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    Congratulations to Professor Alexander Morozov who has received the 2023 Annual Award from The British Society of Rheology.

    Professor Alexander Morozov has been awarded the 2023 British Society of Rheology Annual Award for his work on linear and nonlinear instabilities of elastic and viscoelastic fluids.

    Professor Morozov is based in the School’s Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems. His research interests are in soft condensed matter, and include flow instabilities and the transition to turbulence in Newtonian and complex fluids, and active matter.

    The British Society of Rheology is a charitable society which promotes the science and the dissemination of knowledge in the areas of pure and applied rheology.

    The Annual Award recognises a significant contribution to rheology based on scientific merit. As award winner, Professor Morozov Alexander will present the Society’s award lecture which will be on ‘Elastic turbulence in parallel shear flows: Recent progress’.

    Researchers from several universities have completed an innovative study which firmly links the structure of microgels, small networks of stimuli-responsive polymers, to the controlled release of liquid droplets coated in these particles. The discovery could revolutionise methods of targeting medicines to specific locations within the body.

    Emulsions

    Emulsions consist of numerous droplets that are present in a liquid without dissolving and mixing with the liquid. For example, milk consists of fat droplets stabilised by milk proteins that are dispersed in water. In many applications such as medicine delivery, it is important to not only maintain the droplet structure but also to be able to control when the droplets release their contents. This is because the encapsulated active ingredients in the droplet should only be released once the medicine has entered the body.

    Microgels

    In this study, researchers stabilised emulsions using temperature-sensitive microgel particles which form a thin protective shell around a droplet and adapt their shape to the ambient temperature. At room temperature, the microgel particles swell in water, but above 32°C, they shrink and the droplet is released into the surrounding liquid. Researchers have now revealed the underlying mechanism behind this process.

    Understanding the mechanism

    The team, which includes researchers from the University of Edinburgh, University of Gothenburg, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, ETH Zürich and the Osaka Institute of Technology, have revealed that the fundamental mechanism behind stimuli-responsive emulsions are morphological changes of the stabilizing microgels.

    The stabilising microgels can be regarded as both particles and polymers. The particle character leads to a high stability of the emulsion, while the polymer character makes the microgels responsive to external influences leading to controlled release of the droplets. Achieving temperature-sensitive emulsions necessitates a delicate balance, requiring a minimal particle character for stability and a substantial polymer character for rapid and reliable release of the droplets.

    Tailored emulsions

    Pharmaceutical research on targeted medicines focuses on delivering medication in a higher concentration to specific diseased areas of the body rather than affecting the entire body, and responsive emulsions hold great potential for this.

    Dr Marcel Rey, who worked at the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh and recently moved to the University of Gothenburg, said:

    Although additional research is needed, the future looks promising, and advancements can be expected over the next 10 years.

    Congratulations to Dr Tiffany Wood and School start-up Dyneval who received an Institute of Physics Business Start-Up Award.

    Dyneval received an Institute of Physics (IOP) Business Start-Up Award for developing an innovative analyser for the precise measurement of semen quality to improve the efficiency of livestock production.

    The IOP Awards recognise the achievements of individuals and teams in all aspects of physics. The Business Start-Up Award celebrates young companies with a great business idea founded on a physics invention, with the potential for business growth and significant societal impact.

    Dyneval was founded in April 2020, with the Dynescan Semen Analyser launched in the veterinary sector in 2022, providing the first quality control standard for semen quality assessment that can be used by anyone across the livestock production industry. 

    The underlying technology is based on the application of advanced physics to extract parameters describing the swimming behaviour of microorganisms such as spermatozoa from the fluctuations in intensity of light passing through a sample.

    The average UK dairy farmer is losing £37,000 per year due to the 20 per cent drop-in conception rates over the past 40 years. The Dynescan helps vets and farm technicians identify poorly motile and damaged semen before use and thereby improve conception rates to improve the profitability of farming while reducing the environmental impact of protein production from livestock.

    Longer-term, the team at Dyneval plan to strengthen commercial opportunities and export abroad to generate new datasets concerning male livestock fertility at a global level to guide data-driven decisions for sustainable outcomes.

    Congratulations to Max Huisman and Giorgia Palombo who received prizes for their posters at the International Soft Matter Conference 2023.

    Based in the Soft Matter Physics team at the School’s Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, both Max Huisman and Giorgia Palombo are in year 3 of their PhD.  Max’s research is on the influence of polymers on water evaporation, specifically related to the evaporation of respiratory droplets and virus transmission, and created a poster titled ‘Humidity insensitive evaporation of concentrated polymer solutions’. Giorgia’s research centres around designing and characterising active DNA-based hydrogels with modulable viscoelastic properties through the use of proteins, and her poster was titled 'Protein-Functionalised DNA Nanostar Hydrogels’.

