Nanomaterials In Liquid Crystals

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Nanomaterials in Liquid Crystals" that was published in Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials in Liquid Crystals.

This book focuses on the exciting topic of nanoscience with liquid crystals: from self-organized nanostructures to applications. The elegant self-organized liquid crystalline nanostructures, the synergetic characteristics of liquid crystals and nanoparticles, liquid crystalline nanomaterials, synthesis of nanomaterials using liquid crystals as templates, nanoconfinement and nanoparticles of liquid crystals are covered and discussed, and the prospect of fabricating functional materials is highlighted. Contributions, collecting the scattered literature of the field from leading and active players, are compiled to make the book a reference book. Readers will find the book useful and of benefit both as summaries for works in this field and as tutorials and explanations of concepts for those just entering the field. Additionally, the book helps to stimulate future developments.

While liquid crystals are today widely known for their successful application in flat panel displays (LCDs), academic liquid crystal research is more and more targeting situations where these anisotropic fluids are put to completely different use, in varying contexts. A particularly strong focus is on colloidal liquid crystals, where particles, bubbles or drops are dispersed in a liquid crystal phase. The liquid crystal can act as a host phase, with the inclusions constituting foreign guests that disturb the local order in interesting ways, often resulting in large-scale positional arrangement and/or uniform alignment of the guests. But it may also be formed by solid particles themselves, if these are of nanoscale dimensions and of disc- or rod-shape, and if they are suspended in an isotropic liquid host at sufficient concentration. This book aims to cover both the modern research tracks, gathering pioneering researchers of the different subfields to give a concise overview of the basis as well as the prospects of their respective specialties. The scope spans from curiosity-driven fundamental scientific research to applied sciences. Over the course of the next decade, the former is likely to generate new tracks of the latter type, considering the exploratory and productive phase of this young research field. Contents:Introduction (G Scalia and J P F Lagerwall)Volume 1:Fundamentals:A Phenomenological Introduction to Liquid Crystals and Colloids (J P F Lagerwall)Nanoparticle Dispersions: A Colloid and Polymer Solution Perspective (P van der Schoot)Nematic Liquid Crystals Doped with Nanoparticles: Phase Behavior and Dielectric Properties (M A Osipov and M V Gorkunov)Methods for Studying Liquid Crystals and Their Inclusions:Conventional and Nonlinear Optical Microscopy of Liquid Crystal Colloids (T Lee and I I Smalyukh)X-Ray Scattering (G Ungar, Z Chen and X Zeng)Raman Spectroscopy (H F Gleeson) Manipulation of Inclusions with Optical Tweezers (M Skarabot)Atomic Force Microscopy on Liquid Crystals (C Bahr and B Schulz)Micron Scale Inclusions in Liquid Crystals:Solid Microparticles in Nematic Liquid Crystals (Igor Muševič) Inclusions in Freely Suspended Smectic Films (R Stannarius and K Harth)Liquid Crystal-Enabled Electrophoresis and Electro-Osmosis (O D Lavrentovich)Volume 2:Nanoparticles in Liquid Crystals:Nanoparticles in Discotic Liquid Crystals (S Kumar)Metallic and Semiconducting Nanoparticles in LCs (A Sharma, M Urbanski, T Moria, H-S Kitzerow and T Hegmann)Inorganic Nanotubes and Nanorods in Liquid Crystals (I Drevenšek-Olenik)Liquid Crystals from Mesogens Containing Gold Nanoparticles (W Lewandowski and E Gorecka)Carbon Nanotubes in Thermotropic Low Molar Mass Liquid Crystals (S Schymura, J Park, I Dierking and G Scalia)Carbon Nanotubes Dispersed in Liquid Crystal Elastomers (Y Yang and Y Ji)Ferromagnetic and Ferroelectric Nanoparticles in Liquid Crystals (Y Reznikov, A Glushchenko and Y Garbovskiy)Nanoparticle Guests in Lyotropic Liquid Crystals (S Dölle, J H Park, S Schymura, Hyeran Jo, G Scalia and J P F Lagerwall)Control of Nanoparticle Self-Assemblies Using Distorted Liquid Crystals (E Lacaze and D Coursault)Nanoparticles and Networks Created Within Liquid Crystals (S-W Kang and S Kundu)Liquid Crystals Formed by Nanoparticle Suspensions:Nematic Phase Formation in Suspensions of Carbon Nanotubes (C Zakri and Ph Poulin)Nematic Phase Formation in Suspensions of Graphene Oxide (N Fresneau and S Campidelli)Electro-Optical Switching of Liquid Crystals of Graphene Oxide (J Song)Liquid Crystalline Phases in Suspensions of Pigments in Non-Polar Solvent (S Klein, R Richardson and A Eremin)Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Formation in Suspensions of Cellulose Nanocrystals (C Honorato-Rios, J Bruckner, C Schütz, S Wagner, Z Tosheva, L Bergström and J P F Lagerwall)Subject Index Readership: This book would be beneficial as a reference work for researchers active in the field as well as for other researchers aiming to enter the field.

