Aps Dsoft

[Ellyn Krucke]

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The inaugural Gallery of Soft Matter was held at the American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting 2022 in Chicago, organized by the APS Division of Soft Matter. The Gallery showcases the aesthetic appeal and elegance of soft matter systems, to be shared both with fellow researchers and the public. The submissions were judged for their combination of striking visual qualities and scientific interest. We received 32 poster and 34 video submissions from students and postdocs from all over the world. All entries are accessible at -dsoft. In this joint Editorial, each prize winner has summarized the science behind their entries. Together, they have provided impressive examples of the power of images in communicating the complexity and beauty of science.

Fluid-Mediated Soft Actuators (video) Another elegant example of imparting shape to soft materials is a soft robot grasping and lifting a sphere, followed by gentle lowering and releasing of the sphere, as shown in the time sequence in the image. The soft robot is made of two independent soft actuators connected to a single pressure source. Each actuator is fabricated using a bubble casting process, where a liquid elastomer is deposited onto channel walls using an elongated air bubble, and the shape is set by the subsequent gravitational drainage and curing of the elastomer. When inflated, the actuator bends locally in response to the differential growth of the asymmetric membrane. Leveraging the fluid mechanics and a center-line model that treats the actuators as rods with tunable curvature, the composite actuator is programmed to sequentially grasp and then lift the sphere. As the soft robot is inflated, the gripper thus bends first at lower pressures. Only as inflation continues does the muscle-like actuator contract by coiling.

Keeping an Eye on Drying Liquid Crystals (poster) Drops of isotropic lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals are an example of a system where complex structures spontaneously appear. As a drop of an aqueous disodium cromoglycate solution dries on an untreated surface, the suspended liquid-crystal aggregates are transported to the drop perimeter by an evaporation-driven capillary flow. The evaporation dynamics induces a nonuniform liquid-crystal concentration along the drop radius. The concentration governs the liquid-crystalline phase, and the concentration gradients induced by drying lead to eyelike multiphase drops: From the drop edge to the center a columnar phase, a nematic phase, and an isotropic phase are observed simultaneously. Are we watching the drop or is it watching us?

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