Content

Soft matter science deals with systems that are easily deformed by thermal and mechanical stresses, with the relevant energy scale comparable with room temperature thermal energy. It is therefore highly relevant for our daily life and forms a link between physics, chemistry and biology. Soft matter science is relevant for a wide range of applications and industries from food and pharmaceuticals to medicine and robotics.

In this course we will address the following topics:

1. Colloids and crowding: definitions, crowding and self-assembly on macroscopic and microscopic scales, phase-behavior

2. Smoluchowski equation and the gas-liquid phase separation: the microscopic approach of spinodal decomposition, experimental examples

3. Multi-scale methods in soft matter physics: scattering, light microscopy, laser trapping, AFM nanomechanics

4. Dynamics of colloidal rods: Smoluchowski equation for Brownian rods, hydrodynamic interactions and experiments on colloidal rods

5. Flow of complex fluids: linear and non-linear rheology

6. Non-equilibrium aspects in soft matter: non-equilibrium phenomena, steady-state non-equilibrium: molecular motors, driven lattice gasses, driven Brownian motion, active particle systems

7. Manipulating and probing dynamics and properties of bio(inspired) soft matter: optomechanical manipulation of colloids and living cells, photonic nanosensors and nanoactuators, light-responsive intelligent materials and soft microrobots

Course material

-Text books:
G. Strobl, The physics of polymers, Springer-Verlag (Berlin, 1996);
P.G. de Gennes and J. Prost, The physics of liquid crystals, Second Edition, Clarendon Press (Oxford, 1993). Dhont, An Introduction to Dynamics of Colloids. (PDF is available).
-Selected research papers
-Slides, transparencies, courseware
-Toledo / e-platform

Format: more information

A number of lectures will include laboratory visits and some guided assignments.