Controlling Liquid Crystal Configuration and Phase Using Multiple Molecular Triggers

Abstract

Liquid crystals are able to transform a local molecular interaction into a macroscopic change of state, making them a valuable “smart” material. Here, we investigate a novel polymeric amphiphile as a candidate for molecular triggering of liquid crystal droplets in aqueous background. Using microscopy equipped with crossed polarizers and optical tweezers, we find that the monomeric amphiphile is able to trigger both a fast phase change and then a subsequent transition from nematic to isotropic. We next include sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), a standard surfactant, with the novel amphiphilic molecules to test phase transitioning when both were present. As seen previously, we find that the activity of SDS at the surface can result in configuration changes with hysteresis. We find that the presence of the polymeric amphiphile reverses the hysteresis previously observed during such transitions. This work demonstrates a variety of phase and configuration changes of liquid crystals that can be controlled by multiple exogenous chemical triggers.

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“…Switching dynamics controllable through external fields (i.e., electric, magnetic, photonic, etc.) can be integrated into these materials as an additional feature [197][198][199][200][201][202][203][204][205][206]. Such an enhancement would be of particular interest in the design of LC-based devices [199,203,[207][208][209][210].…”

Investigation of Soft Matter Nanomechanics by Atomic Force Microscopy and Optical Tweezers: A Comprehensive Review

“…Liquid crystals show excellent electro-optical, reflectance, anisotropic polarizability and low energy consumption qualities. Liquid crystals are widely used as detergent [ 26 ], for the realization of displays [ 27 ], thermal detection [ 28 ] and clinical diagnosis sensors [ 29 ]. Finally, cells and bacteria are the fundamental anatomical unit of all living organisms and prokaryotic microorganisms that do not bear defined nuclei and generally internal membranous organelles, respectively.…”

“…Liquid crystals show excellent electro-optical, reflectance, anisotropic polarizability and low energy consumption qualities. Liquid crystals are widely used as detergent [ 26 ], for the realization of displays [ 27 ], thermal detection [ 28 ] and clinical diagnosis sensors [ 29 ].…”