Spinning elastic beads: a route for simultaneous measurements of shear modulus and interfacial energy of soft materials

Abstract: Large deformations of soft elastic beads spinning at high angular velocity in a denser background fluid are investigated theoretically, numerically, and experimentally using millimeter-size polyacrylamide hydrogel particles introduced in a spinning drop tensiometer. We determine the equilibrium shapes of the beads from the competition between the centrifugal force and the restoring elastic and surface forces. Considering the beads as neo-Hookean up to large deformations, we show that their elastic modulus and surface energy constant can be simultaneously deduced from their equilibrium shape. Also, our results provide further support to the scenario in which surface energy and surface tension coincide for amorphous polymer gels.