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Contents list for Soft Matter, issue 1, 2009
Front cover
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 1
DOI: 10.1039/b821625h
Inside front cover
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 2
DOI: 10.1039/b821626f
Contents
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 3
DOI: 10.1039/b821627b
Editorial
Five years on
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 20
DOI: 10.1039/b820595g
Now entering its fifth year of publication, Soft Matter doubles its publication frequency to 24 issues per year. The impact of this, and other exciting new developments in Soft Matter and the RSC, is highlighted in this editorial.
Highlights
Covalent layer-by-layer assembly—an effective, forgiving way to construct functional robust ultrathin films and nanocomposites
David E. Bergbreiter and Kang-Shyang Liao,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 23
DOI: 10.1039/b810852h
Covalent layer-by-layer assembly is a versatile way to construct thin film nanocomposites and to modify surfaces with simple procedures. The scope of this methodology and its potential are discussed.
Bioresponsive hydrogels for sensing applications
Grant R. Hendrickson and L. Andrew Lyon,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 29
DOI: 10.1039/b811620b
Hydrogel-based sensors have been designed to respond to analytes via various sensing modalities; the wide range of new materials architectures for such applications is discussed here.
Review Articles
Shedding light on surfaces—using photons to transform and pattern material surfaces
Ellane J. Park, Gregory T. Carroll, Nicholas J. Turro and Jeffrey T. Koberstein,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 36
DOI: 10.1039/b807472k
Shedding light onto 
photochemical surface delivery vehicles
offers the ability to control the physical and chemical properties of the preprogrammed surface.
Some thoughts on superhydrophobic wetting
Christian Dorrer and Jürgen Rühe,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 51
DOI: 10.1039/b811945g
Drops quickly roll off superhydrophobic surfaces. This review discusses some aspects of how liquids wet such materials and what happens when water is condensed onto a superhydrophobic surface.
Communications
Disaggregation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) promoted by the ionic liquid-based surfactant 1-hexadecyl-3-vinyl-imidazolium bromide in aqueous solution
Antonello Di Crescenzo, Davide Demurtas, Andrea Renzetti, Gabriella Siani, Paolo De Maria, Moreno Meneghetti, Maurizio Prato and Antonella Fontana,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 62
DOI: 10.1039/b812022f
Stable homogeneous aqueous dispersions of pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes have been obtained by using a water-soluble long-chain imidazolium ionic liquid (IL) above its critical micelle concentration.
Biotemplated synthesis of stimuli-responsive nanopatterned polymer brushes on microtubules
Leonid Ionov, Vera Bocharova and Stefan Diez,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 67
DOI: 10.1039/b813295j
The synthesis of nanostructured thermoresponsive polymer brushes using atom transfer radical polymerisation initiated on protein filaments of the cytoskeleton is reported. The obtained polymer brushes are of interest for design of responsive material systems and biomolecular switches.
Cell interactions with hierarchically structured nano-patterned adhesive surfaces
Marco Arnold, Marco Schwieder, Jacques Blümmel, Elisabetta A. Cavalcanti-Adam, Mónica López-Garcia, Horst Kessler, Benjamin Geiger and Joachim P. Spatz,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 72
DOI: 10.1039/b815634d
Counting the number of clustering cell adhesion based transmembrane proteins is performed by molecular defined, biofunctionalised nanopatterns of defined single protein binding sites confined in micrometre large areas, i.e. hierarchically organised micro-nanopattern.
Reversible light-induced critical separation
Rico F. Tabor, Richard J. Oakley, Julian Eastoe, Charl F. J. Faul, Isabelle Grillo and Richard K. Heenan,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 78
DOI: 10.1039/b813234h
A reversible, critical phase separation induced by UV light has been achieved by doping a small amount of photosensitive surfactant into an AOT-stabilised water-in-decane microemulsion. SANS suggests that irradiation produces two coexisting water-in-oil microemulsions with relative droplet concentrations of 1 : 3.
Isomeric colloidal clusters with shape-dependent mobility
Minsu Kim, Stephen M. Anthony and Steve Granick,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 81
DOI: 10.1039/b809042d
Colloidal clusters were assembled into discrete isomeric shapes and their translational and rotational mobility were measured by single-particle tracking as the shape deviated from linear to the most compact.
Papers
Tuning the morphologies of amphiphilic metallo-supramolecular triblock terpolymers: from spherical micelles to switchable vesicles
Christina Ott, Richard Hoogenboom, Stephanie Hoeppener, Daan Wouters, Jean-François Gohy and Ulrich S. Schubert,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 84
DOI: 10.1039/b813161a
The self-assembly of an amphiphilic metallo-supramolecular triblock terpolymer was investigated in various solvents. A decrease in the solvent polarity results in the formation of discrete nanostructures, provoked by a change of the solvophilic to solvophilic ratio within the same macromolecule.
