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Measurements and modeling of the nonlinear viscoelastic properties of a high viscosity silicone oil (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) are reported. LAOS test were performed with a high precision rotational rheometer to probe the nonlinear response. The measurements show that the material can be safely considered linear below strain amplitude 1. The viscous Lissajous-Bodwitch curves indicate intracycle shear thinning, whereas the elastic Lissajous-Bodwitch curves indicate intracycle strain stiffening in the nonlinear regime. Secondary loops in some of the measured viscous stress curves are attributed to a non-sinusoidal shear rate signal. A multi-element White-Metzner model is used as a constitutive equation, which accurately describes the LAOS data in all measured cases. Based on the extension of the measured data by simulations, nonlinear properties are analyzed both for the elastic and for the viscous part. It is observed that the nonlinearity considerably increases the weight of the higher harmonics in the shear stress signal. It is predicted that the viscous nonlinearity has a maximum around 50 rad/s angular frequency, and that the elastic nonlinearity becomes nearly independent of the angular frequency above 30 rad/s.

Measurements and modeling of rheological properties of a high viscosity silicone oil (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) at high frequency are reported. The linear viscoelastic properties are measured by small amplitude oscillation shear (SAOS) tests with a rotational rheometer. Furthermore, Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy (DWS) is used, which expands the angular frequency range of the measured loss and storage moduli up to 105 rad/s, in a temperature range of 20 - 70°C. Good agreement between both methods is found in the overlapping frequency region, especially at higher temperatures. The DWS data show that the elastic modulus stays dominant and increases with frequency, without a second cross-over point up till 108 rad/s. Flow curves, measured with rotational and with capillary rheometry up to a shear rate of 7.6 · 104 s-1, show shear thinning behavior, which implies nonlinear viscoelasticity. Comparison of the dynamic and complex viscosity shows that the Cox-Merz rule is valid in a frequency range spanning six orders of magnitude. A multi-element White-Metzner model is proposed as a constitutive equation, which accurately describes the nonlinear viscoelastic properties, including the decrease of the loss and storage moduli during amplitude sweeps in oscillatory shear measurements.

An atomic force microscopic method to study the incubation states of UV laser irradiated polymer samples is presented. Targets were illuminated by different number of pulses at 5.8 and 8.9 mJ/cm2 fluences. The induced adhesive and morphological changes were investigated simultaneously by an atomic force microscope equipped with a pulsed force mode extension. Importantly, below 100 pulses morphological changes were not observable while significant changes in the adhesion were found as a result of the incubation at 8.9 mJ/cm2 fluence. This method allows the imaging and detection of the whole laser modified area with nanometer resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tungsten nanoparticles were generated by photolytical (UV) laser-activated chemical vapor deposition from WF6/H2/Ar gas mixture. Emission spectroscopy of thermal radiation allowed temperature determination of the nanoparticles while varying the laser fluence. A model including known cooling mechanisms was used to calculate the laser-induced temperature as a function of time and laser fluence, where the only fitting parameter was the absorption efficiency of the particles, obtained from measured temperatures. Size decrease of the particles due to evaporation was modeled at different laser fluences, and connected to size-distribution measurements from transmission electron microscopy micrographs, where a maximum geometric mean diameter (for the experimental conditions used) of 10 nm was obseved at a laser fluence of ∼120 mJ/cm2. Measurements and the model calculations showed that the laser-excited particles reached the melting temperature of tungsten at ∼95 mJ/cm2. Above ∼130 mJ/cm2, very high rates of evaporation of W atoms were found, resulting in a decrease in size of the deposited particles. Crystalline, metastable β-W nanoparticles were found above ∼100 mJ/cm2 by both electron and x-ray diffraction. Below fluences of ∼100 mJ/cm2, i.e., corresponding to the value necessary for melting, amorphous nanoparticles were obtained. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in speed of the high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) compared to that of the conventional AFM made possible the first-ever visualisation at the molecular-level of the activity of an antimicrobial peptide on a membrane. We investigated the medically prescribed but poorly understood lipopeptide Daptomycin under infection-like conditions (37 °C, bacterial lipid composition and antibiotic concentrations). We confirmed so far hypothetical models: Dap oligomerization and the existence of half pores. Moreover, we detected unknown molecular mechanisms: new mechanisms to form toroidal pores or to resist Dap action, and to unprecedently quantify the energy profile of interacting oligomers. Finally, the biological and medical relevance of the findings was ensured by a multi-scale multi-nativeness-from the molecule to the cell-correlation of molecular-level information from living bacteria (Bacillus subtilis strains) to liquid-suspended vesicles and supported-membranes using electron and optical microscopies and the lipid tension probe FliptR, where we found that the cells with a healthier state of their cell wall show smaller membrane deformations.