Gels are ubiquitous both in materials science and biology. Interest in the behavior of this class of soft materials has increased significantly in the last decades as new experimental approaches have been developed to synthesize and characterize gels, and as theoretical and computational methods have advanced to model the structure and properties of these complex materials. For example, molecular simulation is now an essential tool to investigate gels and other types of soft matter where experimental measurements are not possible. The growth of this field to include applications in biology and medicine as also provided much impetus to gels research. The goal of this volume is to discuss recent progress in gel science. The chapters cover a wide variety of topics from polymer chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering, reflecting the interdisciplinary character of this field. A knowledge of the physical and chemical behavior of gels is essential for understanding, designing, and controlling material properties and performance. Gels can be synthesized with either flexible or stiff chains, linear or branched, and their length can also be tailored, etc. The network chains can be bonded to each other by chemical crosslinks or physical bonds involving van der Waals interactions, dipole-dipole interactions, hydrogen or ionic bonds, or pi-pi or pi-charge interactions. In addition to traditional polymer gels, this volume also focuses on low molecular mass organic gelators, relatively new, but rapidly growing, research direction in gel science. Special attention is devoted to the diverse applications of gels; using hydrogels for cleaning the painted surface of artwork (conservation of cultural heritage such as paintings and sculptures), developing advanced drug delivery systems, investigating the mechanism of setting of cement and hardening of concrete, etc.

This volume contains a series of papers originally presented at the Symposium on Polymer Gels organized and sponsored by the Research Group on Polymer Gels,The Society of Polymer Science of Japan and co-sponsored by the Science and Technology Agency (ST A) and MIT!, Japan. The Symposium took place at Tsukuba Science City on 18th and 19th September, 1989. Recognized experts in their fields were invited to speak and there was a strong attendance from government, academic and industrial research centers. The purpose of the Symposium was to review the state of the art and to present and discuss recent progress in the understanding of the behavioral properties of polymer gels and their application to biomedical, environmental and robotic fields. Most of the papers and related discussions concentrated on the swelling behavior of hydrogels and chemomechanical systems, both artificial and naturally occurring, in which external stimuli of a physical or chemical nature control energy transformation or signal transduction. The recent great interest in chemomechanical systems based on polymer gels has stimulated considerable effort towards the development of new sensors and actuators, controllable membrane separation processes, and delivery systems in which the functions of sensing, processing and actuation are all built into the polymeric network device. Artificial chemomechanical systems, through the use of environmentally sensitive polymer gels, are emerging as interesting materials for mimicking basic processes previously only confined to the biological world, and commercially viable applications are also foreseen in the not-too-distant future.

Over the past decade, research on molecular gels has expanded and progressed rapidly. This timely book presents the latest developments and understanding of the topic, covering the different classes of gels (ionogels, metallogels, hydrogels and organogels) from their molecular level interactions and formation to their properties as materials and applications. The book starts with a general introduction to molecular gels including their definition and a comparison of the different types. Chapters then examine the physical chemistry of molecular gels, including the most recent theories, experimental techniques and computational approaches. Final chapters on the applications of molecular gels illustrate, with modern case studies, the principles developed in previous chapters. Written by leading researchers, this is an indispensable resource on the different types of gels for postgraduate students and researchers across supramolecular chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, soft matter and chemical engineering.

This book covers various molecular, metal-organic, dynamic covalent, polymer and other gels, focusing on their driving interactions, structures and properties. It consists of six chapters demonstrating interesting examples of these gels, classified by the type of driving interaction, and also discusses the effect of these interactions on the gels’ structures and properties. The book offers an interesting and useful guide for a broad readership in various fields of chemical and materials science.

This book presents a compilation of self-contained chapters covering a wide range of topics within the broad field of soft condensed matter. Each chapter starts with basic definitions to bring the reader up-to-date on the topic at hand, describing how to use fluid flows to generate soft materials of high value either for applications or for basic research. Coverage includes topics related to colloidal suspensions and soft materials and how they differ in behavior, along with a roadmap for researchers on how to use soft materials to study relevant physics questions related to geometrical frustration.

Presenting a unique perspective on state-of-the-art physical gels, this interdisciplinary guide provides a complete, critical analysis of the field and highlights recent developments. It shows the interconnections between the key aspects of gels, from molecules and structure through to rheological and functional properties, with each chapter focusing on a different class of gel. There is also a final chapter covering innovative systems and applications, providing the information needed to understand current and future practical applications of gels in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, cosmetic, chemical and food industries. Many research teams are involved in the field of gels, including theoreticians, experimentalists and chemical engineers, but this interdisciplinary book collates and rationalises the many different points of view to provide a clear understanding of these complex systems for researchers and graduate students.

"Molecular Gels: Materials with Self-Assembled Fibrillar Networks" is a comprehensive treatise on gelators, especially low molecular-mass gelators and the properties of their gels. The structures and modes of formation of the self-assembled fibrillar networks (SAFINs) that immobilize the liquid components of the gels are discussed experimentally and theoretically. The spectroscopic, rheological, and structural features of the different classes of low molecular-mass gelators are also presented. Many examples of the application of the principal analytical techniques for investigation of molecular gels (including SANS, SAXS, WAXS, UV-vis absorption, fluorescence and CD spectroscopies, scanning electron, transmission electron and optical microscopies, and molecular modeling) are presented didactically and in-depth, as are several of the theories of the stages of aggregation of individual low molecular-mass gelator molecules leading to SAFINs. Several actual and potential applications of molecular gels in disparate fields (from silicate replication of nanostructures to art conservation) are described. Special emphasis is placed on perspectives for future developments. This book is an invaluable resource for researchers and practitioners either already researching self-assembly and soft matter or new to the area. Those who will find the book useful include chemists, engineers, spectroscopists, physicists, biologists, theoreticians, and materials scientists.