Frustrated self-assembly of dendron and dendrimer-based supramolecular liquid crystals
Raffaele Mezzenga, Janne Ruokolainen, Nadia Canilho, Edis Kasëmi, Dieter A. Schlüter, Won Bo Lee and Glenn H. Fredrickson,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 92
DOI: 10.1039/b814972k
We report a new inverted topological configuration for self-assembled dendron and dendrimer-based supramolecular liquid crystals in which the dendrons/dendrimers occupy the continuous domain and the ionically attached pendant chains are confined in discrete domains. These findings are supported by compelling experimental and theoretical evidence.
Lamellar-in-lamellar self-assembled C–b–(B–b–A)m–b–B–b–C multiblock copolymers: Alexander–de Gennes approach and dissipative particle dynamics simulations
Tetyana Klymko, Vladimir Markov, Andrei Subbotin and Gerrit ten Brinke,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 98
DOI: 10.1039/b809751h
The dependence of the number of internal layers on the pertinent parameters is discussed using the strong segregation Alexander–de Gennes approximation and further illustrated using dissipative particle dynamics simulations.
Formation of nanostructures by self-assembly of an elastin peptide
Antonietta Pepe, Maria Rosaria Armenante, Brigida Bochicchio and Antonio Mario Tamburro,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 104
DOI: 10.1039/b811286j
Temperature-triggered self-assembly of a small elastin peptide shows a novel complex aggregation mechanism as revealed by different microscopy techniques. The related molecular studies allow the hypothesis that aggregation takes place through addition of the monomer in the PPII conformation with preformed 
-sheet aggregates and/or through direct interaction of PPII helices.
Independent tuning of multiple biomaterial properties using protein engineering
Karin S. Straley and Sarah C. Heilshorn,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 114
DOI: 10.1039/b808504h
This article presents the design and characterization of hydrogel scaffolds composed of crosslinked, multi-component, engineered protein polymers designed to allow for independent tuning of elastic modulus, degradation rate, and cell adhesivity.
A field theory for ions near charged surfaces valid from weak to strong couplings
Marius M. Hatlo and Leo Lue,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 125
DOI: 10.1039/b815578j
A theory, accurate from the weak to the strong coupling limits, is developed to describe the behavior of mobile ions around fixed charge distributions and dielectric bodies.
Block copolymer directed synthesis of mesoporous TiO2 for dye-sensitized solar cells
Mihaela Nedelcu, Jinwoo Lee, Edward J. W. Crossland, Scott C. Warren, M. Christopher Orilall, Stefan Guldin, Sven Hüttner, Catarina Ducati, Dominik Eder, Ulrich Wiesner, Ullrich Steiner and Henry J. Snaith,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 134
DOI: 10.1039/b815166k
Poly(isoprene-b-ethyleneoxide) copolymers were employed as structure directing agents for the synthesis of TiO2 films for dye-sensitized solar cells, optimizing their efficiency by varying the polymer molecular weight and TiO2 precursor content.
Influence of droplet properties on the formation of microemulsion-ABA-triblock copolymer networks
Jorge M. G. Sarraguça, Alberto A. C. C. Pais and Per Linse,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 140
DOI: 10.1039/b809459d
The influence of the droplet volume fraction, the droplet radius, and the contour length of the middle B-block on the formation and the structure of microemulsion-triblock copolymer networks were investigated by Monte Carlo simulation.
On the mechanical stability of polymeric microcontainers functionalized with nanoparticles
Matthieu F. Bédard, Almudena Munoz-Javier, Renate Mueller, Pablo del Pino, Andreas Fery, Wolfgang J. Parak, Andre G. Skirtach and Gleb B. Sukhorukov,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 148
DOI: 10.1039/b812553h
Cellular internalization tends to damage polymeric microcontainers and limit their use as a delivery system. Microcapsules' resistance to deformation can be improved by, among other ways, constructing nanoparticle/polymer composite shells.
Structure-property relationships in flavour-barrier membranes with reduced high-temperature diffusivity
Kevin A. Heitfeld and Dale W. Schaefer,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 156
DOI: 10.1039/b809792e
Small-angle scattering was used to elucidate structure-property relationships of thermally responsive membranes enabling reduced encapsulant diffusion for elevated temperature applications.
Patterned polyaniline & carbon nanotube–polyaniline composites on silicon
Benjamin S. Flavel, Jingxian Yu, Joseph G. Shapter and Jamie S. Quinton,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 164
DOI: 10.1039/b809609k
Patterned nanoscale polymer–nanotube composites with lateral dimensions on the order of 200 nm have been constructed on silicon substrates using atomic force anodisation.
