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A new journal providing a forum for the communication of generic science underpinning the properties and applications of soft matter.
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Plastic coats wrap up gene delivery
25 April 2008
UK chemists have used smart polymers to deliver DNA into cells.
Instant insight: Swellable gels fix bad backs
16 April 2008
Brian Saunders and Tony Freemont discuss a new approach for treating back pain using injectable microgel implants
Contents list for Soft Matter, issue 6, 2008
Front cover
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1117
DOI: 10.1039/b807280a
Inside front cover
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1118
DOI: 10.1039/b807281g
Contents
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1119
DOI: 10.1039/b807282p
Highlights
Rheology of gelling and yielding soft matter systems
Jason R. Stokes and William J. Frith,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1133
DOI: 10.1039/b719677f
We highlight the rheology of common soft materials, including their universal flow behaviour and viscoelastic response, and its dependence on the materials' microstructure.
Thermodynamics and rheology of mixed protein–surfactant adsorption layers
R. Miller, V. S. Alahverdjieva and V. B. Fainerman,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1141
DOI: 10.1039/b802034e
The interfacial behaviour of mixed protein–surfactant (ionic and non-ionic) surface layers at liquid interfaces can be described by thermodynamic models, from which also the adsorption dynamics and dilational elasticity and viscosity can be derived.
Aggregation in 
-lactoglobulin
Athene M. Donald,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1147
DOI: 10.1039/b800106e
The generic nature of protein aggregation, as exemplified by the specific case of -lactoglobulin, is discussed.
Review Article
Stimuli-responsive polymer gels
Suk-kyun Ahn, Rajeswari M. Kasi, Seong-Cheol Kim, Nitin Sharma and Yuxiang Zhou,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1151
DOI: 10.1039/b714376a
This article reviews the latest developments in the field of stimuli-responsive polymer gels. These nano- and meso-structured polymers are emerging as important candidates for sensing, dosing microvolumes of liquids, biotechnological diagnostics, and organ developments.
Communications
Patterning of surfaces with nanosized cellulosic fibrils using microcontact printing and a lift-off technique
Oskar Werner, Lisa Persson, Marc Nolte, Andreas Fery and Lars Wågberg,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1158
DOI: 10.1039/b715914e
Microfibrillar cellulose has been organised into nanofilms with well-controlled features. This has been achieved with adsorption onto microcontact printed surfaces and with a novel microcontact liftoff technique.
Direct visualization of phase transition dynamics in binary supported phospholipid bilayers using imaging ellipsometry
Alan W. Szmodis, Craig D. Blanchette, Andrey A. Levchenko, Alexandra Navrotsky, Marjorie L. Longo, Christine A. Orme and Atul N. Parikh,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1161
DOI: 10.1039/b801390j
Label-free, quantitative, and large-area imaging via optical ellipsometry captures fractal-like lipid domains and rip formation in real-time during thermally-induced phase separation in a binary interfacial lipid bilayer.
pH-Switchable supramolecular 
sliding
gels based on polyrotaxanes of polyethyleneimine-block-poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polyethyleneimine block copolymer and 
-cyclodextrin: synthesis and swelling behaviour
Khaled Karaky, Cyril Brochon, Guy Schlatter and Georges Hadziioannou,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1165
DOI: 10.1039/b803670e
A new type of pH-switchable sliding gel, based on polyrotaxanes of poly(ethyleneimine-b-ethylene oxide-b-ethyleneimine) block copolymer and -cyclodextrin, has been synthesized. It exhibits peculiar reversible swelling properties depending on the pH.
Biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticles for pH-sensoring
Stephanie Hornig, Christoph Biskup, Anja Gräfe, Jana Wotschadlo, Tim Liebert, Gerhard J. Mohr and Thomas Heinze,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1169
DOI: 10.1039/b800276b
Dialysis of a mixture of fluorescein and sulforhodamine B marked dextran derivatives yields biocompatible and tuneable nanosensors that can be used for ratiometric pH measurements.
