Author Archive

Twisted 2017

Image result for twisted conference 2017

10-12 May, 2017, University of Luxembourg

Soft Matter is pleased to support Twisted, a two-day conference on the physics, chemistry and applications of cholesteric lyotropic liquid crystals developing in colloidal suspensions of chiral nanorods.

The motivation for the conference is the rapidly growing interest in liquid crystals formed by nanocrystals of cellulose or chitin, filamentous viruses, carbon nanotubes and similar rod-like nanoparticles in suspensions in water or other isotropic solvents, and topics will be covered in four sessions:

  1. Advanced materials derived from chiral nanorods (keynote speaker: Mark MacLachlan)
  2. Theory and simulations of cholesteric phases (keynote speaker: Mark Wilson)
  3. Chiral nanorod suspensions: from particle tuning to self-assembly (keynote speaker: Derek Gray)
  4. The route to applications (keynote speaker: Silvia Vignolini)

Confirmed invited speakers include:

There are also 12 slots for contributed talks and two poster sessions. See the program for full details.

 

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

McBain Medal: Assembly and pattern formation in complex soft materials

27 March 2017, SCI Belgrave Sq, London, UK

This one day meeting in London will focus on recent advances in colloid and interfacial science as a route to materials and processes with societal value, with distinguished speakers both from industry and academia. The meeting will close with the McBain Lecture, awarded annually by the RSC/SCI Joint Colloids Group to recognize a rising star in colloid and interface science.

This year’s awardee is Dr João Cabral from Imperial College London, for his outstanding work on the thermodynamics and assembly of colloid and polymer mixtures, and the design of functional materials via interfacial instabilities. An enthusiast of scattering, his team and collaborators have pioneered the use of neutron and X-rays to study flow processing of complex fluids in complex microfluidic flows.

To see the programme and register, click here

Registration from £10, 11am start.

Invited speakers:

  • Dr João Cabral (Imperial College London), McBain Lecture: “Interfacial instabilities in frontal photopolymerisation, microflow and complex fluid processing”
  • Prof Tom McLeish FRS (Durham University): “Molecular viscoelasticity in spaces of different dimensionality”
  • Prof Dame Julia Higgins FRS (Imperial College London): “Soft mixtures, thermodynamics and interfacial structures”
  • Dr Eric Robles (Procter & Gamble): “The Role of Colloid Chemistry in Every Breakthrough Innovation in Industry”
  • Dr Lionel Porcar (Institut Laue Langevin): “Recent advances in flow-SANS for colloidal and interfacial science”
  • Dr Alex Routh (University of Cambridge): “Strength development during consolidation in drying films”
  • Prof Sidney Nagel (University of Chicago): “Pattern formation”
Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Outstanding Reviewers for Soft Matter in 2016

Following the success of Peer Review Week in September 2016 (dedicated to reviewer recognition) during which we published a list of our top reviewers, we are delighted to announce that we will continue to recognise the contribution that our reviewers make to the journal by announcing our Outstanding Reviewers each year.

We would like to highlight the Outstanding Reviewers for Soft Matter in 2016, as selected by the editorial team, for their significant contribution to the journal. The reviewers have been chosen based on the number, timeliness and quality of the reports completed over the last 12 months.

We would like to say a big thank you to those individuals listed here as well as to all of the reviewers that have supported the journal. Each Outstanding Reviewer will receive a certificate to give recognition for their significant contribution.

Dr Giorgio Cinacchi, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Dr Jens Elgeti, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Dr Wei Hong, Iowa State University
Professor M P Lettinga, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Dr Bo Li, University of Illinois
Dr Kaiqiang Liu, Shaanxi Normal University
Dr Benoit Loppinet, FORTH IESL
Dr Frank Snijkers, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Professor Jan Vermant, ETH Zurich
Dr Yilin Wang, Chinese Academy of Sciences

We would also like to thank the Soft Matter board and the journal community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

If you would like to become a reviewer for our journal, just email us with details of your research interests and an up-to-date CV or résumé.  You can find more details in our author and reviewer resource centre.

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Cracking theory helps understand paint ageing

New model could benefit art conservators and geologists

Source: © Royal Society of Chemistry / Image courtesy of Mauritshuis Museum.

Understanding how cracking patterns develop in desiccated surfaces like old oil paintings or dried mud is surprisingly difficult. Now a Chilean scientist has established the first mathematical model of cracked surfaces that could help conservators preserve old paintings or give geologists information about the thickness of cracked clay or salt layers, and the stress they’ve been subjected to.

In oil paintings, the varnish becomes less flexible with age and when the canvas shrinks and expands in response to humidity and temperature changes, the paint starts to crack. As the cracks are hard to forge, art experts often use them, among other factors, to determine a painting’s authenticity. ‘Crack networks are like fingerprints,’ says JC Flores from the University of Tarapacá, who has developed a series of equations that give a theoretical insight into cracking patterns.

Read the full story by Kat Kramer in Chemistry World.


This article is free to access until 10 March 2017.

J C Flores, Soft Matter, 2017, DOI: 10.1039/c6sm02849g

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Top 10 Most-accessed Soft Matter articles – Q4 2016

This month sees the following articles in Soft Matter that are in the top ten most accessed from October – December 2016:

Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.

Durable and scalable icephobic surfaces: similarities and distinctions from superhydrophobic surfaces
H. Sojoudi, M. Wang, N. D. Boscher, G. H. McKinley and K. K. Gleason
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 1938-1963
DOI: 10.1039/C5SM02295A

Ultra-thin conductive free-standing PEDOT/PSS nanofilms
Francesco Greco, Alessandra Zucca, Silvia Taccola, Arianna Menciassi, Toshinori Fujie, Hiroki Haniuda, Shinji Takeoka, Paolo Dario and Virgilio Mattoli
Soft Matter, 2011,7, 10642-10650
DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06174G

The pH-responsive behaviour of poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solution is dependent on molar mass
Thomas Swift, Linda Swanson, Mark Geoghegan and Stephen Rimmer
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 2542-2549
DOI: 10.1039/C5SM02693H

Dynamic orientation transition of the lyotropic lamellar phase at high shear rates
Shuji Fujii and Yuki Yamamoto
Soft Matter, 2015,11, 9330-9341
DOI: 10.1039/C5SM01755F

Soft and hard nanomaterials for restoration and conservation of cultural heritage
Piero Baglioni and Rodorico Giorgi
Soft Matter, 2006,2, 293-303
DOI: 10.1039/B516442G

Ultra-low voltage electrowetting using graphite surfaces
Deborah J. Lomax, Pallav Kant, Aled T. Williams, Hollie V. Patten, Yuqin Zou, Anne Juel and Robert A. W. Dryfe
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 8798-8804
DOI: 10.1039/C6SM01565D

Manipulation of micro- and nanostructure motion with magnetic fields
Roger S. M. Rikken, Roeland J. M. Nolte, Jan C. Maan, Jan C. M. van Hest, Daniela A. Wilson and Peter C. M. Christianen
Soft Matter, 2014,10, 1295-1308
DOI: 10.1039/C3SM52294F

Liquid marbles: topical context within soft matter and recent progress
G. McHale and M. I. Newton
Soft Matter, 2015,11, 2530-2546
DOI: 10.1039/C5SM00084J

Oil-in-oil emulsions stabilised solely by solid particles
Bernard P. Binks and Andrew T. Tyowua
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 876-887
DOI: 10.1039/C5SM02438B

Fracture toughness of hydrogels: measurement and interpretation
Rong Long and Chung-Yuen Hui
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 8069-8086
DOI: 10.1039/C6SM01694D

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)