Nanoscience With 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.

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 covers developments in the field of thermotropic liquid crystals and their functional importance. It also presents advances related to different sub-areas pertinent to this interdisciplinary area of research. This text brings together research from synthetic scientists and spectroscopists and attempts to bridge the gaps between these areas. New physical techniques that are powerful in characterizing these materials are discussed.

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

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

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.

This book introduces various applications of liquid crystalline polymers as the emerging new class of high performance novel materials. The authors detail the advantageous properties of these LCs including optical anisotropic, transparency and easy control over structure. This interdisciplinary work includes valuable input from international projects with special focus on the use of liquid crystalline polymers and/or nanocomposites.