Formation of Photo-Responsive Liquid Crystalline Emulsion by Using Microfluidics Device

Abstract

Photo-responsive double emulsions made of liquid crystal (LC) were prepared by a microfluidic device, and the light-induced processes were studied. The phase transition was induced from the center of the topological defect for an emulsion made of (N-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline (MBBA), and strange texture change was observed for an emulsion made of 4-cyano-4 -pentylbiphenyl (5CB) doped with azobenzene. The results suggest that there are defect-involved processes in the phase change of LC double emulsions.

Molecular Orientation Change Nearby Topological Defects Observed by Photo-Induced Polarization/Phase Microscopy

“…For double emulsions made of LC as a shell, the photo-induced phase transition was induced, and the phase change always occurred from the center of a topological defect. 18 Also, we have found the photo-induced motion of an LC droplet inside a surfactant solution, where the defect position was oriented toward the light source. 19…”

“…For double emulsions made of LC as a shell, the photo-induced phase transition was induced, and the phase change always occurred from the center of a topological defect. 18 Also, we have found the photo-induced motion of an LC droplet inside a surfactant solution, where the defect position was oriented toward the light source. 19 In this study, we intentionally generated topological defects inside a planer cell without an alignment layer, and the photoinduced molecular orientation change was observed under the polarization/phase microscope with a millisecond time resolution.…”

Inference of molecular orientation/ordering change nearby topological defects by the neural network function from the microscopic color information

“…On the other hand, we have investigated the photoinduced behavior of LCs, including photo-responsive molecules. We prepared an LC-made double emulsion, and the photo-induced phase transition was observed, and the molecular orientation changed from the center of a topological defect 14 . Also, we demonstrated the photo-induced rolling motion of an LC droplet in a surfactant solution and found that the topological defect was oriented toward the light source 15 .…”

Controlled Release of Photoresponsive Nematic Liquid Crystalline Microcapsules

“…[ 16 ] Interestingly, the rupture of the microcapsule did not occur at all in this case, despite the use of the same UV light irradiation condition. [ 22 ] Instead, the axial tilt was induced on the microcapsule, i.e., the axis of the pair antipodal defects was tilted from the initial vertical direction, and accordingly, the inner aqueous droplet also moved, as shown in Figure 4d,e. This motion stopped at about 19° tilt.…”