Soft Matter Sciences and Engineering Laboratory - UMR7615

Soft Matter Sciences study objects whose macroscopic properties are strongly correlated to their mesoscopic structure. The current importance of this discipline relies heavily on the understanding and controlled elaboration of objects at submicrometer scales. The basic concepts have been maturing for about 30 years, in particular under the impulse of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes. They are based on fields as diverse as statistical physics, mechanics, hydrodynamics, surface physics and chemistry. They have irrigated new fields such as biophysics and material sciences but also shed new light on a large number of industrial problems, in particular for polymeric materials, cements, glues, detergents, etc...