Lipid Liquid-Crystal Phase Change Induced through near-Infrared Irradiation of Entrained Graphene Particles

Abstract

Lipid packing is intimately related to the geometry of the lipids and the forces that drive self-assembly. Here, the photothermal response of a cubic liquid-crystalline phase formed using phytantriol in the presence of low concentrations of pristine graphene was evaluated. Small-angle X-ray scattering showed the reversible phase changes from cubic to hexagonal to micellar due to localized heating through irradiation with near-infrared (NIR) light and back to cubic after cooling.

Free‐Standing Phytantriol Q224 Cubic‐Phase Films: Resistivity Monitoring and Switching

“…A further potential switching mechanism could be based on a localized phase transition (switching between two different mesophase geometries) and therefore additional exploration of the effect of temperature on the microhole resistance is necessary. Temperature effects on lipid mesophase structure are well studied and phase switching for example in cubosomes, hexosomes, or in bulk with IR radiation have been reported . There is no previous report on resistivity monitoring by electrochemical methods of phytantriol phase transitions.…”

Photoresponsive Actuators Built from Carbon‐Based Soft Materials

“…To address the issues above, researchers introduced CMGs into the network of LCEs to form various CMG/LCE composites, integrating the high photothermal conversion efficiency of CMGs and the stimuli responsiveness of LCEs. For instance, Quinn et al fabricated an efficient NIR photothermal actuator by exploiting exfoliated graphene as a photothermal heating source . By evenly distributing the graphene particles in the phytantriol (PYT)‐water LC dispersion, the excellent absorption of NIR radiation of the localized graphene resulted in rapid heating of the LC matrix, achieving rapid phase changes as a result of light stimulation in LC systems.…”

Soft Materials Driven by Photothermal Effect and Their Applications

“…Copyright 2014, The Royal Society of Chemistry. d) Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2015, American Chemical Society.…”

“…Quinn et al have dispersed graphene nanoparticles into lyotropic LC phases . They observed that upon NIR light irradiation, the lyotropic system under goes phase transition from cubic to micellar through hexagonal phase (Figure d).…”