    The International Soft Matter Conference brings together researchers to exchange ideas, initiate discussions and report on results relating to soft matter physics. A team of Edinburgh researchers travelled to Japan for the 2023 event. 

    Congratulations to Dr Ragandeep Singh Sidhu who has secured funding and a visiting fellowship to pursue collaborations in nuclear astrophysics.

    Dr Sidhu's research is situated within the realm of experimental nuclear astrophysics, focusing on the investigation of nuclear reactions transpiring within stars. He is particularly intrigued by the complex processes involved in the synthesis of chemical elements across diverse stellar environments, ranging from quiescent stars like our Sun to dynamic events like novae, supernovae, and X-ray bursts.

    To explore these phenomena, he conducts experiments at international laboratories, including GSI/FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) in Germany, HZDR (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf) in Germany, LNGS (Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso) in Italy, and ANL (Argonne National Laboratory) in the United States.

    This visiting fellowship will now take him to the University of Notra Dame, USA, where he will collaborate with researchers in this field.

    The fellowship is supported and funded by the International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics (IReNA) and The Royal Society. The IReNA connects interdisciplinary research networks to foster collaboration, complement and enhance research capabilities and accelerate progress in science. The Royal Society International Exchange awards support scientists based in the UK in collaborations with leading scientists overseas.

    Congratulations to Dr Patrick Pietzonka who has received recognition for his work in stochastic thermodynamics.

    Dr Patrick Pietzonka has been awarded the 2023 European Physical Society’s Statistical and Nonlinear Physics Division Early Career Researcher Prize for his work in stochastic thermodynamics. 

    Patrick is a newly appointed lecturer in the Soft Matter, Statistical and Biological Physics Group of the School’s Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems. He was previously based at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden.

    His research interests are in the statistical physics of systems driven far from equilibrium and subject to thermal noise. Patrick's goal is to find general physical laws that underlie living systems and more generally ‘active matter’.

    The European Physical Society works to promote the advancement of physics and is organised through a number of divisions and groups. The Statistical and Nonlinear Physics Division represents and provides a forum for scientists interested in statistical and nonlinear physics, complex systems and interdisciplinary applications.

    An art installation based on Edinburgh-led research is to feature in a major exhibition that challenges established ideals of beauty.

    Renaissance cosmetics

    Soft matter physicist, Prof Wilson Poon and art historian, Prof Jill Burke have been working together to learn about the history and science of Renaissance cosmetics.

    Both researchers are interested in thinking about cosmetics as ‘goo’, or ‘liquids with bits’ – substances that are neither completely solid nor completely liquid.

    Professor Burke said:

    The way materials flow – for example how a skin cream might spread on the skin – affects how they are made, stored and dispensed.

    Professor Poon added:

    These flow properties are of key importance for the formulation of skin and hair care products now, just as it was in the Renaissance.

    Multi-sensory installation

    As a result of their collaboration, they have developed The Beauty Sensorium - a multi-sensory commission where visitors can enter the world of Renaissance cosmetics, hair and skincare. The exhibition shows how Renaissance cosmetic makers wrestled with many of the same technical challenges as modern soft matter scientists.

    The Beauty Sensorium will include five cosmetic samples of varying textures and viscosities, made from ingredients including mutton fat, mastic gum and rose water. These will be presented in lit glass vessels that will highlight the life of the substance within, how it moves and transforms when animated by stirring or heat. Visitors will catch fragrances of each substance as they walk around the installation and hear the sounds made during their preparation. The substances demonstrate that much of our scientific knowledge is acquired through first-hand, sensory experiences.

    Home scientists

    Professor Burke and Professor Poon are trialling historical recipes that may provide insights for beauty products today. Both hope that the project will inspire people to recreate the recipes themselves and become scientists in their own kitchens.

    A video featuring Professor Burke and Dr Andreia Fonseca da Silva, a research fellow from the Edinburgh Complex Fluids Partnership who formulated the cosmetic samples on show, will feature as part of the exhibition and highlight the commonalities – and differences – of inventiveness in the lab and at home.

    The Cult of Beauty

    The Beauty Sensorium commission has been created for The Cult of Beauty exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London which runs from 26 October to 28 April 2024. The show examines how morality, status and health have shaped ideas about beauty throughout history, and it encourages visitors to foster dialogue, reflection and more inclusive definitions of beauty.

    The installation has been developed as part of the Renaissance Goo project, funded by an APEX grant from the Royal Society.

    Congratulations to Dr Andreia Fonseca da Silva who has received an Industry Fellowship from the Royal Society.

    Fellowship scheme

    The Royal Society’s Industry Fellowship scheme enables the mobility of researchers across academia or industry; enhances knowledge exchange; stimulates longer-term collaborations; and establishes personal, scientific and corporate links.

    The Industry Fellowship is part of the Royal Society's wider Science and Industry Programme which strives to promote the value and importance of science by connecting academia, industry and government.

