Introduction to Soft Matter: Synthetic and Biological Self-Assembling Materials

Ian W. Hamley978-0-470-51609-6

Soft matter materials include polymers, colloids, emulsions, amphiphiles, surfactants, membranes, liquid crystals and biomaterials. Although these materials seem very different, they have common structural and dynamic properties that are somewhere between those of crystalline solids and simple molecular liquids and gases. Soft matter is an interdisciplinary subject drawing not only from physics, chemistry and materials science but also from biology, biochemistry and engineering. These materials have a wide range of applications, such as in structural and packaging materials, foams and adhesives, detergents and cosmetics, paints, food additives and biological materials. Written in an “easy-to-follow style”, this textbook provides an introduction to this exciting subject with chapters covering natural and synthetic polymers, colloids, surfactants, biological soft matter and liquid crystals and the many and varied applications of these materials. It has been newly edited and has chapters with updated coverage of recent aspects of polymer science. A series of questions and answers is also provided at the end of each chapter. The book contains a new chapter on biological soft matter, which adds significantly to the discussion of proteins, DNA and lipid membranes in the previous edition. The book will appeal to students of polymer, biomaterial, colloid, surface and interface science. Experienced researchers in the field will also find this a good introductory text for revising their knowledge of the basics.