Sculpting liquids with ultrathin shells
arXiv:2107.09128 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.108002
Abstract
Thin elastic films can spontaneously attach to liquid interfaces, offering a platform for tailoring their physical, chemical, and optical properties. Current understanding of the elastocapillarity of thin films is based primarily on studies of planar sheets. We show that curved shells can be used to manipulate interfaces in qualitatively different ways. We elucidate a regime where an ultrathin shell with vanishing bending rigidity imposes its own rest shape on a liquid surface, using experiment and theory. Conceptually, the pressure across the interface "inflates" the shell into its original shape. The setup is amenable to optical applications as the shell is transparent, free of wrinkles, and may be manufactured over a range of curvatures.
arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures
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Cited by in corpus (5)
- Exact solutions for the wrinkle patterns of confined elastic shells
- Manipulating the shape of flexible magnetoelastic nanodiscs with meron-like magnetic states
- Sculpting liquids with ultrathin shells
- Interplay of gross and fine structures in strongly-curved sheets
- Shape of a membrane on a liquid interface with arbitrary curvatures