Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: with active swimming, whereas spiral-like cracks form for immotile bacteria. Using the elastic fracture mechanics and the poroelastic theory, we show that the formation of the circular cracks is determined by the tensile nature of the radial drying stress once the cracks are initiated by the local order structure of bacteria due to their collective swimming. Our study demonstrates the link between the microscopic swimming behaviors of individual bacteria and the mechanical instabilities and macroscopic pattern formation of drying bacterial films. The results shed light on the dynamics of active matter in a drying process and provide useful information for understanding various biological processes associated with drying bacterial suspensions.
Source: Soft Matter
DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00012a
Institutions: University of Minnesota, Guangxi University, University of Wyoming
Language: English
Topic: Micro and Nano Robotics
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W4221144816