Soft Matter Science—a Historical Overview with a Supramolecular Perspective

Abstract

Soft matter science is one of the most active interdisciplinary fields of research, sitting at the interface between chemistry, biology, and condensed matter physics. One of the reasons for the intense interest in soft matter systems is that they are highly dynamic and responsive to a range of different stimuli, making them of interest for a wide range of smart applications. This article provides an introductory overview of the topic of soft matter science and attempts to place it in a historical context, tracing the genesis of the field from its disparate roots in colloid science, liquid crystals, and polymer chemistry. In particular, the article demonstrates how soft matter systems relate to the area of supramolecular science, and it attempts to connect the genesis of the supramolecular approach to soft matter nanoscience with the disparate areas of research that underpin it. In this way, it is possible to achieve a holistic approach to the development of soft matter systems with applications in nanoscience and technology.

Supramolecular gels – a panorama of low-molecular-weight gelators from ancient origins to next-generation technologies

“…Although considered ‘colloid science’, and often overlooked by supramolecular chemists, these conceptual developments sit perfectly alongside the concepts of controlled assembly being concurrently pioneered by early supramolecular chemists. 126 In the early 1980s, Kunitake and co-workers applied Israelachvili's approach to practical studies of lipids to understand gel fibre assembly in terms of a preference for cylindrical micelle morphologies. 127 For lipids to be capable of gel formation, it became understood that the assembly of ‘1-dimensional’ cylindrical micelles is ideal, as at sufficient concentration they can assemble further into fibres, that ultimately form a sample-spanning gel network.…”