arXiv subjects

Shih-Yuan Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Shih-Yuan Chen.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Photo-Switchable Cross-Linking in Polymer Gels: Effects on Surface Creasing and Network Relaxation during Swelling

Polymer gels with photo-responsive cross-links enable tunable mechanics and surface morphologies, making them promising for adaptive materials. While prior work on coumarin cross-linked gels has focused on photo-mediated events in dilute solution, their network-level mechanical responses remain unclear. Here, we design PEG hydrogels with both permanent covalent and dynamic coumarin cross-links, allowing in situ modulation of cross-linking under wavelength specific UV light. Real-time FTIR and dynamic mechanical analysis show that post-cure 365 nm irradiation drives rapid dimerization, increasing storage modulus by up to 69\%, whereas cleavage of coumarin cross-links via 254 nm post-cure irradiation has a more limited effect due to attenuation in bulk samples. Surface imaging reveals that dynamic cross-linking governs swelling-induced crease formation and evolution. Together, these results establish design principles for hydrogels with programmable mechanics and adaptive surface topographies, advancing application in smart coatings, actuators, and responsive biomaterials.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2024

Rocking, Rolling, and Hopping: Exploring the Multi-motion Capabilities of Rigid and Soft Ellipsoidal Actuators

The problem of a rigid disk rolling down a ramp is a classic problem given to students in introductory mechanics courses. In contrast, systematic studies on the rolling behavior of an ellipse have only recently emerged. Unlike a rolling disk, here the geometric center remains at a constant height from the floor, the center of a rotating ellipse changes nonlinearly due to its eccentric shape. This eccentricity introduces new modes of motion beyond rolling, including rocking and hopping. Leveraging this multi-motion behavior, we design an ellipsoidal actuator which exhibits both rolling and hopping behaviors in response to changes in the applied angular velocity. Using a simple geometric framework, we successfully capture the motion of the actuator as a force-driven rigid ellipsoid on a non-slip flat surface, and identify the critical angular velocity for the rolling-to-hopping transition. Furthermore, by adding deformability to the actuator, we unlock new functionalities, enabling soft actuators that can climb slopes and work together to collectively ascend stairs.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2024

Unconstrained dynamic gel swelling generates transient surface deformations

Polymer gels are comprised of a three-dimensional, cross-linked network that can typically withstand the mechanical deformation associated with both swelling and de-swelling. Thus, gels can be designed with smart behaviors that require both stress generation and dissipation, making them well-suited to many applications including membrane technology, water capture devices, and drug delivery systems. In contrast to the fully swelled equilibrium state, limited research characterizes the unsteady-state swelling regime prior to equilibrium. It is in this regime where unique surface deformations can occur. Here we show how internal network constraints and external diffusive pressure can be leveraged to manipulate swelling kinetics and surface deformations in poly(ethylene glycol) gels during unconstrained, three-dimensional swelling. We find that increasing cross-linker molecular weight and swelling in ethanol, as opposed to water, are both effective routes to increase the time it takes to reach equilibrium but do so through different mechanisms. Networks with fewer internal constraints, manipulated via cross-linker chain-length, imbibe more solvent over a longer time. In contrast, swelling in ethanol reduces the amount of solvent imbibed by the network while increasing the time to reach equilibrium. Measurements of surface patterns during swelling establishes that an immediate, fast relaxation at the surface occurs during the first five minutes of swelling. However, the density and persistence of these features varies with solvent quality. These results serve establish a framework for how soft materials undergo dynamic deformation. Engineering transient surface properties while mitigating unwanted instabilities opens the door for emerging technologies such as smart anti-fouling and sensors.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2024

