Soft Matter Series – serie

The objective of this book is to integrate information about the theory, preparation and applications of non-wettable surfaces in one volume. By combining the discussion of all three aspects together the editors will show how theory assists the development of preparations methods and how these surfaces can be applied to different situations.The book is separated into three sections, first covering the theory, then going on to preparation of these surfaces and finally discussing the applications in detail.Edited by two of the most innovative contributors to the field of superhydrophobicity, this book will be essential reading for materials scientists interested in any aspect of surface, colloid and polymer science, thermodynamics, superhydrophobic and superhygrophobic surfaces.

Wormlike micelles are elongated flexible self-assembled structures created from the aggregation of amphiphiles and their resulting dynamic networks have gained attention for a number of uses, particularly in the oil industry.Written by experts, Wormlike Micelles describes the latest developments in the field providing an authoritative guide on the subject. The book starts with an introductory chapter giving an overview of the area and then looks at the three key topics of new wormlike micelle systems, characterization and applications. New systems covered in the first part include reverse wormlike micelles and stimuli-responsive wormlike micelles. The second part explores cutting-edge techniques that have led to advances in the understanding of their structure and dynamics, including direct imaging techniques and the combination of rheology with small-angle neutron scattering techniques. Finally, the book reviews their use in oil and gas well treatments as well as surfactant drag reducing solutions.Aimed at postgraduate students and researchers, this text is essential reading for anyone interested in soft matter systems.

Bridging soft matter physics, materials science and engineering, polymer-modified liquid crystals are an exciting class of materials. They represent a vibrant field of research, promising advances in display technologies, as well as non-display uses.Describing all aspects of polymer-dispersed and polymer-stabilized liquid crystals, the broad coverage of this book makes it a must-have resource for anyone working in the area. The reader will find expert accounts covering basic concepts, materials synthesis and polymerization techniques, properties of various dispersed and stabilized phases, and critical overviews of their applications.Written by leaders in the field, this book provides a state-of-the-art treatment of the topic. It will be essential reading for graduate students, as well as academic and industrial researchers needing an up-to-date guide to the field.

Electrospinning is a technique used to produce nanofibres from a polymer solution using an electrostatic force. The technology is now being used to create materials for a wide variety of uses from tissue engineering and 3D printing to packaging materials and electronic sensors.This new book focusses on the recent developments in their design, process parameters and polymers-selection to enable the commercial applications of electrospinning. The initial chapters introduce the technique and then specific chapters focus on the different application areas showing the various approaches for successful implementation of this fabrication process towards commercialization from basic research and development.The book will be suitable for graduate students, academics and industrial entrepreneurs in materials science, polymer science and chemical engineering as well as those interested in the energy and health applications of the materials.

Academic and industrial research around polymer-based colloids is huge, driven both by the development of mature technologies, e.g. latexes for coatings, as well as the advancement of new materials and applications, such as building blocks for 2D/3D structures and medicine. Edited by two world-renowned leaders in polymer science and engineering, this is a fundamental text for the field.Based on a specialised course by the editors, this book provides the reader with an invaluable single source of reference. The first section describes formation, explaining basic properties of emulsions and dispersion polymerization, microfluidic approaches to produce polymer-based colloids and formation via directed self-assembly. The next section details characterisation methodologies from microscopy and small angle scattering, to surface science and simulations. The final chapters close with applications, including Pickering emulsions and molecular engineering for materials development.A comprehensive guide to polymer colloids, with contributions by leaders in their respective areas, this book is a must-have for researchers and practitioners working across polymers, soft matter and chemical and molecular engineering.

Bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels, now commonly termed ‘bijels’ are a class of soft materials, in which interpenetrating, continuous domains of two immiscible fluids are maintained in a rigid arrangement by a jammed layer of colloidal particles at their interface. Such gels have unusual material properties that promise exciting applications across diverse fields from energy materials and catalysis, to food science. This is the first book on the subject and provides the reader with a fundamental introduction to the field.Edited by Paul Clegg, a recognised authority on bijels, the reader will learn about the bijel and its formation. Starting with three component systems, the reader will be introduced to systems using only two liquids and colloidal particles before moving onto more complex systems with additional components. These systems are looked at via both experimental and simulation studies, explaining phase separation kinetics, structure formation, properties and functionalisation. A closing section on bijel production using flow explores thin film and bulk structure formation relevant to larger scale materials design.Bringing together current understanding this book aims to bring the potential application of bijels to diverse materials challenges closer to fruition. This is a must-have resource for anyone working in soft matter and applied fields.Foreword by Michael E. Cates, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.

