Themed collection Soft Matter 20th Anniversary Collection

Intelligent soft matter is an emergent field.

Harnessing interfacial entropy in polymer-grafted nanoparticle composites enables precise control of thermo-mechanical properties, viscosity, and phase behavior, unlocking new functionalities in membranes for gas separation and water desalination.

Nanopore sequencing technology has revolutionized single-molecule analysis through its unique capability to detect and characterize individual biomolecules with unprecedented precision.

The resistance of the liquid drop-like nucleus to deformation is dependent on whether the nuclear lamina is smooth or wrinkled. When it is smooth and taut, the nuclear shape can be calculated from geometric constraints on volume and surface area.

Microcontact printing (μCP) is a versatile and low-cost technique for surface patterning, allowing for the fabrication of intricate designs with relative ease.

This review highlights the critical role of surfactants in modulating protein structure, detailing mechanisms of unfolding, refolding, and heat-induced gelation, gaining interests in material design, food science, medicine, among others.

We review the recent theoretical and simulation studies on interactions between curvature-inducing proteins and membranes.

Interfaces are widespread and essential in living systems, playing crucial roles in biological processes. Understanding the evolution and morphodynamic behavior can provide valuable insights into life formation, development, and disease progression.

This review clarifies the structure–process–property relationship in PVA-based polarizers.

Nanoprecipitation is a versatile, low-energy technique for synthesizing nanomaterials through phase separation, enabling precise tuning of nanomaterial properties.

This review revisits the works of Toyoichi Tanaka on the physics of polymer gels and discusses their scientific significance, covering volume phase transition, structure, dynamics, kinetics and inhomogeneities, followed by some recent topics.

Peptide-mediated liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) underpins the formation of dynamic biomolecular condensates, regulated by diverse molecular interactions, and highlights potential applications in drug delivery and synthetic biology.

Chiral analytes can bind to an achiral fluorescent system to generate circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Subsequently, the CPL signal can be employed to determine the absolute configuration of the chiral substrate.

We describe approaches, results and insights from multi-year hackathons to enable their use in soft matter training and innovation.

Ionic supramolecular frameworks made of polyoxometalates and cationic pseudo-rotaxane can form hydrogels with a stable, hierarchical porous structure that remains stable at temperatures above water's boiling point, reducing the evaporation enthalpy.

We perform a dual rheological and NMR systematic characterization of CMC/CB hydrogels emphasizing phase transitions through the variation of both the gel formulation and temperature.

Dense suspensions of Quincke random walkers exhibit turbulent-like flows mimicking those of bacterial suspensions.

Fire ant rafts dynamically self-organize to conserve energy by separating into active and inactive phases, through formation of stationary clusters that can dissolve rapidly under external stimuli, enabling a swift decentralized collective response.

SANS and rheology of synergistic SDS–DDAO mixed micelle solutions in the vicinity of the phase boundary exhibit pronounced correlations between structure factor, micelle elongation, and solution viscosity as a function of surfactant mixing ratio.

The self-assembly and conformation in aqueous solution and bioactivity of three lipopeptides bearing lysine-rich tripeptide sequences are compared for C₁₆-KFK, C₁₆-KWK, and C₁₆-KYK, where C₁₆ denotes an N-terminal hexadecyl (palmitoyl) chain.

A comprehensive understanding of how fluoroalkyl side chains govern CO₂ solubility and diffusivity, ultimately impacting gas permeability, is achieved through complementary ATR-FTIR and QCM analyses.

PNIPAM-co-APMH microgels and microgel monolayers are investigated by the colloidal probe technique. We show how the microgel concentration affects the softness, charge and stability of the monolayers.

The concept of electrostatic hetero-aggregation is exploited to produce a variety of dried deposit patterns that result when sessile drop containing oppositely charged species are dried.

Phase diagram for a magnetic polymer with Blume–Emery–Griffith spins, with snapshots (phases: swollen disordered, SD; compact ordered, CO; compact disordered, CD). These results may be relevant to understand epigenetic memory in chromatin.

We question here the classical picture of stick-slip fracture based on the relationship between a velocity dependent fracture toughness Γ and steady-state crack growth rate v. We provide a more general theory based on a rate-dependent cohesive model.

Varying the frequency of alternating current (AC) electric fields drives the assembly of different phases comprising Janus microswimmers confined under gravity.

Crystallites formed via stretching-induced crystallization under lateral stretch exhibit lower thermal stability than those formed without lateral constraint. This results in branched crack growth in deformations with a finite strain-biaxiality distribution upon heating.

The onset of elastic instability for flow of wormlike micelle solutions in serpentine channels gives rise to highly unsteady flow characterized by intermittent dead zones and 3D twisting events, which greatly enhance spatial flow heterogeneity.

The influence of uniaxial deformation on a soft colloidal monolayer confined at a fluid interface is studied by in situ small-angle light scattering in real time.

Highly cross-linked epoxy resins caused horizontal shift factor in large-stress creep to deviate from Williams–Landel–Ferry equation, exhibiting Arrhenius-type behaviour.

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show how a bidisperse colloidal mixture evolves toward equilibrium under heating and cooling protocols. Fast temperature changes lead to thermodynamic asymmetries, while slow changes yield symmetric, reversible structural pathways.

The competition between the enthalpy and mixing entropy of binary solvents results in the liquid–liquid phase separation and co-nonsolvency.

Derivatives of branched copolymer surfactants enable the design of “smart” ceramic formulations for direct ink writing. Emulsion gels with different microstructure show distinctive transitions when yielding, which correlate with print quality.

