Work

Design of Functional Materials Based on Liquid Crystalline Droplets

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: This brief perspective focuses on recent advances in the design of functional soft materials that are based on confinement of low molecular weight liquid crystals (LCs) within micrometer-sized droplets. While the ordering of LCs within micrometer-sized domains has been explored extensively in polymer-dispersed LC materials, recent studies performed with LC domains with precisely defined size and interfacial chemistry have unmasked observations of confinement-induced ordering of LCs that do not follow previously reported theoretical predictions. These new findings, which are enabled in part by advances in the preparation of LCs encapsulated in polymeric shells, are opening up new opportunities for the design of soft responsive materials based on surface-induced ordering transitions. These materials are also providing new insights into the self-assembly of biomolecular and colloidal species at defects formed by LCs confined to micrometer-sized domains. The studies presented in this perspective serve additionally to highlight gaps in knowledge regarding the ordering of LCs in confined systems.

Source: Chemistry of Materials

DOI: 10.1021/cm4025028

Authors: Daniel S. Miller, Xiaoguang Wang, Nicholas L. Abbott

Institution: University of Wisconsin–Madison

Language: English

Topic: Liquid Crystal Research Advancements

Subfield: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Awards: BIOMOLECULAR ANALYSIS USING LIQUID CRYSTALS, Rapid Analytics for Endotoxin using Liquid Crystalline Droplets