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When pushed out of a syringe, polymer solutions form droplets attached by long and slender cylindrical filaments whose diameter decreases exponentially with time before eventually breaking. In the last stages of this process, a striking feature is the self-similarity of the interface shape near the end of the filament. This means that shapes at different times, if properly rescaled, collapse onto a single universal shape. A theoretical description based on the Oldroyd-B model was recently shown to disagree with existing experimental results. By revisiting these measurements and analysing the interface profiles of very diluted polyethylene oxide solutions at high temporal and spatial resolution, we show that they are very well described by the model.

In this experimental and numerical study, we revisit the question of the onset of the elastic regime in viscoelastic pinch-off. This is relevant to all modern filament thinning techniques, which aim to measure the extensional properties of low-viscosity polymer solutions. Examples are the slow retraction method (SRM) for capillary breakup extensional rheometry (CaBER), or the dripping method, in which a drop detaches from a nozzle. As part of these techniques, a stable liquid bridge is brought slowly to its stability threshold, where capillary-driven thinning starts. This thinning slows down dramatically at a critical radius $h_1$, marking the onset of the elasto-capillary regime, characterised by a filament of nearly uniform radius. While a theoretical scaling exists for this transition in the case of the classical step-strain CaBER protocol, where polymer chains stretch without relaxing during the fast plate separation, we show that this theory is not necessarily valid for a slow protocol such as the SRM. In that case, polymer chains start stretching (beyond their equilibrium coiled configuration) only when the bridge thinning rate becomes comparable to the inverse of their relaxation time. We derive a universal scaling for $h_1$, valid for both low- and high-viscosity polymer solutions. This scaling is validated by CaBER experiments with a slow plate separation protocol using different polymer solutions, plate diameters and sample volumes, as well as by numerical simulations using the FENE-P model.

Coating surfaces with different fluids is prone to instability producing inhomogeneous films and patterns. The contact line between the coating fluid and the surface to be coated is host to different instabilities, limiting the use of a variety of coating techniques. Here we take advantage of the instability of a receding contact line towards cusp and droplet formation to produce linear patterns of variable spacings. We stabilize the instability of the cusps towards droplet formation by using polymer solutions that inhibit this secondary instability and give rise to long slender cylindrical filaments. We vary the speed of deposition to change the spacing between these filaments. The combination of the two gives rise to linear patterns into which different colloidal particles can be embedded, long DNA molecules can be stretched and particles filtered by size. The technique is therefore suitable to prepare anisotropic structures with variable properties. Coating flows on surfaces are very useful in many industrial applications such as printing organic electronics, but it is challenging to control the process owing to unstable flow. Here, Deblais et al . take advantage of this instability to prepare tunable patterns composed of oriented, well-spaced lines.

The processes in which droplets evaporate from solid surfaces, leaving behind distinct deposition patterns, have been studied extensively for variety of solutions. In this work, by combining different microscopy techniques (confocal fluorescence, video and Raman) we investigate pattern formation and evaporation-induced phase change in drying oil-in-water emulsion drops. This combination of techniques allows us to perform drop shape analysis while visualizing the internal emulsion structure simultaneously. We observe that drying of the continuous water phase of emulsion drops on hydrophilic surfaces favors the formation of ring-like zones depleted of oil droplets at the contact line, which originate from geometrical confinement of oil droplets by the meniscus. From such a depletion zone, a “coffee ring” composed of surfactant molecules forms as the water evaporates. On all surfaces drying induces emulsion destabilization by coalescence of oil droplets, commencing at the drop periphery. For hydrophobic surfaces, the coalescence of the oil droplets leads to a uniform oil film spreading out from the initial contact line. The evaporation dynamics of these composite drops indicate that the water in the continuous phase of the emulsion drops evaporates predominantly by diffusion through the vapor, showing no large differences to the evaporation of simple water drops.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

When pushed out of a syringe, polymer solutions form droplets attached by long and slender cylindrical filaments whose diameter decreases exponentially with time before eventually breaking. In the last stages of this process, a striking feature is the self-similarity of the solution shape near the end of the filament. This means that shapes at different times, if properly rescaled, collapse onto one universal shape. A theoretical description inspired by this similarity observation and based on the Oldroyd-B model was recently shown to disagree with existing experimental results. By revisiting these measurements and analysing the interface profiles of very diluted polyethylene oxide solutions at high temporal and spatial resolution, we show that they are very well described by the model.

Biological and robotic systems often operate in confined environments where material must be gathered without centralized control. Inspired by the effective collection strategies of aquatic worms (Lumbriculus variegatus and Tubifex tubifex), we investigate how active filaments autonomously aggregate dispersed particles. We study this process across four platforms: living worms, a robotic chain, Brownian dynamics simulations of active polymers, and a coarse-grained toy model. We show that aggregation emerges from repeated contact and body deformation, and demonstrate that clustering dynamics are governed by filament length and bending stiffness. Across systems, particle gathering follows a shared aggregation-fragmentation process, with the steady-state average cluster size scaling as \\(\\langle s\\rangle_L\\sim W/D^2\\), where W is the effective width of the path cleared by the filament and D the domain size. We find that filament flexibility modulates W, enabling more flexible filaments to sweep larger areas and collect more particles. These results establish a unifying framework for understanding how shape and flexibility influence transport and organization in active filament systems and filamentous robots.

We investigate the aggregation and phase separation of thin, living T. tubifex worms that behave as active polymers. Randomly dispersed active worms spontaneously aggregate to form compact, highly entangled blobs, a process similar to polymer phase separation, and for which we observe power-law growth kinetics. We find that the phase separation of active polymerlike worms does not occur through Ostwald ripening, but through active motion and coalescence of the phase domains. Interestingly, the growth mechanism differs from conventional growth by droplet coalescence: the diffusion constant characterizing the random motion of a worm blob is independent of its size, a phenomenon that can be explained from the fact that the active random motion arises from the worms at the surface of the blob. This leads to a fundamentally different phase-separation mechanism that may be unique to active polymers.

In this work, we underline the importance of the molecular weight of hyaluronic acid on the elongational properties of concentrated emulsions. The filament formation properties, e.g. the stringiness, of an emulsion is a key determinant of a product liking and repeat purchase. Here, we find that high molecular weight hyaluronic acid and a high stretching speed are the control parameters affecting the filament formation of an emulsion.

In this experimental and numerical study, we revisit the question of the onset of the elastic regime in viscoelastic pinch-off. This is relevant for all modern filament thinning techniques which aim at measuring the extensional properties of low-viscosity polymer solutions such as the Slow Retraction Method (SRM) in Capillary Breakup Extensional Rheometry (CaBER) as well as the dripping method where a drop detaches from a nozzle. In these techniques, a stable liquid bridge is slowly brought to its stability threshold where capillary-driven thinning starts, slowing down dramatically at a critical radius \\(h_1\\) marking the onset of the elastic regime where the bridge becomes a filament with elasto-capillary thinning dynamics. While a theoretical scaling for this transition radius exists for the classical step-strain CaBER protocol, where polymer chains stretch without relaxing during the fast plate separation, we show that it is not necessarily valid for a slow protocol such as in SRM since polymer chains only start stretching (beyond their equilibrium coiled configuration) when the bridge thinning rate becomes comparable to the inverse of their relaxation time. We derive a universal scaling for \\(h_1\\) valid for both low and high-viscosity polymer solution which is validated by both CaBER (SRM) experiments with different polymer solutions, plate diameters and sample volumes and by numerical simulations using the FENE-P model.