Thermotropic Liquid Crystal-Assisted Chemical and Biological Sensors

Popov, N. I.; Honaker, Lawrence W.; Popova, Maia; Усольцева, Н. В.; Mann, Elizabeth K.; Jákli, Antal; Popov, Piotr

doi:10.3390/ma11010020

Cited by 79 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 141 publications

(227 reference statements)

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“…This type of format can be encountered in LC‐mediated gas sensing investigations, where typically the upper interface in contact with the LC material is formed by an aqueous phase (or air). More detailed analysis about this last format can be found within the works of Popov et al [ 18 ] and Miller et al [ 83 ]…”

Section: The Liquid Crystalline Statementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since then, especially over the last 10 years, an on‐going effort is being conducted by many research groups to understand and explore the potential applicability of different LC‐based systems (nematic, smectic, chiral, columnar phases) in the gas sensing field. [ 16,18,20,102,103 ]…”

Section: Functional Liquid Crystal Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An emerging field of research is the development of LC‐assisted sensing technologies, since LC‐sensing materials can be tailored to respond to targeted biological and chemical species. [ 15–21 ] Regarding biosensors, the concept involves either the imaging of targeted species displayed at solid surfaces, or sensing at LC/aqueous interfaces (LC thin films or droplets). So far, LC‐based biosensors have been reported to detect a wide range of biomolecules such as glucose, [ 22 ] cholesterol, [ 23 ] lipids, [ 24 ] antimicrobial peptides, [ 25 ] proteins, [ 26,27 ] antigens, [ 28 ] pathogen DNA, [ 29 ] viruses, [ 30 ] bacteria, [ 31 ] or mammalian cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Seeing the Unseen: The Role of Liquid Crystals in Gas‐Sensing Technologies

Esteves

Ramou

Porteira

et al. 2020

Advanced Optical Materials

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Fast, real‐time detection of gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is an emerging research field relevant to most aspects of modern society, from households to health facilities, industrial units, and military environments. Sensor features such as high sensitivity, selectivity, fast response, and low energy consumption are essential. Liquid crystal (LC)‐based sensors fulfill these requirements due to their chemical diversity, inherent self‐assembly potential, and reversible molecular order, resulting in tunable stimuli‐responsive soft materials. Sensing platforms utilizing thermotropic uniaxial systems—nematic and smectic—that exploit not only interfacial phenomena, but also changes in the LC bulk, are demonstrated. Special focus is given to the different interaction mechanisms and tuned selectivity toward gas and VOC analytes. Furthermore, the different experimental methods used to transduce the presence of chemical analytes into macroscopic signals are discussed and detailed examples are provided. Future perspectives and trends in the field, in particular the opportunities for LC‐based advanced materials in artificial olfaction, are also discussed.

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Section: The Liquid Crystalline Statementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Functional Liquid Crystal Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seeing the Unseen: The Role of Liquid Crystals in Gas‐Sensing Technologies

Esteves

Ramou

Porteira

et al. 2020

Advanced Optical Materials

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“…All these LCs feature a common issue, their immiscibility in aqueous media. As many biological samples are solved or suspended in water, biosensing with thermotropic LCs requires alternative solutions to achieve interactions between targets and LCs [17]. Free-standing LC droplets [18,19] or surfaces suspended in sub-mm grids [20] have been proposed to procure an interface for interactions between the hydrophobic LC layer and the aqueous sample being examined [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Visualizing director defects is possible when the object in the medium is larger than the extrapolation length [17]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid detection of pathogens using lyotropic liquid crystals

Otón¹,

Otón²,

Caño‐García³

et al. 2019

Opt. Express

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Lyotropic liquid crystals play an important role in many biological environments, such as micelles, liposomes, and phospholipid bilayers of cell membranes. In this work, we explore the performance of lyotropic liquid crystals as biosensors for macromolecules, proteins and whole microorganisms in hydrophilic media, i.e., the natural media where these specimens exist. The aim is to detect specific targets employing simple, unpowered sensors that can be used in the field, with minimum additional equipment. A number of different structures have been explored. The novelty in this work is the inclusion of a new optical effect, flow enhanced amplification, that allows for the semiquantitative detection of microscopic targets in lyotropic liquid crystal cells using the naked eye only.

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Aquatic Functional Liquid Crystals: Design, Functionalization, and Molecular Simulation

Kato,

Uchida,

Ishii

et al. 2023

Advanced Science

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Aquatic functional liquid crystals, which are ordered molecular assemblies that work in water environment, are described in this review. Aquatic functional liquid crystals are liquid‐crystalline (LC) materials interacting water molecules or aquatic environment. They include aquatic lyotropic liquid crystals and LC based materials that have aquatic interfaces, for example, nanoporous water treatment membranes that are solids preserving LC order. They can remove ions and viruses with nano‐ and subnano‐porous structures. Columnar, smectic, bicontinuous LC structures are used for fabrication of these 1D, 2D, 3D materials. Design and functionalization of aquatic LC sensors based on aqueous/LC interfaces are also described. The ordering transitions of liquid crystals induced by molecular recognition at the aqueous interfaces provide distinct optical responses. Molecular orientation and dynamic behavior of these aquatic functional LC materials are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The molecular interactions of LC materials and water are key of these investigations. New insights into aquatic functional LC materials contribute to the fields of environment, healthcare, and biotechnology.

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Thermotropic Liquid Crystal-Assisted Chemical and Biological Sensors

Cited by 79 publications

References 141 publications

Seeing the Unseen: The Role of Liquid Crystals in Gas‐Sensing Technologies

Seeing the Unseen: The Role of Liquid Crystals in Gas‐Sensing Technologies

Rapid detection of pathogens using lyotropic liquid crystals

Aquatic Functional Liquid Crystals: Design, Functionalization, and Molecular Simulation

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