Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Soft matter
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== Distinctive physics == [[File:Phospholipids aqueous solution structures.svg|thumb|The self-assembly of individual phospholipids into colloids (Liposome and Micelle) or a membrane (bilayer sheet).]] Interesting behaviors arise from soft matter in ways that cannot be predicted, or are difficult to predict, directly from its [[Atom|atomic]] or [[Molecule|molecular]] constituents. Materials termed soft matter exhibit this property due to a shared propensity of these materials to [[Self-organization|self-organize]] into mesoscopic physical structures. The assembly of the mesoscale structures that form the macroscale material is governed by low energies, and these low energy associations allow for the thermal and mechanical deformation of the material.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=van der Gucht |first=Jasper |date=2018-08-22 |title=Grand Challenges in Soft Matter Physics |journal=Frontiers in Physics |volume=6 |pages=87 |doi=10.3389/fphy.2018.00087 |bibcode=2018FrP.....6...87V |issn=2296-424X|doi-access=free }}</ref> By way of contrast, in hard [[condensed matter physics]] it is often possible to predict the overall behavior of a material because the molecules are organized into a [[Crystal|crystalline lattice]] with no changes in the pattern at any mesoscopic scale. Unlike hard materials, where only small distortions occur from thermal or mechanical agitation, soft matter can undergo local rearrangements of the microscopic building blocks.<ref name=":8">{{Citation |last1=Spagnoli |first1=A. |title=Fracture in soft elastic materials: Continuum description, molecular aspects and applications |date=2022 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0065215621000028 |work=Advances in Applied Mechanics |volume=55 |pages=255β307 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/bs.aams.2021.07.001 |isbn=978-0-12-824617-7 |access-date=2023-02-13 |last2=Brighenti |first2=R. |last3=Cosma |first3=M.P. |last4=Terzano |first4=M.}}</ref> A defining characteristic of soft matter is the [[mesoscopic scale]] of physical structures. The structures are much larger than the microscopic scale (the arrangement of [[atom]]s and [[molecule]]s), and yet are much smaller than the macroscopic (overall) scale of the material. The properties and interactions of these mesoscopic structures may determine the macroscopic behavior of the material.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Richard A. L. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48753186 |title=Soft condensed matter |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-850590-6 |location=Oxford |oclc=48753186}}</ref> The large number of constituents forming these mesoscopic structures, and the large [[Degrees of freedom (statistics)|degrees of freedom]] this causes, results in a general disorder between the large-scale structures. This disorder leads to the loss of long-range order that is characteristic of hard matter.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Nagel |first=Sidney R. |date=2017-04-12 |title=Experimental soft-matter science |journal=Reviews of Modern Physics |language=en |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=025002 |doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.89.025002 |bibcode=2017RvMP...89b5002N |issn=0034-6861|doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, the [[Turbulence|turbulent]] [[vortex|vortices]] that naturally occur within a flowing [[liquid]] are much smaller than the overall quantity of liquid and yet much larger than its individual molecules, and the emergence of these vortices controls the overall flowing behavior of the material. Also, the bubbles that compose a [[foam]] are mesoscopic because they individually consist of a vast number of molecules, and yet the foam itself consists of a great number of these bubbles, and the overall mechanical stiffness of the foam emerges from the combined interactions of the bubbles. Typical bond energies in soft matter structures are of similar scale to thermal energies. Therefore the structures are constantly affected by thermal fluctuations and undergo [[Brownian motion]].<ref name=":9" /> The ease of deformation and influence of low energy interactions regularly result in slow [[Dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]] of the mesoscopic structures which allows some systems to remain out of [[Equilibrium chemistry|equilibrium]] in [[Metastability|metastable]] states.