Reversible light-directed self-organized 3D liquid crystalline photonic nanostructures doped with azobenzene-functionalized bent-shaped molecules

Wang, Meng; Guo, Duan-Yi; Lin, Tung‐Ching; Zhang, Lanying; Yang, Huai

doi:10.1039/c8tc02200c

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Other routes of investigation have included the incorporation of biologically relevant functional groups, such as chalcone and ester linkages 24 and bent molecule based liquid crystals, which have their own distinct self-assembled LC structures. 25,31 Zhu et al performed a study introducing chalcone and ester linkages into a series of azobenzene molecules, however, the relevant thermotropic LC temperature transitions were found to be in excess of 110 • C. Clearly this line of investigation could benefit from a better understanding of the driving forces for formation of lyotropic LC systems, which can occur at biologically relevant temperatures because of their similarity to biological structures such as cell membranes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural relationships for the design of responsive azobenzene-based lyotropic liquid crystals

Giles

Marlow

Butler

et al. 2020

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural relationships for the design of responsive azobenzene-based lyotropic liquid crystals

Giles

Marlow

Butler

et al. 2020

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…After being fully cured, the resins are cut into thin slices with a thickness of ~50 nm using an ultramicrotome (LEICA, EM UC7). The cuts were made parallel to the film plane, and the resins were deposited using a fishing method on copper grids covered with carbon films 47 . The TEM images were recorded on a Hitachi HT7700 and JEM-1011 instrument operating at 200 kV.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffusionless transformation of soft cubic superstructure from amorphous to simple cubic and body-centered cubic phases

Liu

Guan

et al. 2021

Nat Commun

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In a narrow temperature window in going from the isotropic to highly chiral orders, cholesteric liquid crystals exhibit so-called blue phases, consisting of different morphologies of long, space-filling double twisted cylinders. Those of cubic spatial symmetry have attracted considerable attention in recent years as templates for soft photonic materials. The latter often requires the creation of monodomains of predefined orientation and size, but their engineering is complicated by a lack of comprehensive understanding of how blue phases nucleate and transform into each other at a submicrometer length scale. In this work, we accomplish this by intercepting nucleation processes at intermediate stages with fast cross-linking of a stabilizing polymer matrix. We reveal using transmission electron microscopy, synchrotron small-angle X-ray diffraction, and angle-resolved microspectroscopy that the grid of double-twisted cylinders undergoes highly coordinated, diffusionless transformations. In light of our findings, the implementation of several applications is discussed, such as temperature-switchable QR codes, micro-area lasing, and fabrication of blue phase liquid crystals with large domain sizes.

show abstract

“…The phase behavior of the resulting BPLCs can be efficiently manipulated by trans – cis photoisomerization of the azobenzene dopant. [ 157–159 ] Lin et al prepared a chiral azobenzene molecular switch and incorporated it into a BP host to realize the light‐driven shifting of photonic bandgap ( Figure ). [ 160 ] The resultant BP materials initially exhibited a blue reflection color and simple cubic BP II nanostructures.…”

Section: Stimuli‐driven Bp Photonic Nanostructuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D Chiral Photonic Nanostructures Based on Blue‐Phase Liquid Crystals

Yang

2021

Small Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

3D photonic nanostructures with intrinsic chirality have recently entered the research limelight due to their fundamental importance and potential technological applications. Blue‐phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) with chiral cubic nanostructures are an inventive example of 3D chiral photonic nanostructures. The inherently self‐organized 3D chiral nanostructures give rise to a complete photonic bandgap, which results in the selective reflection of circularly polarized light in all three dimensions. Herein, a comprehensive review of the state‐of‐the‐art of BPLCs and their potential applications is presented. First, the history and fundamentals of BPLCs are introduced. Then, the recent endeavors in the design, synthesis, and properties of BPLCs such as lattice orientation control with different techniques, photonic bandgap tuning with external fields, and fabrication of free‐standing BPLC polymer films are summarized. Finally, a discussion of the future challenges and potential applications of BPLCs is provided. It is believed that this review would stimulate innovative ideas for the design and engineering of novel chiral nanostructured materials for advanced photonic systems with tailorable functionalities.

show abstract

Reversible light-directed self-organized 3D liquid crystalline photonic nanostructures doped with azobenzene-functionalized bent-shaped molecules

Abstract: Self-organized 3D liquid crystalline photonic nanostructures with high light-directed controllability are developed by doping azobenzene-functionalized bent-shaped molecules.

Cited by 22 publications

References 47 publications

Structural relationships for the design of responsive azobenzene-based lyotropic liquid crystals

Structural relationships for the design of responsive azobenzene-based lyotropic liquid crystals

Diffusionless transformation of soft cubic superstructure from amorphous to simple cubic and body-centered cubic phases

3D Chiral Photonic Nanostructures Based on Blue‐Phase Liquid Crystals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About