This text is a primer for liquid crystals, polymers, rubber and elasticity. It is directed at physicists, chemists, material scientists, engineers and applied mathematicians at the graduate student level and beyond.

Despite the large quantity of phenomenological information concerning the bulk properties of nematic phase liquid crystals, little is understood about the origin of the surface energy, particularly the surface, interfacial, and anchoring properties of liquid crystals that affect the performance of liquid crystal devices. Self-contained and unique,

Materials Nanoarchitectonics: From Integrated Molecular Systems to Advanced Devices provides the latest information on the design and molecular manipulation of self-organized hierarchically structured systems using tailor-made nanoscale materials as structural and functional units. The book is organized into three main sections that focus on molecular design of building blocks and hybrid materials, formation of nanostructures, and applications and devices. Bringing together emerging materials, synthetic aspects, nanostructure strategies, and applications, the book aims to support further progress, by offering different perspectives and a strong interdisciplinary approach to this rapidly growing area of innovation. This is an extremely valuable resource for researchers, advanced students, and scientists in industry, with an interest in nanoarchitectonics, nanostructures, and nanomaterials, or across the areas of nanotechnology, chemistry, surface science, polymer science, electrical engineering, physics, chemical engineering, and materials science. - Offers a nanoarchitectonic perspective on emerging fields, such as metal-organic frameworks, porous polymer materials, or biomimetic nanostructures - Discusses different approaches to utilizing "soft chemistry" as a source for hierarchically organized materials - Offers an interdisciplinary approach to the design and construction of integrated chemical nano systems - Discusses novel approaches towards the creation of complex multiscale architectures

This book introduces the concepts of physical chemistry of polymers. It provides a basis to bridge polymer chemistry, which targets microscopic chain structures, and polymer engineering, which targets macroscopic material properties and functions. Topics covered are single chain statistics, multi-chain interactions, and chain dynamics, both from a viewpoint of structure, properties (mostly mechanical ones), and their interrelation. In all that, the author encourages the reader to think conceptually.

This is a monograph/text devoted to a detailed treatment of the optical, electro-optical and nonlinear optical properties of all the mesophases of liquid crystals and related processes, phenomena and application principles. Quantitative data on material and optical parameters spanning the ultraviolet, visible, infrared as well as the microwave regimes are presented along with detailed theoretical treatments of basic liquid crystal physics, material properties and nonlinear optics.Starting with a discussion on the basic building blocks of liquid crystalline molecules, the authors proceed to present in a pedagogical manner current theories, experiments, and applications of these unique and important optical properties of liquid crystals. Numerous tables of hard-to-find liquid crystalline parameters, a self-contained chapter on general nonlinear optics, and comprehensive literature review are also included.

Solitons are a well-known and intriguing aspect of nonlinear behavior in a continuous system such as a fluid: a wave propagates through the medium without distortion. Liquid crystals are highly ordered systems without a rigid, long-range structure. Solitons in liquid crystals (sometimes referred to as "walls") have a wide variety of remarkable properties that are becoming important for practical applications such as electroluminescent display. This book, the first review of the subject to be published, contains not only surveys of the existing literature, but presents new results as well.

Electrospun Nanofibers covers advances in the electrospinning process including characterization, testing and modeling of electrospun nanofibers, and electrospinning for particular fiber types and applications. Electrospun Nanofibers offers systematic and comprehensive coverage for academic researchers, industry professionals, and postgraduate students working in the field of fiber science. Electrospinning is the most commercially successful process for the production of nanofibers and rising demand is driving research and development in this field. Rapid progress is being made both in terms of the electrospinning process and in the production of nanofibers with superior chemical and physical properties. Electrospinning is becoming more efficient and more specialized in order to produce particular fiber types such as bicomponent and composite fibers, patterned and 3D nanofibers, carbon nanofibers and nanotubes, and nanofibers derived from chitosan. - Provides systematic and comprehensive coverage of the manufacture, properties, and applications of nanofibers - Covers recent developments in nanofibers materials including electrospinning of bicomponent, chitosan, carbon, and conductive fibers - Brings together expertise from academia and industry to provide comprehensive, up-to-date information on nanofiber research and development - Offers systematic and comprehensive coverage for academic researchers, industry professionals, and postgraduate students working in the field of fiber science