Abstract

We consider a model soft-material formation in dimension d (a degree of freedom) undergoing an entropic drive, deeply rooted in first law of thermodynamics as well as in entropy production, namely, dissipation rate. It turns out that for such entropy-driven (dissipative) process, two strategies of making the formation orderly can be seen. In low-temperature limit, one may promote curvature-controlled, surface-tension involving scenario, usually characteristic of polycrystals and bubbles. In high-temperature limit, there can be a chance for creating order by establishing viscoelastic phase separation, promoting some microstress field's microrheological action that somehow renormalizes the system toward ordering. The latter, in turn, is very characteristic of protein and/or colloid network formations. This altogether implies that a disordering thermodynamic factor, such as the entropy can typically be, is able to effectively promote ordering by respective energy dissipation, in particular for soft-matter rearrangements and clusterings with weak interactions among the basic material's units, namely, “soft” grains.