Plants offer some of the most elegant applications of soft matter principles in Nature. Understanding the interplay between chemistry, physics, biology, and fluid mechanics is critical to forecast plant behaviour, which is necessary for agriculture and disease management. It also provides inspiration for novel engineering applications.Starting with fundamental concepts around plant biology, physics of soft matter and viscous fluids, readers of this book will be given a cross-disciplinary and expert grounding to the field. The book covers local scale aspects, such as cell and tissue mechanics, to regional scale matters covering movement, tropism, roots, through to global scale topics around fluid transport. Focussed chapters on water stress, networks, and biomimetics provide the user with a concise and complete introduction.Edited by internationally recognised leading experts in this field with contributions from key investigators worldwide, this book is the first introduction to the subject matter and will be suitable for both physical and life science readers.

Research and new tools in biomaterials development by using peptides are currently growing, as more functional and versatile building blocks are used to design a host of functional biomaterials via chemical modifications for health care applications. It is a field that is attracting researchers from across soft matter science, molecular engineering and biomaterials science.Covering the fundamental concepts of self-assembly, design and synthesis of peptides, this book will provide a solid introduction to the field for those interested in developing functional biomaterials by using peptide derivatives. The bioactive nature of the peptides and their physical properties are discussed in various applications in biomedicine. This book will help researchers and students working in biomaterials and biomedicine fields and help their understanding of modulating biological processes for disease diagnosis and treatments.

Dynamic soft materials that have the ability to expand and contract, change stiffness, self-heal or dissolve in response to environmental changes, are of great interest in applications ranging from biosensing and drug delivery to soft robotics and tissue engineering. This book covers the state-of-the-art and current trends in the very active and exciting field of bioinspired soft matter, its fundamentals and comprehension from the structural-property point of view, as well as materials and cutting-edge technologies that enable their design, fabrication, advanced characterization and underpin their biomedical applications.The book contents are supported by illustrated examples, schemes, and figures, offering a comprehensive and thorough overview of key aspects of soft matter. The book will provide a trusted resource for undergraduate and graduate students and will extensively benefit researchers and professionals working across the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, polymer chemistry, materials science and engineering, nanosciences, nanotechnologies, nanomedicine, biomedical engineering and medical sciences.

Droplet microfluidics offers tremendous potential as an enabling technology for high-throughput screening. It promises to yield novel techniques for personalised medicine, drug discovery, disease diagnosis, establishing chemical libraries, and the discovery of new materials. Despite the enormous potential to contribute to a broad range of applications, the expected adoption has not yet been seen, partly due to the interdisciplinary nature and the fact that, up until now, information has been scattered across the literature. This book goes a long way to addressing these issues.Edited by two leaders, this book has drawn together expertise from around the globe to form a unified, cohesive resource for the droplet microfluidics community. Starting with the basic theory of droplet microfluidics before introducing its use as a tool, the reader will be treated to chapters on important techniques, including robust passive and active droplet manipulations and applications such as single cell analysis, which is key for drug discovery. This book is a go-to resource for the community yearning to adopt and promote droplet microfluidics into different applications and will interest researchers and practitioners working across chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, micro- and nano-technology, and engineering.

Coffee rings, paint drying, blood splatter are all examples of complex fluids drying. Understanding the phenomena of complex fluid drops with respect to drying is important for technology and a lot of research in academia and industry is poured into this topic. This book addresses this industrially important area and provides a thorough grounding to the field.Addressing the fundamental underpinnings of wetting, spreading and drying, the book then takes the reader through key applications grouped into themes, including colloidal droplets (used in printing) and biological (e.g. bloodstain analysis for forensics). With a section on modelling and simulation to balance experiment with computational tools, this book will appeal to anyone working in complex fluids across classical fluid mechanics, soft matter, and chemical, biological and mechanical engineering

Active colloids are self-propelled particles, powered by energy harvested from the environment. This field of research has been growing over the past 20 years, attracting researchers from multiple disciplines. Biomedical engineers seek to harness the abilities of motile bacteria, materials chemists are fascinated by the concept of synthetic particles becoming autonomous and the new opportunities this presents, and soft matter physicists see active colloids as a model system for active matter, unravelling the principles of nonequilibrium systems.Beginning with the fundamentals, this book discusses the various types of active colloids, classified by energy source, as well as microbial active colloids. Several chapters are dedicated to theory and modelling, followed by an exploration of major developments and research frontiers. With expert contributions from around the world, this book is a useful reference and a source of inspiration for new and experienced researchers.

