ABSTRACT
Soft matter is a class of materials that includes polymers, liquid crystals, and detergents, which are also called complex systems or fluids. Their common feature is the presence of a mesoscopic scale that governs most properties of the system. The term mesoscale refers to an intermediate length scale between macroscopic objects and those of atomic size. While some systems such as latex particles may be characterized by a single characteristic size, other systems are multi-scale or fractal. Percolation is a concept that applies to a wide variety of systems. To return to complex systems, the process of polymer vulcanization that occurs when liquid latex turns into a solid by bridging the polymer chains is characterized by a percolation transition: when a critical number of crosslinking points is reached, the system that was liquid becomes a solid. Traces of oxygen in the air transform the sap of the Hevea tree into solid rubber.
