softmatter:Soft Materials

From NSDL Materials Digital Library Soft Matter Wiki

Soft materials are materials such as polymers, biomolecules, liquid crystals, sufactants, and proteins that are typically organic and can be melted and processed at moderate temperatures as compared with inorganic materials like metals and ceramics. Typically, soft materials have weak interactions among molecular or supramolecular components and are often either amorphous or can self-assemble from the liquid state. There are often many levels of complexity with heirarchical, supramolecular structures that can be cooperative and far from equilibrium. We are most often concerned with the structural arrangments, viscoelastic rheology, and/or mechanical behavior of these materials. Within these pages, you will find information pertinent to soft matter and nanomaterials, with a specific focus on computational methods and modeling.