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Colloidal cholesteric liquid crystal in spherical confinement

Author

Listed:
  • Yunfeng Li

    (University of Toronto)

  • Jeffrey Jun-Yan Suen

    (University of Toronto)

  • Elisabeth Prince

    (University of Toronto)

  • Egor M. Larin

    (University of Toronto)

  • Anna Klinkova

    (University of Toronto)

  • Héloïse Thérien-Aubin

    (University of Toronto)

  • Shoujun Zhu

    (State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University)

  • Bai Yang

    (State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University)

  • Amr S. Helmy

    (University of Toronto)

  • Oleg D. Lavrentovich

    (Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University)

  • Eugenia Kumacheva

    (University of Toronto
    Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
    University of Toronto)

Abstract

The organization of nanoparticles in constrained geometries is an area of fundamental and practical importance. Spherical confinement of nanocolloids leads to new modes of packing, self-assembly, phase separation and relaxation of colloidal liquids; however, it remains an unexplored area of research for colloidal liquid crystals. Here we report the organization of cholesteric liquid crystal formed by nanorods in spherical droplets. For cholesteric suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals, with progressive confinement, we observe phase separation into a micrometer-size isotropic droplet core and a cholesteric shell formed by concentric nanocrystal layers. Further confinement results in a transition to a bipolar planar cholesteric morphology. The distribution of polymer, metal, carbon or metal oxide nanoparticles in the droplets is governed by the nanoparticle size and yields cholesteric droplets exhibiting fluorescence, plasmonic properties and magnetic actuation. This work advances our understanding of how the interplay of order, confinement and topological defects affects the morphology of soft matter.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunfeng Li & Jeffrey Jun-Yan Suen & Elisabeth Prince & Egor M. Larin & Anna Klinkova & Héloïse Thérien-Aubin & Shoujun Zhu & Bai Yang & Amr S. Helmy & Oleg D. Lavrentovich & Eugenia Kumacheva, 2016. "Colloidal cholesteric liquid crystal in spherical confinement," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms12520
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12520
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    Cited by:

    1. Bowen Sui & Youliang Zhu & Xuemei Jiang & Yifan Wang & Niboqia Zhang & Zhongyuan Lu & Bai Yang & Yunfeng Li, 2023. "Recastable assemblies of carbon dots into mechanically robust macroscopic materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Hamed Almohammadi & Sandra Martinek & Ye Yuan & Peter Fischer & Raffaele Mezzenga, 2023. "Disentangling kinetics from thermodynamics in heterogeneous colloidal systems," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Hamed Almohammadi & Sayyed Ahmad Khadem & Massimo Bagnani & Alejandro D. Rey & Raffaele Mezzenga, 2022. "Shape and structural relaxation of colloidal tactoids," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Richard M. Parker & Tianheng H. Zhao & Bruno Frka-Petesic & Silvia Vignolini, 2022. "Cellulose photonic pigments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Siyang Lin & Yuqi Tang & Wenxin Kang & Hari Krishna Bisoyi & Jinbao Guo & Quan Li, 2023. "Photo-triggered full-color circularly polarized luminescence based on photonic capsules for multilevel information encryption," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.

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