Polymer thin films is an area driven by their enormous technological potential and the intellectually challenging academic problems associated with them. This book contains a collection of review articles on the topics of polymer films written by leading experts in the field.

This unique book aims to expose the reader to a wide range of phenomena occurring when soft matter systems are put under the influence of an external electric field. The book shows how an electric field can be used to affect objects at the submicron scale, and how it controls the phase behavior of liquids and polymers. The main focus is on the basic underlying mechanisms. Some technological applications are dealt with as well.

Book chapters are arranged in a logical order, from "simple" systems to more complicated ones. In addition, each topic is covered by the mixed bag of theory,...

All living organisms consist of soft matter. For this reason alone, it is important to be able to understand and predict the structural and dynamical properties of soft materials such as polymers, surfactants, colloids, granular matter and liquids crystals. To achieve a better understanding of soft matter, three different approaches have to be integrated: experiment, theory and simulation. This book focuses on the third approach but always in the context of the other two.

The term soft matter includes various aspects of polymers, liquid crystals, colloids, amphiphiles, glasses, granular and biological materials. This title collects review articles on the topics of non-equilibrium soft matter physics, including evaporation, non-equilibrium fluctuations, structural rheology, and active matter.

While liquid crystals are today widely known for their successful application in flat panel displays (LCDs), academic liquid crystal research is more and more targeting situations where these anisotropic fluids are put to completely different use, in varying contexts. A particularly strong focus is on colloidal liquid crystals, where particles, bubbles or drops are dispersed in a liquid crystal phase. The liquid crystal can act as a host phase, with the inclusions constituting foreign guests that disturb the local order in interesting ways, often resulting in large-scale positional...