  Particles added to a fluid interface can be used as a surface stabilizer in
the food, oil and cosmetic industries. As an alternative to rigid particles, it
is promising to consider highly deformable particles that can adapt their
conformation at the interface. In this study we compute the shapes of soft
elastic particles using molecular dynamics simulations of a cross-linked
polymer gel, complemented by continuum calculations based on linear elasticity.
It is shown that the particle shape is not only affected by the Young's modulus
of the particle, but also strongly depends on whether the gel is partially or
completely wetting the fluid interface. We find that the molecular simulations
for the partially wetting case are very accurately described by the continuum
theory. By contrast, when the gel is completely wetting the fluid interface the
linear theory breaks down and we reveal that molecular details have a strong
influence on the equilibrium shape.
