Chiral Helices Formation by Self-Assembled Molecules on Semiconductor Flexible Substrates.

The crystal structure of atomically defined colloidal II-VI semiconductor nanoplatelets (NPLs) induces the self-assembly of organic ligands over thousands of square nanometers on the top and bottom basal planes of these anisotropic nanoparticles. NPLs curl into helices under the influence of the surface stress induced by these ligands. We demonstrate the control of the radii of NPL helices through the ligands described as an anchoring group and an aliphatic chain of a given length. A mechanical model accounting for the misfit strain between the inorganic core and the surface ligands predicts the helices' radii. We show how the chirality of the helices can be tuned by the ligands anchoring group and inverted from one population to another.

Stretch-Induced Bending of Soft Ribbed Strips.

We show that ribbed elastic strips under tension present large spontaneous curvature and may close into tubes. In this single material architectured system, transverse bending results from a bilayer effect induced by Poisson contraction as the textured ribbon is stretched. Surprisingly, the induced curvature may reverse if ribs of different orientations are considered. Slender ribbed structures may also undergo a nontrivial buckling transition. We use analytical calculations to describe the evolution of the morphology of the ribbon and the transitions between the different experimental regimes as a function of material properties, geometrical parameters, and stretching strain. This scale-independent phenomenon may help the manufacturing of tubular textured structures or easily controllable grippers at small scale.

Programming stiff inflatable shells from planar patterned fabrics.

Lack of stiffness often limits thin shape-shifting structures to small scales. The large in-plane transformations required to distort the metrics are indeed commonly achieved by using soft hydrogels or elastomers. We introduce here a versatile single-step method to shape-program stiff inflated structures, opening the door for numerous large scale applications, ranging from space deployable structures to emergency shelters. This technique relies on channel patterns obtained by heat-sealing superimposed flat quasi-inextensible fabric sheets. Inflating channels induces an anisotropic in-plane contraction and thus a possible change of Gaussian curvature. Seam lines, which act as a director field for the in-plane deformation, encode the shape of the deployed structure. We present three patterning methods to quantitatively and analytically program shells with non-Euclidean metrics. In addition to shapes, we describe with scaling laws the mechanical properties of the inflated structures. Large deployed structures can resist their weight, substantially broadening the palette of applications.

Programming curvilinear paths of flat inflatables.

Inflatable structures offer a path for light deployable structures in medicine, architecture, and aerospace. In this study, we address the challenge of programming the shape of thin sheets of high-stretching modulus cut and sealed along their edges. Internal pressure induces the inflation of the structure into a deployed shape that maximizes its volume. We focus on the shape and nonlinear mechanics of inflated rings and more generally, of any sealed curvilinear path. We rationalize the stress state of the sheet and infer the counterintuitive increase of curvature observed on inflation. In addition to the change of curvature, wrinkles patterns are observed in the region under compression in agreement with our minimal model. We finally develop a simple numerical tool to solve the inverse problem of programming any 2-dimensional (2D) curve on inflation and illustrate the application potential by moving an object along an intricate target path with a simple pressure input.

Motion of Viscous Droplets in Rough Confinement: Paradoxical Lubrication.

We study the sedimentation of highly viscous droplets confined inside Hele-Shaw cells with textured walls of controlled topography. In contrast with common observations on superhydrophobic surfaces, roughness tends here to significantly increase viscous friction, thus substantially decreasing the droplets mobility. However, reducing confinement induces a jump in the velocity as droplets can slide on a lubricating layer of the surrounding fluid thicker than the roughness features. We demonstrate that increasing the viscosity of the surrounding liquid may counterintuitively enhance the mobility of a droplet sliding along a rough wall. Similarly, a sharp change of the droplet mobility is observed as the amplitude of the roughness is modified. These results illustrate the nontrivial friction processes at the scale of the roughness, and the coupling between viscous dissipation in the drop, in the front meniscus, and in the lubricating film. They could enable one to specifically control the speed of droplets or capsules in microchannels, based on their rheological properties.

The dual role of viscosity in capillary rise.

The spontaneous rise of a wetting liquid in a capillary tube is classically described by Washburn's law: the meniscus height increases as the square root of time, a law singular for short times, where the velocity diverges. We focus here on the early dynamics of the rise of viscous liquids, and report an initial regime of constant velocity contrasting with Washburn's prediction. This is explained by considering the contact line friction at the liquid front, and confirmed by the influence of prewetting films on the tube walls, whose presence is found to speed up the rise and more generally to provide an ideal framework for quantifying the friction at contact lines.

Bio-inspired pneumatic shape-morphing elastomers.

Shape-morphing structures are at the core of future applications in aeronautics1, minimally invasive surgery2, tissue engineering3 and smart materials4. However, current engineering technologies, based on inhomogeneous actuation across the thickness of slender structures, are intrinsically limited to one-directional bending5. Here, we describe a strategy where mesostructured elastomer plates undergo fast, controllable and complex shape transformations under applied pressure. Similar to pioneering techniques based on soft hydrogel swelling6-10, these pneumatic shape-morphing elastomers, termed here as 'baromorphs', are inspired by the morphogenesis of biological structures11-15. Geometric restrictions are overcome by controlling precisely the local growth rate and direction through a specific network of airways embedded inside the rubber plate. We show how arbitrary three-dimensional shapes can be programmed using an analytic theoretical model, propose a direct geometric solution to the inverse problem, and illustrate the versatility of the technique with a collection of configurations.

Buckling of elastomer sheets under non-uniform electro-actuation.

Dielectric elastomer sheets undergo in-plane expansion when stimulated by a transverse electric field. We study experimentally how dielectric plates subjected to a non-uniform voltage distribution undergo buckling instabilities. Two different configurations involving circular plates are investigated: plates freely floating on a bath of water, and plates clamped on a frame. We describe theoretically the out-of-plane deformation of the plates within the framework of weakly non-linear plate equations. This study constitutes a first step of a route to control the 3D activation of dielectric elastomers.

On the shape of giant soap bubbles.

We study the effect of gravity on giant soap bubbles and show that it becomes dominant above the critical size [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the mean thickness of the soap film and [Formula: see text] is the capillary length ([Formula: see text] stands for vapor-liquid surface tension, and [Formula: see text] stands for the liquid density). We first show experimentally that large soap bubbles do not retain a spherical shape but flatten when increasing their size. A theoretical model is then developed to account for this effect, predicting the shape based on mechanical equilibrium. In stark contrast to liquid drops, we show that there is no mechanical limit of the height of giant bubble shapes. In practice, the physicochemical constraints imposed by surfactant molecules limit the access to this large asymptotic domain. However, by an exact analogy, it is shown how the giant bubble shapes can be realized by large inflatable structures.

On the Landau-Levich transition.

We discuss here the nature of the Landau-Levich transition, that is, the dynamical transition that occurs when drawing a solid out of a bath of a liquid that partially wets this solid. Above a threshold velocity, a film is entrained by the solid. We measure the macroscopic contact angle between the liquid and the solid by different methods, and conclude that this angle might be discontinuous at the transition. We also present a model to understand this fact and the shape of the meniscus as drawing the solid.