Polarized optical microscopy image of a fingerprint texture for a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal entering the chiral nematic–isotropic coexistence region. The helical axis is in the plane of the image and the perpendicular distance between the stripes is around 50 μm, half the chiral nematic pitch.

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Nanoparticles serving as a multifunctional and multiaddressable dopant to modify the properties of liquid crystalline matrices are developed by combining cobalt ferrite nanocrystals with organic ligands featuring a robust photosensitive unit and a source of chirality from the natural pool. These nanoparticles provide a stable nanocomposite when dispersed in achiral liquid crystals, giving rise to chiral supramolecular structures that can respond to UV-light illumination, and, at the same time, the formed nanocomposite possesses strong magnetic response. We report on a nanocomposite that shows three additional functionalities (chirality and responsiveness to UV light and magnetic field) upon the introduction of a single dopant into achiral liquid crystals.