What does this research mean for the field?

Soft amorphous materials, including emulsions, obey the same rheological rules as granular suspensions, with softness entering through a pressure-dependent jamming point. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.ESTABLISHES_NEW_DIRECTION.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To determine whether dense emulsion rheology can be unified with the physical laws governing hard granular suspensions by using osmotic pressure as the primary control variable.

August 22, 2026Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Soft matter, hard rules: Emulsions follow the laws of granular suspension rheology

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Authors

WCWenjun ChenSir Run Run Shaw Hospital EGEric De GiuliMetropolitan University MWMatthieu WyartJohns Hopkins University

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Implication

Experimental study demonstrates that dense emulsions follow granular suspension rheology via pressure-dependent jamming, highlighting a unified framework for soft deformable materials.

Key Points

To determine whether dense emulsion rheology can be unified with the physical laws governing hard granular suspensions by using osmotic pressure as the primary control variable.
Controlled osmotic pressure during emulsion flow measurements using a specialized instrument known as the Capillarytron.
Evaluated rheological data across both osmotic-pressure-imposed (Π) and volume-fraction-imposed (ϕ) experimental conditions.
Demonstrated that osmotic pressure controls droplet deformation and sets a pressure-dependent jamming volume fraction, collapsing all flow data onto a single universal power-law divergence.
Established predictive, parameter-free constitutive relations describing emulsion behavior across Newtonian, yielding, and shear-thinning regimes, rationalizing Herschel–Bulkley rheology.

Cite This Study

Chen et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a895f2aca7ade938187daf2 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2611013123

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Implication

Experimental study demonstrates that dense emulsions follow granular suspension rheology via pressure-dependent jamming, highlighting a unified framework for soft deformable materials.

Soft matter, hard rules: Emulsions follow the laws of granular suspension rheology

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Soft matter, hard rules: Emulsions follow the laws of granular suspension rheology

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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Also Consider