This book presents a cross section of the current research on structure formation and molecular motion in self-organizing macromolecular fluids. Its main purpose is to provide a clear picture of the subject by establishing theoretical foundations. The topics covered include microphase separation of block polymers, chemical and physical gelations, polymer adsorption, and polymers in random media and in external fields; all are treated from a unified viewpoint as molecular ordering in space and time. The contributions concentrate on materials and concepts that have been important in setting the...

Soft matter (polymers, colloids, surfactants and liquid crystals) are an important class of materials in modern technology. They also form the basis of many future technologies, for example in medical and environmental applications. Soft matter shows complex behaviour between fluids and solids, and used to be a synonym of complex materials. Due to the developments of the past two decades, soft condensed matter can now be discussed on the same sound physical basis as solid condensed matter. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of soft matter for undergraduate and graduate...