Functional Liquid Crystals towards the Next Generation of Materials

Abstract

Since the discovery of the liquid-crystalline state in 1888, liquid crystal science has made great advances through fusion with various technologies and disciplines. Recently, new molecular design strategies and new self-assembled structures have been developed as a result of the progress made in synthetic procedures and characterization techniques. Since these liquid crystals exhibit new functions and properties derived from their nanostructures and alignment, a variety of new functions for liquid crystals, such as transport for energy applications, separation for environmental applications, chromism, sensing, electrooptical effects, actuation, and templating have been proposed. This Review presents recent advances of liquid crystals that should contribute to the next generation of materials.

Hydrogen-bonded perylene bisimide J-aggregate aqua material

“…Self-assembly has emerged as a powerful tool for the development of supramolecular materials with adaptive functional properties 1–6. However, while typical non-covalent bonds such as hydrogen bonds and π–π-stacking interactions can be rationally applied to direct self-assembly processes in organic solvents, the situation is more complex in water due to the significant and often dominating contribution of the hydrophobic effect.…”

Redox‐Induced Molecular Metamorphism Promoting a Sol/Gel Phase Transition in a Viologen‐Based Coordination Polymer

“…The interest for stimuli‐responsive self‐assembled “soft” molecular materials has been steadily increasing over the past decade . This increasing attention can be easily explained by the large variety of applications currently envisioned for adaptive/self‐healable dynamic supramolecular assemblies in material science, catalysis, sensing and electronics.…”

Polar Order, Mirror Symmetry Breaking, and Photoswitching of Chirality and Polarity in Functional Bent‐Core Mesogens

“…Liquid crystals (LC) represent an important class of functional materials for numerous applications, ranging from materials for displays, photovoltaics, photonics, soft nanolithography, for ion carriers, biosensors, and as membrane‐forming materials to mention only a few . Therefore, the design of new compounds and especially understanding of the relationship between the molecular structure and the liquid crystallinity as well as application properties are of fundamental interest .…”