Elastic properties of graft copolymers in the lamellar phase studied by self-consistent field theory
Liangshun Zhang, Jiaping Lin and Shaoliang Lin,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 173
DOI: 10.1039/b811677f
The extensional and shear moduli of graft copolymers in the lamellar phase are dependent on the architecture parameters, i.e., the number of branches and the distribution of junction points.
Near-surface and internal lamellar structure and orientation in thin films of rod–coil block copolymers
Bradley D. Olsen, Xuefa Li, Jin Wang and Rachel A. Segalman,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 182
DOI: 10.1039/b809092k
Semiconducting rod–coil block copolymer thin films undergo a series of transitions from predominantly parallel oriented lamellae to bimodally oriented parallel and perpendicular lamellae to polycrystalline lamellae with increasing film thickness, potentially having a large impact on the properties of these polymer nanostructures.
Self-assembly and gelation properties of 
-helix versus-sheet forming peptides
A. Saiani, A. Mohammed, H. Frielinghaus, R. Collins, N. Hodson, C. M. Kielty, M. J. Sherratt and A. F. Miller,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 193
DOI: 10.1039/b811288f
The conformation adopted by short peptides, -helix vs. -sheet, is shown to have a dramatic effect on their self-assembly and gelation properties.
Elasticity of two-dimensional crystalline monolayers of fatty acid salts at an air–water surface
Jean Daillant, Jérémy Pignat, Sophie Cantin, Françoise Perrot, Serge Mora and Oleg Konovalov,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 203
DOI: 10.1039/b810134e
Two-dimensional crystalline monolayers of fatty acid salts at an air–water surface exhibit the elasticity of solid membranes with very small residual tension and renormalized elastic constants.
Crystallization-induced switching of the morphology of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polybutadiene micelles
Adriana M. Mihut, Arnaud Chiche, Markus Drechsler, Holger Schmalz, Emanuela Di Cola, Georg Krausch and Matthias Ballauff,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 208
DOI: 10.1039/b810415h
The morphology of micelles formed by a well-defined poly(1,2-butadiene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer (PB-b-PEO) is studied. Crystallization is shown to have decisive influence on the morphologies.
Polyelectrolyte multilayer hollow capsules studied by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS)
Irina Estrela-Lopis, Stefano Leporatti, Daniel Clemens and Edwin Donath,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 214
DOI: 10.1039/b810363a
The wall thickness of polyelectrolyte multilayer capsules templated on silica cores was measured as a function of layer number, annealing and salt concentration. The capsule wall swells upon core dissolution.
pH-induced changes in adsorbed -lactoglobulin molecules measured using atomic force microscopy
Ahmed Touhami and John R. Dutcher,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 220
DOI: 10.1039/b811609a
We describe AFM imaging, scratching and unfolding of -lactoglobulin food protein molecules adsorbed onto mica surfaces with in situ changes in pH.
Asymmetric lipid bilayer sandwiched in polyelectrolyte multilayer films through layer-by-layer assembly
Jiangshan Chen, Ralf Köhler, Thomas Gutberlet, Helmuth Möhwald and Rumen Krastev,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 228
DOI: 10.1039/b808572b
We present the construction of hybrid polyelectrolyte films incorporated with a lipid bilayer of DMPE. The asymmetric sandwich structure of the polycation/lipid/polyanion was characterized by 
potential, UV-vis absorption, QCM and neutron reflectometry measurements.
Ordering domains of spin cast blends of conjugated and dielectric polymers on surfaces patterned by soft- and photo-lithography
Justyna Jaczewska, Andrzej Budkowski, Andrzej Bernasik, Ioannis Raptis, Ellen Moons, Dimitrios Goustouridis, Jakub Haberko and Jakub Rysz,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 234
DOI: 10.1039/b811429c
Micro-patterns, prepared with soft- and photo-lithography on gold and oxidized silicon, order the laterally arranged domains of spin-cast blends of conjugated poly(3-alkylthiophenes) P3ATs and dielectric polystyrene PS.
Salt-induced release of lipase from polyelectrolyte complex micelles
Saskia Lindhoud, Renko de Vries, Ralf Schweins, Martien A. Cohen Stuart and Willem Norde,
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 242
DOI: 10.1039/b811640g
Salt-induced disintegration of lipase-filled polyelectrolyte complex micelles consists of two steps. First the lipase molecules are released. The second step is the disintegration of the micelles themselves.
Back cover
Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 251
DOI: 10.1039/b821628m
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