All Soft Matter articles
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ResearchFlaws fixed in venerable 84-year-old method of measuring porosity
Simple software corrects calculations of surface area that were out by up to a factor of five
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Feature
3D printing adds another dimension
Nina Notman learns how 4D printing is opening the door to unique smart materials whose applications may only be limited by our imaginations
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Research
Liquid crystals under pressure create squid-like camouflage
Pneumatic membranes trigger full-spectrum colour shifting on demand
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Feature
The rise of ferrofluids
Magnetic liquids are taking off, Hayley Bennett reports, but not as their inventor once imagined
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Research
Artificial chameleon skin detects seafood spoilage
Supramolecular system changes colour across almost the full visible spectrum
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Opinion
Eugenia Kumacheva: ‘My poetry is in my research proposals’
The soft matter expert on curiosity, collaborators and creativity
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Research
Inorganic ‘sponge’ made from seafood waste
New form of calcite can absorb water as well as contaminants like oil and dyes
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Research
Rippling polymer sheets flex like muscles
Two-dimensional Belousov–Zhabotinsky gels mimic the way organisms move
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Feature
Using ions to connect life to machines
Ionotronic materials are beginning to show how life’s signals can be aligned with electronics. James Urquhart speaks to the scientists who are exploring the emerging frontier
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Research
Knotted molecules can transfer chirality from the nano to the macroscale
Simply unknotting a molecule added to liquid crystals can invert their chirality
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Business
Reducing food waste by touch
Mimica’s tactile food labels know better than best-before dates
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Research
Hydrogel boosts power of self-cooling solar panels
Material that sucks water from air increases solar cells’ performance by up to 19%
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Research
Soap-like catalyst outperforms enzyme with mimicry and micelles
Bioinspired approach could be used for a range of enzymes
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Research
Whiskey webs could snare counterfeiters
Unique patterns formed by whiskey residues could aid investigations into imitation liquors
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Research
Stretchy ionic polymers pave the way for ion-based tech
Elastomers deliver ionic analogues of diodes, transistors and transducers without using a liquid electrolyte
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Business
Tissue scaffolds from resin inks
4D Medicine’s biodegradable polymer inks can be 3D-printed into useful biomedical applications
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Research
Odd 'entropic bonds' akin to chemical ones can form between nanoparticles
Simulations finds that ’bonding’ can occur in the absence of any electronic interaction
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Research
Geometrically precise metamaterials deform on-demand
Purposeful imperfections programme predictable buckling into soft robotic materials
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Research
Droplets retain crystal-like structure while sliding on vertical substrate
Surprising properties of soft material may have significant impact on polymer physics
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Research
Bubbly protocells bob up and down
Enzymes inflate or consume oxygen bubbles making clay capsules float and sink reversibly