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Daniel T.N. |last2=Wen |first2=Qi |last3=Janmey |first3=Paul A. |last4=Crocker |first4=John C. |last5=Yodh |first5=Arjun G. |date=2010-08-10 |title=Rheology of Soft Materials |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-070909-104120 |journal=Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=301β322 |doi=10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-070909-104120 |bibcode=2010ARCMP...1..301C |issn=1947-5454}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Cantat |first=Isabelle |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1011990362 |title=Foams: Structure and Dynamics |date=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-966289-0 |edition=1st |location=Oxford |oclc=1011990362}}</ref> This characteristic can allow for recovery of initial state through an external stimulus, which is often exploited in research.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Bernhard V. K. J. |last2=Barner-Kowollik |first2=Christopher |date=2017-07-10 |title=Dynamic Macromolecular Material Design-The Versatility of Cyclodextrin-Based Host-Guest Chemistry |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition |language=en |volume=56 |issue=29 |pages=8350β8369 |doi=10.1002/anie.201612150|pmid=28245083 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Shi |first1=Mayue |last2=Yeatman |first2=Eric M. |date=2021-11-23 |title=A comparative review of artificial muscles for microsystem applications |journal=Microsystems & Nanoengineering |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=95 |doi=10.1038/s41378-021-00323-5 |issn=2055-7434 |pmc=8611050 |pmid=34858630|bibcode=2021MicNa...7...95S }}</ref> Self-assembly is an inherent characteristic of soft matter systems. The characteristic complex behavior and hierarchical structures arise spontaneously as a system evolves towards equilibrium.<ref name=":9" /> Self-assembly can be classified as static when the resulting structure is due to a [[Thermodynamic free energy|free energy]] minimum, or dynamic when the system is caught in a metastable state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Whitesides |first1=George M. |last2=Grzybowski |first2=Bartosz |date=2002-03-29 |title=Self-Assembly at All Scales |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1070821 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=295 |issue=5564 |pages=2418β2421 |doi=10.1126/science.1070821 |pmid=11923529 |bibcode=2002Sci...295.2418W |s2cid=40684317 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> Dynamic self-assembly can be utilized in the functional design of soft materials with these metastable states through [[Thermodynamic versus kinetic reaction control|kinetic trapping]].<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=Qianming |last2=Li |first2=Longyu |last3=Tang |first3=Miao |last4=Uenuma |first4=Shuntaro |last5=Samanta |first5=Jayanta |last6=Li |first6=Shangda |last7=Jiang |first7=Xuanfeng |last8=Zou |first8=Lingyi |last9=Ito |first9=Kohzo |last10=Ke |first10=Chenfeng |date=2021 |title=Kinetic trapping of 3D-printable cyclodextrin-based poly(pseudo)rotaxane networks |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2451929421003089 |journal=Chem |language=en |volume=7 |issue=9 |pages=2442β2459 |doi=10.1016/j.chempr.2021.06.004|bibcode=2021Chem....7.2442L |s2cid=237139764 }}</ref> Soft materials often exhibit both [[Elasticity (physics)|elasticity]] and [[Viscosity|viscous]] responses to external stimuli<ref name=":3" /> such as [[Shearing (physics)|shear]] induced flow or phase transitions. However, excessive external stimuli often result in [[Nonlinear system|nonlinear]] responses.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cipelletti |first1=Luca |last2=Martens |first2=Kirsten |last3=Ramos |first3=Laurence |date=2020 |title=Microscopic precursors of failure in soft matter |url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=C9SM01730E |journal=Soft Matter |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=82β93 |doi=10.1039/C9SM01730E |pmid=31720666 |arxiv=1909.11961 |bibcode=2020SMat...16...82C |s2cid=202889185 |issn=1744-683X}}</ref> Soft matter becomes highly [[Deformation (physics)|deformed]] before [[crack propagation]], which differs significantly from the general fracture mechanics formulation.<ref name=":8" /> [[Rheology]], the study of deformation under [[Stress (mechanics)|stress]], is often used to investigate the [[Bulk property|bulk properties]] of soft matter.<ref name=":3" />
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)