Welcome to the Soft Matter Physics Lab

The Soft Matter Physics Lab, headed by Prof. George Floudas, stared its scientific activities at the Physics Department, University of Ioannina in 2001. The research activities cover a broad area of polymer physics such as: Soft Matter under confinement, Liquid Crystal self-assembly and dynamics, Biopolymers, Nanostructured polymers and Copolymers, Ionic systems, Organic Photovoltaics, Polymer Blends, Glass “transition” and heterogeneity. Soft matter is characterized by subtle forces and weak interactions, such as hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces and π-π interactions that give rise to a complex hierarchy of organization. Understanding the self-assembly, thermodynamics and dynamics of soft materials requires different complementary techniques (X-ray scattering, Calorimetry, Optical microscopy, rheology and dielectric spectroscopy as a function of temperature and pressure). A principal focus of our research is to find the basic underlying principles that give rise to directed self-assembly and controlled phase state in a range of soft materials.