Flexible and wearable technologies are gaining wide attention with their promise of applications in sensing, electronics, and energy. The materials involved should be flexible, lightweight, robust, and non-toxic. Natural biopolymers such as silk, chitin, collagen, cellulose, and gelatine have these properties, with the additional benefits of low cost, renewability, and biocompatibility. Taking a closer look at these soft materials and their forms reveals novel multifunctional abilities, paving the way for new devices.Introducing the recent development of multifunctional natural polymers, this book serves as a reference for researchers, detailing the novel properties and behaviour of natural biopolymers, and their synthetic strategies. Students will find this a useful introduction to multifunctional soft matter and polymer physics. Throughout the book an understanding of the principles of flexible and wearable device design will allow readers to connect materials to applications in wearable electronics, such as flexible sensors, soft robots, solar cells and energy storage devices.

Using soft matter physics to understand food materials at different length scales creates new opportunities for scientists in academia and industry to enhance the properties, production, and nutritional quality of processed foods. Recognising the growing transfer of knowledge between the food science and soft matter communities, the editors have brought together a wealth of expertise with rich insights for both.Beginning with the fundamentals, this book describes the behaviour of colloids, proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates in the context of soft matter science. Chapters on techniques and the behaviour of soft matter systems open the soft matter toolbox, providing food scientists with new approaches to characterise food. Taking a soft matter approach to a range of real food systems, chapters on applications provide a practical demonstration of the synergy between food science and soft matter.

Dynamically crosslinked polymer networks, including vitrimers, are an exciting new class of soft materials with tuneable properties. This comprehensive book establishes the theoretical foundations for understanding and predicting the unique behaviour of these dynamic networks and their applications.Beginning with the latest developments around the Tanaka–Edwards model, chapters from leading international experts provide a complete overview, spanning modern microscopic and continuum theories, through to numerical simulations. The book concludes with the editors’ own outlook on future research directions in this rapidly evolving field.Bridging the current gap between theory and experiment, this book provides an essential reference for researchers, guiding material design and property predictions. As a gateway to the field, this book will benefit postgraduate students of polymer physics and materials science.

In the pursuit of sustainable and innovative energy technologies, soft materials are emerging as a transformative paradigm. This comprehensive text examines the dynamic interplay between soft materials and energy science, revealing the immense potential of liquids, polymers, colloids, and biomaterials in shaping the future of energy generation and storage.From flexible solar cells and advanced battery technologies to piezoelectric nanogenerators and triboelectric energy harvesters, readers will gain invaluable insights into the unique properties of soft materials that enable efficient energy conversion, storage, and harvesting mechanisms. With contributions from leading experts worldwide, it offers an interdisciplinary perspective, bridging the gap between fundamental principles and practical implementations.Designed for researchers, engineers, and students alike, Energy Generation and Storage with Soft Materials is an essential resource for those seeking to unlock the transformative potential of soft materials in creating sustainable, adaptable, and high-performance energy solutions for a greener future.

Magnetically responsive soft matter is a colloidal model system where interparticle interactions can be tuned through external magnetic fields. Covering the most recent literature in the field, with special emphasis on the physical mechanisms behind their rheological behaviour, this book aims to demonstrate the controllability of soft matter through an external (magnetic) stimulus. With chapters written by leading experts, fundamental topics are complemented by cutting edge research, in particular, discussions on advances in sedimentation stability, structural characterization using microCT, surface functionalization, bidisperse composites, self-assembly at interfaces and collective dynamics, friction and shear-thickening, dynamics, self-assembly and rheology under unsteady triaxial magnetic fields, theoretical developments and particle level numerical simulations, including contact forces and biomedical and tissue engineering applications. This complete perspective of the field attempts to bridge the gap between fundamentals and applications and is an excellent addition to any soft matter scientist’s library.

The term active fluids refers to motions that are created by transforming energy from the surroundings into directed motion. There are many examples, both natural and synthetic, including individual swimming bacteria or motile cells, drops and bubbles that move owing to surface stresses (so-called Marangoni motions), and chemical- or optical-driven colloids. Investigations into active fluids provide new insights into non-equilibrium systems, have the potential for novel applications, and open new directions in physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. This book provides an expert introduction to active fluids systems, covering simple to complex environments. It explains the interplay of chemical processes and hydrodynamics, including the roles of mechanical and rheological properties across active fluids, with reference to experiments, theory, and simulations. These concepts are discussed for a variety of scenarios, such as the trajectories of microswimmers, cell crawling and fluid stirring, and apply to collective behaviours of dense suspensions and active gels. Emerging avenues of research are highlighted, ranging from the role of active processes for biological functions to programmable active materials, showcasing the exciting potential of this rapidly-evolving research field.