An ultra-thin, modular pneumatic system with integrated sensing and transmission enables precise control of folding structures, offering a scalable solution for reconfigurable robots with complex geometries.

This manuscript establishes a computational framework of both the forward and inverse problems of liquid crystal physics and the corresponding surface roughness.

Spreading processes on top of active dynamics provide a novel theoretical framework for capturing emerging collective behavior in living systems.

A particle-number vs. oil-layer thickness diagram delineates monolayer verses multilayer regimes in colloidal assemblies formed by evaporating sessile dispersion drops; a minimal interface-saturation model accurately predicts the boundaries.

Motional heterogeneity for the grafted chains in the OCNC depends on the confinement strength.

We uncover how the volume phase transition (VPT) in polymer gels fundamentally differs from the striking hyper-auxetic behavior (HAT) that emerges in the same systems.

Green microemulsions based on bio-derived and eco-friendly surfactants enhance cleaning efficacy, aligning with environmental conservation and cultural heritage preservation.

The propulsion of snowman dimers at moderate Reynolds numbers, in three scenarios: (i) two co-rotating spheres, (ii) two counter-rotating spheres driven by an internal torque, and (iii) a single rotating spinner with a passive sphere as a cargo.

Supramolecular structures controlled by the delicate balance between the bile salt self-assembly and the geometric characteristics of the block copolymer.

There is an increasing interest in the use of biosurfactants in the development of more biocompatible and biosustainable surfactant-based products.

Model systems incorporating dynamic covalent bonds, like star-shaped polymers, are ideal for gaining insights into the role played by the bond exchange in the dynamics.

Effective methods for cleaning surfaces are important for applications including dentistry, healthcare, micro-devices, and the manufacture of electronic components and semiconductors.

Concentrated type I collagen–chitosan mixed hydrogels were prepared. Unusual branched collagen fibrils were obtained whose microstructure varies with collagen content and gelation method.

Many biological microorganisms and artificial microswimmers react to external environmental gradients, like viscosity. Symmetric eukaryotic flagella swim up-gradient, while chirality implies drifting circles perpendicular to the gradient (picture).

We determine the effective modulus of particle-packing containing hard and soft spheres via nanoindentation and compare the value with those obtained from cracking of drying colloidal films and buckling of drying colloidal drops.

We determine the dependence of the network yield stress and strain on structural parameters, and identify the effect of plasticity on the non-linear deformation and dissipation.

Multifunctional azobenzene-based copolymers are designed and synthesized. The azobenzene groups exhibited thermally induced cis-to-trans isomerization, leading to structural reorganization, increased molecular packing, and elevated T_g.

We study a two-dimensional chiral active crystal composed of underdamped chiral active particles, which show the spontaneous generation of angular momentum.

We study how self-organised active flows in confined channels disperse solutes and extend the Taylor–Aris dispersion law to incorporate active nematic flows.

Catalytic microswimmers are typically studied close to walls, where they are known to slow down upon addition of salt. By lifting them up, we showed how their speeds change with distance from the wall, with and without salt.

In this work, a series of as-prepared poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films with varied water wettability was prepared by curing at systematically adjusted temperatures.

Fibrous biopolymer gels under compression lose volume by the flow of water through pores. Fluid flow and network deformation in the gel are non-uniform. A model accounting for buckling of fibers captures the observed deformation and flow patterns.

Urea has environmental, agricultural and clinical importance being present in many bodily fluids including blood, urine, tears and sweat.

Phytoglycogen-dopamine hybrids are developed as very sticky and biodegradable (towards glucosidase enzymes) underwater adhesive materials.

A monodisperse mixture of active and passive particles can be separated using an elastic meshwork with a mesh size smaller than the particle size.

Tailoring the alkyl groups of biparental polyelectrolytes in the Janus evaporator effectively disrupts water hydrogen bonding, achieving a low water evaporation enthalpy of 1434 J g⁻¹ and an evaporation rate of 4.1 kg m⁻² h⁻¹.

Does a knife-like wedge-shaped tips always split a centrally impacting water drop?  Here, we combine experiments and volume of fluid (VOF) simulations to investigate this process. The answer might surprise you—find out in this manuscript.

Increasing the rotational inertia of the active head in the active polymer enhances the knotting and weakens the adsorption of an end-grafted active polymer. Knotted polymers are less adsorbed than unknotted ones.

²H NMR spectroscopy, MD simulations, X-ray diffraction and electrooptic measurements show a very high tilt angle in the orthoconic antiferroelectric phase.

The tangible effects of the interfaces and cross-linking density on the domain size of the polydomain structures of nematic liquid crystal elastomers were explored.

We have investigated the adsorption of α-Synuclein (αSyn) onto small unilamellar vesicles composed of zwitterionic POPC and anionic POPS lipids, as well as the impact αSyn fibril formation has on vesicle stability.

The incorporation of a glassy material into a self-assembled nanoparticle (NP) film can produce highly loaded nanocomposites, with improved photostability under the right conditions.

We demonstrate the generation of diverse material flow regimes in nematic liquid cells as driven by time-variable active surface anchoring, including no-net flow, oscillatory flow, steady flow, and pulsating flow.

Eco-friendly poly(acrylamide-co-sodium acrylate)/polyethyleneglycol hybrid gels reinforced with Bentonite, Kaolin, Mica, Graphene and Silica for enhanced elasticity, swelling and adsorptive properties.

M13 phage are a novel microrheological probe that are sensitive to polymer relaxations, capturing DNA dynamics and revealing universal scaling behaviors across the unentangled and entangled regimes.

Mucus is composed of a complex network of mucin polymers connected by disulfide bonds.