Rheodialysis: Probing Material Behavior in Changing Chemical Environments

Many soft structured materials are highly sensitive not only to shear forces, but also to changes in their chemical environment. Hydrogels, biopolymer capsules and living materials such as blood clots can all respond to mechanical and chemical stimuli simultaneously. Understanding this interplay is therefore essential for studying their structure and mechanical behavior.

In this webinar, Dr. Anders Aufderhorst-Roberts will introduce rheodialysis, an experimental approach that extends conventional rheology by enabling a sample’s chemical environment to be exchanged while its mechanical properties are continuously monitored. Using alginate hydrogels assembled through calcium-ion diffusion, he will demonstrate how spatial variations in chemical environment can influence gel formation and mechanical properties.

The webinar will also explore the extension of rheodialysis to microrheology, including applications to protein filament hydrogels. Together, these examples highlight the potential of the technique across biological science, food science and soft matter physics.

Join us to discover how rheodialysis can provide new insights into the interplay between chemical processes and mechanical properties in soft materials.

Special Guest:
Dr. Anders Aufderhorst-Roberts
Lecturer in Soft Condensed Matter Physics
Department of Physics, Durham University