LCs are self-organized anisotropic fluids that are thermodynamically located between the isotropic liquid and the crystalline phase, exhibiting the fluidity of liquids as well as the long-range lattice order that can only be found in crystalline solids. The addition of nanomaterials to a LC material produces a composite or colloidal dispersion and results into a revolutionary change in their applications. This book will discuss the remarkable performances of nano-particle aided liquid crystals in metamaterials, photonics, functionalized polymer fibres, sensing, and medical diagnostics.

This book discusses the tribological, rheological and optical properties of liquid-crystal nanomaterials as well as lubricant media. It also describes the formation of liquid-crystal materials and the application of cholesteric liquid-crystal compounds in technical friction units and in human and animal joints. Further, it shows the connection between the tribological and other physical properties of liquid-crystal cholesterol compounds and develops a lubricity conceptual model of cholesteric–nematic, liquid-crystalline nanostructures on the basis of physical and energetic interpretations. This general model is valid for all surfaces and friction pairs, including biopolymers, and could lead to applications of cholesteric liquid-crystalline nanomaterials in different friction units and tribosystems as well as in the treatment of joint diseases.

Fluorinated Liquid Crystals: Design of Soft Nanostructures and Increased Complexity of Self-Assembly by Perfluorinated Segments, by Carsten Tschierske Liquid Crystalline Crown Ethers, by Martin Kaller and Sabine Laschat Star-Shaped Mesogens – Hekates: The Most Basic Star Structure with Three Branches, by Matthias Lehmann DNA-Based Soft Phases, by Tommaso Bellini, Roberto Cerbino and Giuliano Zanchetta Polar and Apolar Columnar Phases Made of Bent-Core Mesogens, by N. Vaupotič, D. Pociecha and E. Gorecka Spontaneous Achiral Symmetry Breaking in Liquid Crystalline Phases, by H. Takezoe Nanoparticles in Liquid Crystals and Liquid Crystalline Nanoparticles, by Oana Stamatoiu, Javad Mirzaei, Xiang Feng and Torsten Hegmann Stimuli-Responsive Photoluminescent Liquid Crystals, by Shogo Yamane, Kana Tanabe, Yoshimitsu Sagara and Takashi Kato

"While liquid crystals are today widely known for their successful application in flat panel displays (LCDs), academic liquid crystal research is more and more targeting situations where these anisotropic fluids are put to completely different use, in varying contexts. A particularly strong focus is on colloidal liquid crystals, where particles, bubbles or drops are dispersed in a liquid crystal phase. The liquid crystal can act as a host phase, with the inclusions constituting foreign guests that disturb the local order in interesting ways, often resulting in large-scale positional arrangement and/or uniform alignment of the guests. But it may also be formed by solid particles themselves, if these are of nanoscale dimensions and of disc- or rod-shape, and if they are suspended in an isotropic liquid host at sufficient concentration. This book aims to cover both the modern research tracks, gathering pioneering researchers of the different subfields to give a concise overview of the basis as well as the prospects of their respective specialties. The scope spans from curiosity-driven fundamental scientific research to applied sciences. Over the course of the next decade, the former is likely to generate new tracks of the latter type, considering the exploratory and productive phase of this young research field."--Publisher's website