Self-Assembly and Non-equilibrium Behaviors in Soft Matter Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Soft matter systems have been utilized to investigate poorly understood self-assembly and non-equilibrium behaviors owing to their tunable compositions, geometries, and interactions. Micrometer-sized colloidal particles have successfully been used as model systems to realize engineered self-assembled structures and illustrate the kinetics behind non-equilibrium behaviors, such as glass formation and phase transitions. The development of in situ techniques including atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, and X-ray scattering has also enabled the extension of the investigation protocol toward the nanoscale, which introduces a broad library of non-spheric building blocks. Apart from colloidal systems, novel polymer design and protein engineering have further enriched the range of self-assembly and non-equilibrium behaviors observed in soft materials systems, such as liquid–liquid phase separation. Meanwhile, advanced computer simulation techniques including lattice-Boltzmann and multi-particle colloidsion dynamics have been developed to facilitate the understanding of complex behaviors in soft matter systems.

Focusing on the rapid and diverse development in such an interdisciplinary field, the purpose of this Special Issue is to bring together high-quality readings to researchers interested in the field of self-assembly and non-equilibrium behaviors in soft materials.

The main topics to be covered include self-assembly, non-equilibrium behaviors, colloidal synthesis, nanoparticle assembly, active materials, and also developments of simulation and experimental techniques for investigating soft material behaviors including molecular dynamics, in situ optical/fluorescence microscopy, light scattering, AFM, in situ TEM, SAXS, etc.

I am pleased to invite you to submit a manuscript (original research article, communication, or review) for this Special Issue of Materials MDPI on “Self-Assembly and Non-Equilibrium Behaviors in Soft Matter Systems”.

Dr. Zihao Ou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.