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"Foams" refer to a collection of materials that consist of a mass of small gas bubbles trapped in a liquid or solid. They can be classified into several categories based on their composition and structure: 1. **Types of Foams**: - **Liquid Foams**: Consist of gas bubbles dispersed in a liquid. Common examples include shaving cream, whipped cream, and certain types of food emulsions.

"Gels" refer to a type of semi-solid substance that often has properties of both a solid and a liquid. They are composed of a liquid phase that is dispersed within a solid network, allowing them to maintain a definite shape while still being capable of flowing under stress. Gels are commonly used in various fields, including: 1. **Food**: Gels are used in food products like jellies, jams, and certain desserts.

Liquid crystals are substances that exhibit properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid crystals. They can flow like a liquid but have some degree of ordering, similar to a solid crystal. This unique combination of properties makes liquid crystals particularly useful in various applications, most notably in display technologies such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

Lubricants are substances used to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately helps to reduce the wear and tear of those surfaces. They can be found in various forms, including liquids, greases, and solid materials. The primary purposes of lubricants include: 1. **Reducing Friction:** They create a film between surfaces to minimize direct contact, which can lead to wear, overheating, and failure of mechanical components.

Waxes are a diverse group of organic compounds that are typically lipophilic (fat-loving) and hydrophobic (water-repelling). They are usually solid at room temperature and can melt and solidify without significant chemical change. Waxes are composed primarily of long-chain fatty acids and long-chain alcohols, and they can also include various other components such as hydrocarbons, esters, and resins.

"Active fluid" refers to a type of fluid that exhibits interesting and complex behaviors due to the presence of self-propelling or actively moving particles. These particles can be microorganisms, like bacteria, or synthetic entities, like colloidal particles that are driven by external forces. Unlike passive fluids, which respond to external forces based on traditional fluid dynamics, active fluids can exhibit unique phenomena such as swarming, pattern formation, and even turbulence.

Active matter refers to a class of materials composed of numerous self-propelling or self-organizing units, often at the microscopic scale. These units can be living organisms, like bacteria or algae, or non-living systems that exhibit similar properties. The unique feature of active matter is that it consumes energy from its environment to produce movement or create organized structures, often leading to complex behavior and patterns.

Ammonium perfluorononanoate is a chemical compound that belongs to the class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). It is a salt formed from perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), which has nine carbon atoms in its molecular structure, and ammonium. PFAS compounds are characterized by their strong carbon-fluorine bonds and their resistance to degradation, leading to concerns about their persistence in the environment and potential health effects.

Dendronized polymers are a class of macromolecules characterized by their dendritic (tree-like) structures combined with linear polymer chains. They blend the features of dendritic polymers, which are highly branched and have a defined modular architecture, with the characteristics of traditional linear polymers.

The depletion force is a type of effective force that arises in a system of particles due to the presence of larger particles or obstacles that restrict the available volume for smaller particles. This force is often observed in colloidal systems, polymer solutions, and biological systems where different sizes of particles are present. When smaller particles (often called "depletants") are introduced into a suspension of larger particles, they tend to occupy the available space between the larger particles.

Dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (also known as DODAB) is a quaternary ammonium compound that is used as a surfactant and a cationic lipid. It is characterized by having two long-chain octadecyl (C18) hydrocarbon tails and two methyl groups attached to a nitrogen atom, making it hydrophobic and lipophilic. The bromide ion serves as the counter ion in this compound.

Hydrogel is a three-dimensional network of hydrophilic polymer chains that can retain a significant amount of water while maintaining their structure. These materials can absorb and hold large quantities of water—sometimes up to several hundred times their dry weight—without dissolving. Due to their high water content, hydrogels exhibit properties similar to natural tissue, making them particularly useful in medical and biological applications.

Metallomesogens are a class of materials that combine both metal-containing components and liquid crystalline properties. These substances typically consist of metal complexes (often incorporating transition metals) that are arranged in a way that they exhibit liquid crystal behavior, meaning they can flow like a liquid while maintaining some degree of the ordered structure characteristic of solids.

A microemulsion is a type of thermodynamically stable dispersion of two immiscible liquids, typically oil and water, which is stabilized by surfactants (surface-active agents). Unlike ordinary emulsions, which can separate over time, microemulsions remain stable and are characterized by their small droplet sizes, typically in the range of 10 to 100 nanometers.

Microrheology is a specialized technique used to study the mechanical properties of complex materials at the microscale, often involving the rheological (flow and deformation) behavior of fluids, gels, and biological tissues. Unlike traditional macrorheology, which typically analyzes bulk material behavior using large samples, microrheology focuses on the movement and behavior of microscopic probes or particles within a medium.

The Mid-Atlantic Soft Matter Workshop is an academic event that typically focuses on the field of soft matter physics and materials science. Soft matter refers to a class of materials that are easily deformed by external fields, such as temperature, electricity, or pressure. This includes a wide range of substances, such as polymers, colloids, surfactants, liquid crystals, and biological materials.

Patchy particles are a type of colloidal particle or nanostructure that possess specific, localized regions or "patches" with distinct chemical or physical properties. These patches can be designed to have different functionalities—such as hydrophobic or hydrophilic characteristics, or specific binding affinities—for the purpose of creating complex structures or assemblies. The unique surface properties of patchy particles allow them to interact selectively with other particles or molecules, enabling the formation of diverse and complex structures at the nanoscale.

Silly Putty is a toy and novelty item made from a silicone polymer. It is known for its unique properties: it can bounce, stretch, and can pick up images from printed paper. Originally invented in the 1940s as a potential rubber substitute during World War II, its playful characteristics led to its commercialization as a children's toy. Silly Putty is typically sold in small, egg-shaped containers and is available in various colors.

A water-in-water (W/W) emulsion is a type of emulsion where two immiscible phases of water are combined. Unlike traditional emulsions, which might consist of oil droplets dispersed in a water phase (oil-in-water) or water droplets dispersed in an oil phase (water-in-oil), a water-in-water emulsion consists of one aqueous phase dispersed within another aqueous phase.