Liquids and Complex Fluids Group

This is an IOP special interest group, which is a community of IOP members focused on a particular discipline, application or area of interest.

Special interest groups allow members to connect and share knowledge and ideas. The IOP funds groups to deliver a range of activities including events, prizes and bursaries. All of our groups are driven by members.

About the group

As a special interest, member-driven group, we are interested in structure and dynamics from microscopic to mesoscopic, and macroscopic length scales. Our work encompasses systems that range from ʽsimpleʼ liquids to complex fluids and soft materials. These include:

polymers
emulsions
gels
foams
colloids
liquid crystals

We also look at their biological counterparts.

We make advances in physics research on the liquid state of:

matter
complex fluids
soft condensed matter

We do this by collaborating with theorists, experimentalists and computer simulators.

We enjoy close links with the:

What the group does

Topics we cover include:

liquid mixtures and solvation phenomena
liquids and glasses under extreme conditions
confined liquids and fluids at interfaces
the glass transition and arrested states of matter (including the structure of glasses and amorphous solids)
crystal growth in liquids
self-assembly from solution

This interdisciplinary field has industrial links to:

pharmacology
petroleum and plastics
food
personal care

Physicists are interested in the physical realisation of ideal model systems working with:

statistical mechanics
liquids
elasticity
flow behaviour and rheology
non-equilibrium phenomena

Liquids and complex fluids are poorly addressed in the traditional undergraduate curriculum. We inform postgraduate education, in graduate schools working across disciplines, for example.

We also develop new instrumentation and sophisticated data interpretation tools for work on liquids and complex fluids in UK supported X-ray and neutron sources.

silhouettes of a group of people with backdrop of equations

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Group physics prize

Liquids and Complex Fluids Early Career Award

This prize is awarded biennially to an exceptional scientist, in the early stages of their career, working in the broadly defined area of Liquids and Complex Fluids.

Find out more about the Liquids and Complex Fluids Early Career Award, including past winners.

Group events

Find group events on the IOP events site.

Newsletter

February 2020 (PDF, 438KB)
February 2019 (PDF, 3.56MB)
January 2018 (PDF, 901KB)
December 2015 (PDF, 6.47MB)
January 2015 (PDF, 332KB)
October 2013 (PDF, 418KB)
December 2012 (PDF, 393KB)
September 2011 (PDF, 1.62MB)

Useful links

We strengthen our collaborations with links to:

the Institute’s Neutron Scattering Group
the Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The interests of many physical and theoretical chemists focus on topics we address.
the Liquids Board of the European Physical Society

Committee and contacts

Chair: Professor Tanniemola Liverpool t.liverpool@bristol.ac.uk
Secretary: Dr Lorenzo Di Michele ld389@cam.ac.uk