There is growing interest in the food, supplements, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries in improving the healthiness of their products by incorporating lipophilic bioactive substances like oil-soluble vitamins (A, D and E), omega-3 fatty acids, and nutraceuticals (carotenoids, curcuminoids and flavonoids). However, there are many challenges that need to be overcome due to their poor water-solubility, chemical stability, and bioavailability.  For this reason, there is interest in the development of effective encapsulation technologies to increase the efficacy of lipophilic bioactives.This book reviews the encapsulation systems currently available for delivering lipophilic bioactives, including their preparation, functionality, and application range, including nanoemulsions, emulsions, Pickering emulsions, HIPEs, microgels, organogels and liposomes. Chapters 1-2 review the biological activity of delivery systems and lipophilic bioactives. Chapters 3-5 describe the materials and preparation methods used to assemble delivery systems. Chapters 6-17 focus on the formation and application of different kinds of delivery systems. Chapter 18 discusses future trends in the development of bioactive delivery systems.Edited and authored by world renowned scholars, the book provides a state-of-the-art overview of the design, fabrication, and utilization of delivery systems for bioactives that will be useful for academic, government, and industrial scientists in fields such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, chemical engineering, nutrition, and foods.

Nanofluids are an emerging class of heat transfer fluids that are engineered by dispersing nanoparticles in conventional fluids. They represent a promising, multidisciplinary field that has evolved over the past two decades to provide enhanced thermal features, as well as manifold applications in thermal management, energy, transportation, MEMs and biomedical fields. Fundamentals and Transport Properties of Nanofluids addresses a broad range of fundamental and applied research on nanofluids, from their preparation, stability, and thermal and rheological properties to performance characterization and advanced applications. It covers combined theoretical, experimental and numerical research to elucidate underlying mechanisms of thermal transport in nanofluids. Edited and contributed to by leading academics in thermofluids and allied fields, this book is a must have for those working in chemical, materials and mechanical engineering, nanoscience, soft matter physics and chemistry.

Soft materials are all around us: they naturally form biological tissues and plant matter, while rubbers and gels are used as sealants, contact lenses, energy absorbers, sensors, and actuators. Most soft materials swell as they absorb fluids – in some cases this swelling is a desirable feature of the material, while in others it can be detrimental to its ability to function. It is essential to understand and model how soft materials swell, and how these swollen rubbers and gels respond to the forces they experience.This book combines perspectives from soft matter physics, nonlinear mechanics, and materials science to describe the mechanics of swelling, and serves as a reference for anyone interested in the mechanics of swelling in soft polymers, regardless of their scientific background. It provides the necessary physical and mechanical knowledge to model the behaviour of soft materials that swell by offering a comprehensive exploration of theoretical concepts, complemented by practical computational exercises.

There is much recent interest in the field of molecular gels because of their potential use in many different applications, including biomedicine and electronic materials. Functional Molecular Gels details the latest research on molecular gels from the fundamentals of molecular gel formation to their uses in a variety of fields.This book introduces the key concepts of designing molecular gels and their characterisation techniques, followed by chapters discussing different stimuli-responsive systems. Specific chapters are then dedicated to their diverse range of applications, including catalysis, tissue engineering, photonic materials and as templates for nanostructured materials.Written by active researchers in the area, this book gives a taste of the possibilities that molecular gels offer for those both new to and already working in the area.

Hydrogels are attractive materials for uses in regenerative medicine due to their biocompatibility and high water absorbance and retention properties. Applications are emerging in stem cell niches, biopolymers and synthetic polymers for tissue scaffolding, wound healing and hydrogels for cellular diagnostics and delivery.Hydrogels in Cell-Based Therapies looks at the use of different polymers and other bionanomaterials to fabricate different hydrogel systems and their biomedical applications including enzyme responsive hydrogels and biomaterials, thermally responsive hydrogels, collagen gels and alginates.With complementary expertise in cell biology and soft materials, the Editors provide a comprehensive overview of recent updates in this highly topical field. This highly interdisciplinary subject will appeal to researchers in cell biology, biochemistry, biomaterials and polymer science and those interested in hydrogel applications.

Fluid-structure interactions have been well studied over the years but most of the focus has been on high Reynolds number flows, inertially dominated flows where the drag force from the fluid typically varies as the square of the local fluid speed. There are though a large number of fluid-structure interaction problems at low values of the Reynolds number, where the fluid effects are dominated by viscosity and the drag force from the fluid typically varies linearly with the local fluid speed, which are applicable to many current research areas including hydrodynamics, microfluidics and hemodynamics. Edited by experts in complex fluids, Fluid-Structure Interactions in Low-Reynolds-Number Flows is the first book to bring together topics on this subject including elasticity of beams, flow in tubes, mechanical instabilities induced by complex liquids drying, blood flow, theoretical models for low-Reynolds number locomotion and capsules in flow. The book includes introductory chapters highlighting important background ideas about low Reynolds number flows and elasticity to make the subject matter more approachable to those new to the area across engineering, physics, chemistry and biology.