Concentration polarizations of PEG and silica colloids in ceramic nanofiltration

A large decrease in permeability is often observed during the filtration of nano-sized colloids, while fouling is widely regarded as the main explanation for this phenomenon. The osmotic pressure or concentration polarization (CP) of colloids can also contribute to the flux decline. However, the contribution of CP to flux loss cannot be...

Soft matter roadmap

Soft materials are usually defined as materials made of mesoscopic entities, often self-organised, sensitive to thermal fluctuations and to weak perturbations. Archetypal examples are colloids, polymers, amphiphiles, liquid crystals, foams. The importance of soft materials in everyday commodity products, as well as in technological applications,...

Biocompatible optical physically unclonable function hydrogel microparticles for on-dose authentication

On-dose authentication (ODA) enhances security by incorporating customized molecular or micro-tags into each pill, preventing counterfeit products in genuine packages. ODA's security relies on tag non-replication and non-reverse engineering. Combining ODA with graphical Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF) promises maximum security. PUF uses...

A simple model to study the flocculation of suspensions over time

The model based on logistic growth theory, that was introduced in Chassagne, Claire, and Zeinab Safar. “Modelling flocculation: Towards an integration in large-scale sediment transport models.” Marine Geology 430 (2020): 106361, can be used to model the time evolution of either the particle (floc) size or the concentration of particles of a...

Understanding the natural consolidation of slurries using colloid science

Many projects (Marker Wadden, Kleirijperij) have recently been initiated in the Netherlands that involve the reuse of dredged material from silted channels. This dredged material is deposited in large ponds, and left to consolidate. When its dewatering and strength development is found to be adequate, the consolidate slurry is used as...

Dielectric spectroscopy of granular material in an electrolytesolution of any ionic strength

The low-frequency dielectric spectroscopy of granular material, where the porosity is representative for sands and sandstones, is until now always modeled using theories based on the work of Schwartz (1962). The theory for the low-frequency dielectric spectroscopy of suspensions, on the other hand, has been developed much further over the last...