Soft matter

In soft matter (English soft condensed matter ) is understood in the natural sciences condensed phases, which only partially "liquid" can be one of the states of matter "fixed" or assign. These include, among other things,

• Liquid crystals (used in LCDs)
• Polymer melts and solutions
• Gels (eg jello )
• Polyelectrolytes (eg, the absorber material in diapers)
• Colloidal suspensions (ink, blood, etc. )
• Elastomers ( rubber)
• Surfactants

In this class of materials, there are numerous model systems to study fundamental physical phenomena, especially in the field of thermodynamics (eg, self-organization, nonlinear material properties, phase transitions, the glass transition, critical phenomena ). In addition, there are points of contact for biophysics.