New Publication from Prof. Del Gado

Graph with three cubes filled with blue spheres of increasing size, representing different particle diameters along Euler Characteristic curve. — From the graphical abstract of the paper, the Euler Characteristic curve captures topological information for the gel as particle diameter varies.

The Del Gado group has recently published an article, “Topological Data Analysis for Particulate Gels”, in ACS Nano. The work, done in collaboration with researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota, proposes a new method to characterize the complex multiscale structures of soft gels that make them capable of resilience and dynamic reorganization, which makes them useful across industries. By applying topological data analysis and focusing on the Euler characteristic, the method can capture information about both local and global organization, giving it an advantage over other current methods. In addition to representing the structure of soft gels, the newly developed framework was also applied to investigating the influence of gel preparation on structure and revealing direct correlations between topological changes under deformation and mechanical response. The work is an important development in being able to further understand, characterize, and manipulate soft gels.