Small water droplets dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal exhibit a novel class of colloidal interactions, arising from the orientational elastic energy of the anisotropic host fluid. These interactions include a short-range repulsion and a long-range dipolar attraction, and they lead to the formation of anisotropic chainlike structures by the colloidal particles. The repulsive interaction can lead to novel mechanisms for colloid stabilization.

A simple method was used to assemble single-walled carbon nanotubes into indefinitely long ribbons and fibers. The processing consists of dispersing the nanotubes in surfactant solutions, recondensing the nanotubes in the flow of a polymer solution to form a nanotube mesh, and then collating this mesh to a nanotube fiber. Flow-induced alignment may lead to a preferential orientation of the nanotubes in the mesh that has the form of a ribbon. Unlike classical carbon fibers, the nanotube fibers can be strongly bent without breaking. Their obtained elastic modulus is 10 times higher than the modulus of high-quality bucky paper.

We investigate experimentally the structures that form when small colloidal particles are suspended in a nematic solvent. These structures are anisotropic, and their formation is driven by interactions arising from the orientational elasticity of the nematic solvent. By using inverted and multiple nematic emulsions composed of water droplets dispersed in a thermotropic liquid crystal, we identify the nature of these interactions, and demonstrate that they can be controlled by the anchoring of the liquid crystal molecules at the surfaces of the droplets. When the anchoring is normal, the droplets form linear chains, suggesting a long-range dipole-dipole attraction between the particles. By contrast, the interactions are repulsive at short range, and prevent contact of the droplets, thereby stabilizing them against coalescence. When the anchoring is planar, the droplets generate distortions that have a quadrupolar character. The resultant elastic interactions lead to more compact, but still anisotropic, clusters. ͓S1063-651X͑98͒07701-0͔

Shape-memory polymers can revert to their original shape when they are reheated. The stress generated by shape recovery is a growing function of the energy absorbed during deformation at a high temperature; thus, high energy to failure is a necessary condition for strong shape-memory materials. We report on the properties of composite nanotube fibers that exhibit this particular feature. We observed that these composites can generate a stress upon shape recovery up to two orders of magnitude greater than that generated by conventional polymers. In addition, the nanoparticles induce a broadening of the glass transition and a temperature memory with a peak of recovery stress at the temperature of their initial deformation.