title: Nucleation in polymers and soft matter.
abstract: Nucleation is a ubiquitous phenomenon in many physical, chemical, and biological processes. In this review, we describe recent progress on the theoretical study of nucleation in polymeric fluids and soft matter, including binary mixtures (polymer blends, polymers in poor solvents, compressible polymer-small molecule mixtures), block copolymer melts, and lipid membranes. We discuss the methodological development for studying nucleation as well as novel insights and new physics obtained in the study of the nucleation behavior in these systems.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125; email: zgw@caltech.edu.
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Christina L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.forename: Isamu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kusaka
authors.forename: Zhen-Gang
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008823:Micelles; D008956:Models, Chemical; D044367:Phase Transition; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008823:Micelles; D011108:Polymers