Wobbling and Migrating Ferrofluid Droplets

Active components incorporated in materials generate motion by inducing conformational changes in response to external fields. Magnetic fields are particularly interesting as they can actuate materials remotely. Millimeter-sized ferrofluid droplets placed on a solid surface, surrounded by an ambient gas phase, are shown here to migrate under a rotating magnetic field due to the periodic deformation of the liquid-gas interface. This interface wobbling leads to droplet migration with speeds that increase as the amplitude and frequency of the magnetic field increase. In addition to migrating in a controlled manner, we demonstrate the ability of magnetic droplets to clean surface impurities and transport cargo.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Two-dimensional Closed-Form Analytical Model of Laterally-Excited Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonator Multiferroic Antennas

To overcome the physical limitations of electrically small antennas, strain-mediated magnetoelectric antennas have been studied experimentally and theoretically. However, current closed-form analytical models include solely one-dimensional approaches. This paper proposes a two-dimensional closed-form analytical model of a laterally-excited multiferroic antenna. To model thickness-shear vibrations, we propose an extended Mason model to two dimensions. This theory solves unidirectionally-coupled elastodynamics-magnetization dynamics-electrodynamics. Without using the infinitesimal dipole approximation, this model provides a closed-form solution of the radiated electromagnetic field with an explicit dependency of the antenna response on the physical parameters, enabling their optimization. Furthermore, we compare the efficiency-bandwidth product of different multiferroic antennas with Chu's limit in the Akhiezer regime, which delimits the highest achievable mechanical quality factor for acoustic resonators at GHz frequencies. We show that phonon-phonon coupling of Akhiezer damping is most likely to limit multiferroic antenna radiation, not Chu's limit. Moreover, judicious choice of materials can enhance the maximum efficiency by more than an order of magnitude.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2024

Restructuring a passive colloidal suspension using a rotationally driven particle

The interaction between passive and active/driven particles has introduced a new way to control colloidal suspension properties from particle aggregation to crystallization. Here, we focus on the hydrodynamic interaction between a single rotational driven particle and a suspension of passive particles near the floor. Using experiments and Stokesian dynamics simulations that account for near-field lubrication, we demonstrate that the flow induced by the driven particle can induce long-ranged rearrangement in a passive suspension. We observe an accumulation of passive particles in front of the driven particle and a depletion of passive particles behind the driven particle. This restructuring generates a pattern that can span a range more than $10$ times of the driven particle's radius. We further show that size scale of the pattern is only a function of the particle's height above the floor.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2019

Distinguishing deformation mechanisms in elastocapillary experiments

Soft materials are known to deform due to a variety of mechanisms, including capillarity, buoyancy, and swelling. In this paper, we present experiments on polyvinylsiloxane gel threads partially-immersed in three liquids with different solubility, wettability, and swellability. Our results demonstrate that deformations due to capillarity, buoyancy, and swelling can be of similar magnitude as such threads come to static equilibrium. To account for all three effects being present in a single system, we derive a model capable of explaining the observed data and use it to determine the force law at the three-phase contact line. The results show that the measured forces are consistent with the expected Young-Dupré equation, and do not require the inclusion of a tangential contact line force.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2019

Gradient Induced Droplet Motion Over Soft Solids

Fluid droplets can be induced to move over rigid or flexible surfaces under external or body forces. We describe the effect of variations in material properties of a flexible substrate as a mechanism for motion. In this paper, we consider a droplet placed on a substrate with either a stiffness or surface energy gradient, and consider its potential for motion via coupling to elastic deformations of the substrate. In order to clarify the role of contact angles and to obtain a tractable model, we consider a two-dimensional droplet. The gradients in substrate material properties give rise to asymmetric solid deformation and to unequal contact angles, thereby producing a force on the droplet. We then use a dynamic viscoelastic model to predict the resulting dynamics of droplets. Numerical results quantifying the effect of the gradients establish that it is more feasible to induce droplet motion with a gradient in surface energy. The results show that the magnitude of elastic modulus gradient needed to induce droplet motion exceeds experimentally feasible limits in the production of soft solids and is therefore unlikely as a passive mechanism for cell motion. In both cases, of surface energy or elastic modulus, the threshold to initiate motion is achieved at lower mean values of the material properties.

cond-mat.soft↗