Papers
A molecular dynamics study of chemical gelation in a patchy particle model
Silvia Corezzi, Cristiano De Michele, Emanuela Zaccarelli, Daniele Fioretto and Francesco Sciortino,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1173
DOI: 10.1039/b719872h
A realistic patchy model for irreversible polymerization is introduced. The formation of a gel network and a negligible number of loops in finite molecules are found, in remarkable agreement with the Flory–Stockmayer predictions, even in the post-gelation regime.
Electrically curable double-layer polymer resist for dynamic nanoscale lithography
Haixiong Ge, Wenjiang Shen and Yong Chen,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1178
DOI: 10.1039/b801101j
By selectively applying electrical potential on individual conductive nanopatterns on a mask, the nanopatterns can be transferred dynamically to a double-layer polymer resist composed of a top electrically curable resin layer and a bottom ionic conductive polymer.
Ratchet-driven fluid transport in bounded two-layer films of immiscible liquids
Karin John, Peter Hänggi and Uwe Thiele,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1183
DOI: 10.1039/b718850a
Various types of 
wettability ratchets
that can efficiently transport a continuous phase on the microscale are presented and analysed employing a two-layer thin film model.
Brownian dynamics simulation of polymer collapse in a poor solvent: influence of implicit hydrodynamic interactions
Tri Thanh Pham, Mohit Bajaj and J. Ravi Prakash,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1196
DOI: 10.1039/b717350d
The role of hydrodynamic interactions in determining the collapse dynamics of a polymer chain in a poor solvent is examined with Brownian dynamics simulations. It is found that the kinetics of collapse are significantly hastened due to the presence of solvent mediated interactions between the monomers on the chain, as shown here in the two differing collapse pathways.
Tension-induced vesicle fusion: pathways and pore dynamics
Lianghui Gao, Reinhard Lipowsky and Julian Shillcock,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1208
DOI: 10.1039/b801407h
By DPD simulations, two distinct tension-dependent vesicle fusion pathways are observed: at low tension, fusion is completed via a hemifusion state; at high tension, a stalk is formed to induce fusion.
Photo-labile lamellar phases
Julian Eastoe, Aihua Zou, Youssef Espidel, Otto Glatter and Isabelle Grillo,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1215
DOI: 10.1039/b802357c
A novel approach of photo-induced collapse in lyotropic lamellar phases has been demonstrated, which may trigger new and diverse applications in light-directed delivery and processing of complex or high-value formulations.
Bio-protocols for directly forming active encapsulations containing living primary cells
Priyesh Patel, Scott Irvine, Jean R. McEwan and Suwan N. Jayasinghe,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1219
DOI: 10.1039/b718866h
This manuscript demonstrates through these first examples the ability to directly form active bio-emulsions from primary living cells from either submerged bio-electrospraying and/or cell electrospinning.
ABA type liquid crystalline triblock copolymers by combination of living cationic polymerizaition and ATRP: synthesis and self-assembly
Long-Cheng Gao, Cheng-Long Zhang, Xun Liu, Xing-He Fan, Yi-Xian Wu, Xiao-Fang Chen, Zhihao Shen and Qi-Feng Zhou,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1230
DOI: 10.1039/b718558h
ABA type rod–coil–rod triblock copolymers containing soft segment PIB (B) and hard segment PMPCS (A) were successfully synthesized by a combination of living cationic polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization.
Gelling and the collective dynamics in ferroelectric liquid crystals
Rachid Meziane, Martin Brehmer, Ulrich Maschke and Rudolf Zentel,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1237
DOI: 10.1039/b800737c
The suppression of the Goldstone-mode (detectable by dielectric measurements) offers a method to detect gelling—as well as destruction—of a gel in FLC mixtures.
Phase behaviour of a model colloid–polymer mixture at low colloid concentration
Manuel S. Romero-Cano and Antonio M. Puertas,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1242
DOI: 10.1039/b801640b
The phase behaviour of a colloid–polymer mixture is studied at very low colloid concentration (below 0.5%). The size ratio between the polymer and the colloidal particles is around 0.09, so that the colloids experience short-range attraction.
Bioinspired nanoencapsulation of purple membranes
Andreas Schönafinger, Sonja Müller, Frank Noll and Norbert Hampp,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1249
DOI: 10.1039/b718150g
Based on the concepts of polyelectrolyte layer adsorption and templated biomimetic silica mineralization a generic method for silica nanoencapsulation of biomolecules has been developed. The resulting hybrid material contains the functionally intact biomaterial inside the protective encapsulating silica shell.
