Cell growth in a 3D cellular system undergoing coalescence

Cellular materials (dense emulsions, foams, and vesicles) made out of two d ifferent phases, one being dispersed in the other, may coarsen in time thro ugh coalescence or rupturing events of the thin liquid domains that separat e adjacent cells. In this Letter we study the destruction through coalescen ce of a model cellular material: A monodisperse dense emulsion. We show tha t the frequency of rupturing events is proportional to the surface of conta ct between the droplets, and we measure the activation energy and the natur al frequency associated with coalescence. We point out that this process of destruction remarkably preserves monodispersity throughout the growth. [S0 031-9007(98)08081-8].