Soft matter under confinement is a growing, interdisciplinary research field with yet unknown basic principles. Nanoporous hard templates provide a two-dimensionally confined space in which self-organization processes such as crystallization, protein secondary structure formation, mesophase formation and phase separation can be manipulated giving rise to unprecedented confinement-induced morphologies with new and exciting properties. A principal focus of the current work is finding the basic underlying principles that give rise to directed self-organization and controlled phase state in a range of soft materials under confinement. It involves structural, thermodynamic and dynamical characterization (with Dielectric Spectroscopy) in a number of soft materials with different types of interactions. These include amorphous and crystallizable polymers, rod- and disk-like liquid crystals and biopolymers with important potential applications. Implications of this work to the confined crystallization of other systems (like water) is discussed.

The work is supported by the by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant” (Project Number: 183).