small particles, we could probe the transition from macroscopic viscoelasticity to more complex microscopic dynamics. In the macroscopic limit we find shear moduli at 0.1 Hz of G=0.11 +/- 0.03 Pa and 0.17 +/- 0.07 Pa for 1 and 2 mg/ml actin solutions, close to the onset of the elastic plateau, and scaling behavior consistent with G(omega) as omega^(3/4) at higher frequencies. For polyacrylamide we measured plateau moduli of 2.0, 24, 100 and 280 Pa for crosslinked gels of 2, 2.5, 3 and 5% concentration (weight/volume) respectively, in agreement to within a factor of two with values obtained from conventional rheology. We also found evidence for scaling of G(omega) as omega^(1/2), consistent with the predictions of the Rouse model for flexible polymers.
We describe a high-resolution, high-bandwidth technique for determining the local viscoelasticity of soft materials such as polymer gels. Loss and storage shear moduli are determined from the power spectra of thermal fluctuations of embedded micron-s
We present a theoretical framework for the linear and nonlinear visco-elastic properties of reversibly crosslinked networks of semiflexible polymers. In contrast to affine models where network strain couples to the polymer end-to-end distance, in our
We present a method to generate realistic, three-dimensional networks of crosslinked semiflexible polymers. The free energy of these networks is obtained from the force-extension characteristics of the individual polymers and their persistent directi
The cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells provides mechanical support and governs intracellular transport. These functions rely on the complex mechanical properties of networks of semiflexible protein filaments. Recent theoretical interest has focused on
Understanding fluctuation-induced breakages in polymers has important implications for basic and applied sciences. Here I present for the first time an analytical treatment of the thermal breakage problem of a semi-flexible polymer model that is asym