TheconceptofsoftmatterwasfirstintroducedbyP.G.deGennesinhisacceptancespeechfortheNobelPhysicsPrizein1991.Inmechanicscommunity,however,peopleusuallypreferusingsoftmaterialinsteadofsoftmattertodescribethematerialwhoseenergyassociatedwiththermalmotioniscomparativetotheinteractionenergy.Unlikeintheconventionalcondensedmatter,entropyplaysanimportantandevendeterminativeroleinsoftmaterials.Thisparticularcharacteristicofsoftmaterialgivesbirthtoverycomplexandkaleidoscopicsystems,suchasliquidcrystals,polymers,colloids,granularmaterials,andbiologicalsystems.Softmaterialshavemanyvagariousproperties,includingstrongreactiontoweakstimulus,nonlinearresponse,self-assembly,tonameafew,whichfullyembodythecomplexitiesandparticularitiesinmulti-scalecompositions,structuresandinteractions.Theluxuriantmulti-disciplinenatureandwideapplicationsofsoftmaterialshavesuccessfullyintriguedbothscientistsandengineersworldwide.
