During agitated drying and mixing processes, particle beds are exposed to shear deformation. This leads to particle attrition, the extent of which is dependent on the prevailing stresses and strains in the bed. The distributions of shear stresses and strain rates within the bed are highly non-uniform, requiring attention to localised conditions. Therefore a narrow angular sector of the bed is d...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of process shear stressors on the stability of a model monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab. Trastuzumab, at concentrations of 0.4-4.0 mg/mL, was subjected to sonication, freeze-thaw, lyophilisation, spray drying and was encapsulated into micro- and nanoparticles. The stressed samples were analysed for structural integrity by gel electro...

Conventional drying of colloidal materials and gels (including cement) can lead to detrimental effects due to the buildup of internal stresses as water evaporates from the nano/microscopic pores. However, for these gel materials the underlying nanoscopic alterations that are, in part, responsible for macroscopically-measured strain values (especially at low relative humidity) remain a topic of ...

The nature and effect of the stresses on root growth in crops subject to drying is reviewed. Drought is a complex stress, impacting on plant growth in a number of interacting ways. In response, there are a number of ways in which the growing plant is able to adapt to or alleviate these stresses. It is suggested that the most significant opportunity for progress in overcoming drought stress and ...

Because most shrinkage-reducing admixtures (SRAs) significantly reduce the surface tension of a cement paste pore solution, they will naturally influence all physical properties and processes that are dependent in some way on surface tension. Such properties include internal relative humidity, capillary stresses, and freezing point depression, all via the Kelvin equation and its variants (Kelvi...

We have previously demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate densely-packed high aspect ratio structures in SU-8 by means of a top-plate support member which stiffens the overall structure and prevents pattern collapse. In this work we have computed the tensile stresses induced in the top-plate structures due to the capillary forces that arise between the columns due to the surface tension ...

We investigate the effects of Marangoni stresses on the evaporative lithographic patterning of colloidal films (Harris, D. J.; Hu, H.; Conrad, J. C.; Lewis, J. A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 98 (14), 148301). Films are dried beneath a mask that induces periodically varying regions of free and hindered evaporation. Direct imaging reveals that silica microspheres suspended within an organic solvent ex...

Amphiphilic phospholipids were used to direct the formation of biocompatible, uniform silica nanostructures in the presence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and bacterial cell lines. The cell surfaces organize multilayered phospholipid vesicles that interface coherently with the silica host and help relieve drying stresses that develop with conventional templates. These host structures maintain cell...