Understanding the intricacies of soft materials forms a critical pillar in the realms of materials science, vital for ushering in the "Materials 4.0" era anticipated to catalyze the fourth industrial revolution. Across the globe, initiatives like the Materials Genome Initiative in the United States are pivotal in addressing these material challenges. Despite the allure of soft materials due to their varied and complex properties—from amorphous to hierarchical structures—they are hindered by an elusive process-structure-property relationship. This gap hinders the exploitation of these materials across diverse engineering fields, even as advancements in computational capabilities and experimental techniques promise new breakthroughs.

This Research Topic aims to dissect and enhance the current understanding of soft materials by employing innovative multiscale modeling, simulations, and experimental methods. It seeks to overcome the predominant challenges by harnessing state-of-the-art technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to evade the conventional trial-and-error approaches in material research and development.

To gather further insights in the domain of multiscale investigation of soft materials, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Multiscale modeling and simulations
- Multiscale experiments
- First-principle calculations
- Molecular Dynamics simulations
- Constitutive models of soft materials
- Forcefield development
- Extreme properties of soft materials
- Soft materials in extreme environment
- Advance in mechanics of materials theory
- Advance in physical properties of soft materials
- Advance in polymer physics theory
- Additive manufacturing
- Artificial intelligence in discovering soft materials
- Artificial intelligence in methodology
- Applications of soft materials in sustainability
- Applications of soft materials in sports engineering
- Applications of soft materials in healthcare
- Applications of soft materials in energy storage and conversion

The focused exploration of these topics is intended to propel significant advances in the development and application of soft materials, directly impacting various engineering fields and potentially leading substantial improvements in technologies fundamental to the anticipated industrial advancements.

Submit your idea

Impact

Frontiers in Materials

Submit your idea

Impact