One-pot surfactant-free functional latexes by controlled radical polymerization in ab initio emulsion
Jeff Tonnar and Patrick Lacroix-Desmazes,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1255
DOI: 10.1039/b801752b
The use of acrylic acid as a comonomer in a one-pot surfactant-free reverse iodine transfer polymerization in batch ab initio emulsion enabled the in situ synthesis of amphiphilic poly(acrylic acid-co-butyl acrylate) gradient copolymers which spontaneously self-assembled to form living micelles. The polymerization of the remaining butyl acrylate in the swollen micelles led to well-defined living functionalized latexes.
Fabrication of high-quality non-close-packed 2D colloid crystals by template-guided Langmuir–Blodgett particle deposition
Jaehyun Hur and You-Yeon Won,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1261
DOI: 10.1039/b716218a
This paper demonstrates, for the first time, that highly-ordered 2D colloid crystals with arbitrary non-closed-packed symmetries can be economically fabricated by transferring a Langmuir monolayer of colloidal particles formed initially at the air–water interface onto a substrate containing micro-fabricated topological patterns.
Measurements of dynamic forces between drops with the AFM: novel considerations in comparisons between experiment and theory
Grant B. Webber, Scott A. Edwards, Geoffrey W. Stevens, Franz Grieser, Raymond R. Dagastine and Derek Y. C. Chan,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1270
DOI: 10.1039/b717303b
Measurements and modeling of dynamic forces between droplets, relevant to solvent extraction, food processing and personal care products, provide detailed information on the nanoscale otherwise inaccessible by current experimental techniques.
Influence of variations in liquid-crystalline content upon the self-assembly behavior of siloxane-based block copolymers
Eric Verploegen, Tejia Zhang, Nicholas Murlo and Paula T. Hammond,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1279
DOI: 10.1039/b800212f
The ability to control the covalent attachment of liquid crystals onto a block copolymer backbone significantly affects the self-assembled morphologies, enabling highly tunable thermal and mechanical properties.
Theory of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy at variable observation area for two-dimensional diffusion on a meshgrid
Nicolas Destainville,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1288
DOI: 10.1039/b718583a
This work confirms by analytical calculations that Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) at variable observation area can reveal a meshgrid of semi-permeable fences hindering the two-dimensional diffusion of biomembrane molecules.
Spontaneous formation of polymer nanoparticles with inner micro-phase separation structures
Takeshi Higuchi, Atsunori Tajima, Hiroshi Yabu and Masatsugu Shimomura,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1302
DOI: 10.1039/b800904j
We demonstrate the preparation of particles with a variety of inner structures from block-copolymers and polymer blends by using a simple solvent evaporation process. One-directionally stacked lamellar, onion-like and cylindrical structures were formed from symmetric block-copolymers. Janus-type particles were prepared from homopolymer blends. A network structure was formed in the homopolymer blend particles containing block-copolymers.
Condensed multilamellar structure of a complex of DNA with an amphiphilic block copolymer
Chun-Jen Su, Sheng-Wei Yeh, Wei-Chi Lai, Hsin-Lung Chen, M. Habibur Rahman, Ren-Jye Wu, Hsien-Kuang Lin and Wen-Liang Liu,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1306
DOI: 10.1039/b715045h
This paper discloses a multilamellar structure formed by the ionic complex of DNA with a cationic block copolymer. Each hydrophilic lamellar domain contains two DNA sublayers separated by a thin water gap, with each sublayer comprising two rows of densely packed DNA chains.
Thermoreversible lysozyme hydrogels: properties and an insight into the gelation pathway
H. Yan, H. Frielinghaus, A. Nykanen, J. Ruokolainen, A. Saiani and A. F. Miller,
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1313
DOI: 10.1039/b716966c
Proposed mechanism for the thermoreversible gelation of hen egg white lysozyme at pH 7. The gel structure and properties have been elucidated and can be controlled by varying protein concentration.
Back matter
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1326
DOI: 10.1039/b807283n
Back cover
Soft Matter, 2008, 4, 1327
DOI: 10.1039/b807284c
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