Towards Autonomous Soft Matter Systems: Experiments on Membranes and Active Emulsions

✍ Scribed by Shashi Thutupalli (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing
• Year: 2014
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 141
• Series: Springer Theses
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book focuses on the assembly, organization and resultant collective dynamics of soft matter systems maintained away from equilibrium by an energy flux. Living matter is the ultimate example of such systems, which are comprised of different constituents on very different scales (ions, nucleic acids, proteins, cells). The result of their diverse interactions, maintained using the energy from physiological processes, is a fantastically well-organized and dynamic whole. This work describes results from minimal, biomimetic systems and primarily investigates membranes and active emulsions, as well as key aspects of both soft matter and non-equilibrium phenomena. It is shown that these minimal reconstitutions are already capable of a range of complex behaviour such as nonlinear electric responses, chemical communication and locomotion. These studies will bring us closer to a fundamental understanding of complex systems by reconstituting key aspects of their form and function in simple model systems. Further, they may also serve as the first technological steps towards artificial soft functional matter.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Introduction....Pages 1-10
Microfluidic Membrane Networks....Pages 11-27
Electrostatic Interactions in Membrane Fusion....Pages 29-48
Phase Contrast X-Ray Imaging of Lipid Membranes....Pages 49-63
Oscillating Droplets: Chemical Micro-Oscillators....Pages 65-78
Swimming Droplets: Artificial Squirmers....Pages 79-94
Interacting Droplets: Collective Dynamics....Pages 95-116
Conclusions and Outlook....Pages 117-119
Back Matter....Pages 121-127

✦ Subjects

Soft and Granular Matter, Complex Fluids and Microfluidics;Physical Chemistry;Membranes;Surfaces and Interfaces, Thin Films;Statistical Physics, Dynamical Systems and Complexity