Venue: Soft Condensed Matter: Where Physics Meets Chemistry and Biology

Speaker: An-Chang Shi (Department of Physics and Astronomy McMaster University )

Time:  April 26, Thursday, 16:00-17:00

Location: Room 201, The 12th teaching building, Yuquan Campus, Zhejiang University

Abstract:

Soft condensed matter refers to materials that are condensed yet also compliant. Typical soft materials include polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, and biological materials such as lipid membranes. The softness is one of the reasons why these materials are extremely attractive for many applications, such as liquid crystal displays, in modern technology. Another intriguing property of soft materials is their ability to self-assemble into complex organized structures. Traditionally, soft matter is a research area populated by chemists and biologists, emphasizing the synthesis and characterization of these materials. Since middle 70’s, many physicists turned their attentions to this important area of research, bringing with them the insights from physics. The infusion of physics ideas into soft matter research has led to many progresses. At the same time, many new physical concepts and ideas emerge from soft condensed matter. My lecture starts with a brief survey of soft condensed matter and its physical properties, and ends with some of our recent studies in this fascinating research area.