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Soft Matter: From Synthetic to Biological Materials
Lecture Notes of the 39th Spring School 2008: This spring school was organized by the Institute of Solid State Research of the Research Centre Jülich on 3 - 14 March, 2008 - in collaboration with universities, research institutes and industry
herausgegeben von Jan K Dhont, Gerhard Gompper, Gerhard Nägele, Dieter Richter und Roland G WinklerSoft matter is ubiquitous in a vast range of technological applications and is of fundamental
relevance in such diverse fields as chemical, environmental, and food industry as weIl as
life sciences. Over the past years, soft matter science has been largely extended in its scope
from more traditional areas such as colloids and polymers to the study of biological systems,
soft nanoscale materials, and the development of novel composites and microfluidic devices.
Soft and biological materials share fundamental structural and dynamical features including
a rich variety of morphologies and non-equilibrium phenomena, self-Ol'ganisation, an unusual
friction-dominated flow dynamics, and a high sensitivity to external fields. These properties
emerge from the co operative interplay of many degrees of freedom, with spatio-tempOl'al COl'relations
that can span a huge range from nano- to millimetres and nanoseconds to days. The
key requirements for the advancement in the field of these highly complex soft materials are:
111 The development of novel experimental techniques to study properties of individual components
in processes and the co operative behaviOl' of many interacting constituents. The
synthesis of complex materials, self-organized and biomimetic systems with novel or unusual
properties will broaden the spectrum of applications.
CI The exploration of advanced theOl'etical and computer simulation methods that span the
large range of time and length scales and allow to cope with an increasing complexity
of moleculaI' constituents. Existing methods need to be extended and new approaches
are required to describe systems far from equilibrium, e. g., in life sciences and material
processing.
<! l Structural and novel functional properties of soft and biological materials need to be
studied invoking self-organization and hierarchical structure formation, entropic particle
interactions and fluid-Iike aspects of biological materials such as vesicles and cells.
CI The unusual dynamics of complex fluids requires special approaches to gain insight into
diffusion transport properties, rheology and mesoscopic flow behavior, which are influenced
by a delicate interplay of hydrodynamic interactions, thermal flllctliations, and external
fields.
relevance in such diverse fields as chemical, environmental, and food industry as weIl as
life sciences. Over the past years, soft matter science has been largely extended in its scope
from more traditional areas such as colloids and polymers to the study of biological systems,
soft nanoscale materials, and the development of novel composites and microfluidic devices.
Soft and biological materials share fundamental structural and dynamical features including
a rich variety of morphologies and non-equilibrium phenomena, self-Ol'ganisation, an unusual
friction-dominated flow dynamics, and a high sensitivity to external fields. These properties
emerge from the co operative interplay of many degrees of freedom, with spatio-tempOl'al COl'relations
that can span a huge range from nano- to millimetres and nanoseconds to days. The
key requirements for the advancement in the field of these highly complex soft materials are:
111 The development of novel experimental techniques to study properties of individual components
in processes and the co operative behaviOl' of many interacting constituents. The
synthesis of complex materials, self-organized and biomimetic systems with novel or unusual
properties will broaden the spectrum of applications.
CI The exploration of advanced theOl'etical and computer simulation methods that span the
large range of time and length scales and allow to cope with an increasing complexity
of moleculaI' constituents. Existing methods need to be extended and new approaches
are required to describe systems far from equilibrium, e. g., in life sciences and material
processing.
<! l Structural and novel functional properties of soft and biological materials need to be
studied invoking self-organization and hierarchical structure formation, entropic particle
interactions and fluid-Iike aspects of biological materials such as vesicles and cells.
CI The unusual dynamics of complex fluids requires special approaches to gain insight into
diffusion transport properties, rheology and mesoscopic flow behavior, which are influenced
by a delicate interplay of hydrodynamic interactions, thermal flllctliations, and external
fields.