    Industry collaborations

    Dr Fonseca da Silva’s work already involves collaborative projects with commercial contacts, however this Industry Fellowship will enable her to expend on this work and develop new collaborations with industrial partners.

    During the Fellowship, she will be working with biomedical company Hyaltech Ltd., a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, who are a leading manufacturer of Ophthalmic Viscosurgical Devices which are used in eye surgery. Her work will involve developing a solid scientific foundation of viscoelastic fluid flows in order to advance formulation design and facilitate product innovation.

    Complex fluids and new formulations

    Dr Fonseca da Silva’s research focuses on using physical, chemical and mechanical techniques to understand both the macroscopic and microscopic behaviour of complex fluids, and the contribution of isolated components with the aim of developing new formulations.

    She works at the Edinburgh Complex Fluids Partnership (ECFP), a knowledge exchange group based within the School of Physics and Astronomy, where she has developed and delivered collaborative research projects with commercial partners, and assisted industrial clients to formulate new products, technologies, and materials in complex fluids and soft matter.

    The crystal structure of the exotic solid molecular nitrogen phase ζ-N2 has finally been solved and sheds light onto nitrogen’s unique progressive molecular-to-polymeric transformation.

    In a ground-breaking study led by University of Edinburgh researchers, the enigmatic world of nitrogen’s solid phases was unravelled, shedding light on its complex behaviour. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, provide unprecedented insights into the gradual molecular-to-polymeric transformation of nitrogen and the formation of amorphous nitrogen. Colleagues from the Universities of Bayreuth and Linköping were also involved in this study.

    Phases of Nitrogen under pressure

    At ambient pressure and temperature, nitrogen is gas and is found in the form of an N2 molecule (N≡N) composed of an extremely strong triple-bond. When extreme pressures are applied to molecular gaseous nitrogen, it first becomes liquid and then a solid at 2.54 gigapascal (GPa; 25,400 times the atmospheric pressure). And for over a century, scientists have delved into these solid phases of molecular nitrogen, and although a seemingly simple diatomic element, it features an astonishingly intricate phase diagram boasting 16 different solid phases. Of particular interest is nitrogen’s behaviour from 80 GPa, as previous work revealed the onset of molecular nitrogen’s most unique transformation: the gradual rupture of its triple-bond, which culminates at about 160 GPa into a polymeric amorphous form composed of a three-dimensional network of single-bonded nitrogen atoms. As far as we know, nitrogen is the only diatomic solid that undergoes a progressive polymerisation. Knowledge of the chemico-physical mechanisms underpinning this transformation is vital in testing and refining theories of solid-state sciences.

    Crystal structure of ζ-N2

    The ζ-N2 phase of nitrogen, existing between 60 and 115 GPa, is a critical piece of the puzzle for understanding nitrogen’s molecular to polymeric transition. However, despite a large number of investigations, its crystal structure (i.e.the nitrogen molecules’ arrangement) was yet unknown—and key to deciphering nitrogen’s odd behaviour. The research team led by Dominique Laniel and co-authors employed a newly developed experimental methodological approach to successfully determine the crystal structure of ζ-N2.

    To accomplish this feat, molecular nitrogen was squeezed to extreme pressures between 60 and 85 GPa within diamond anvil cells. By applying laser heating, they were able to recrystallize high-quality submicrometer ζ-N2 crystallites. From these crystallites, a complete structure model (see figure below) was derived using synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction data.

    Further insights

    With these experimental findings in hand, density functional theory calculations were performed by the University of Linköping (Sweden), providing further insights into nitrogen’s unique polymerization process. The calculations revealed a remarkable gradual shift of electron density from the molecules’ triple-bond to intermolecular spaces. At 130 GPa, electronic density bridges formed, connecting three-molecule-long units. This phenomenon progressed to a 1D percolation at 150 GPa, offering a compelling explanation for the formation of the single-bonded amorphous phase of nitrogen.

    The implications of this research extend beyond nitrogen itself, offering a deeper understanding of molecular transformations under extreme conditions. The findings pave the way for advancements in materials science and high-pressure physics.

    Congratulations to Robin Burton who received first prize for her poster created for the Edwards Symposium in soft matter and statistical physics.

    Robin Burton, who is based in the School’s Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems has just started year 2 of her PhD. Her research is on the behaviour of rotating intruders in granular media, with a particular focus on locomotion through cereal grains stored in bulk.

    16 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers submitted posters at the 3-day Edwards Symposium held in Cambridge in September.

    The annual Edwards Symposium Series works to foster collaboration and discussions between academic disciplines and industrial sectors on the latest developments in soft matter and statistical physics. A focus of the event is on how research can inform industrial processes, materials, and design, and how it can help address societal priorities and problems. The Edwards Symposia is organised jointly by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics and the University of Cambridge Edwards Centre for Soft Matter.